It is said that Torajans are people who “live to die”. For this Indonesian ethnic group, funerals are such extravagant events that they sometimes attract tourists. Families can postpone burials years (and the deceased are considered sick and hosted at home until the funeral) until the family can raise enough money and gather as many relatives as possible. And then it’s a jubilant multiday social event with a parade, dances and animal sacrifices. Agung Parameswara photographed these funerary practices when he traveled to South Sulawesi province, where the Torajans live. (Photo by Agung Parameswara/The Washington Post)

A cat sits in the flooding waters from Hurricane Matthew in downtown Nichols, South Carolina, October 10, 2016. (Photo by Randall Hill/Reuters)

Only the most intrepid urban explorers cross the tattered ruins of the old Iron Curtain to endure the excessive bureaucracy, military paranoia and freezing winds of the East to hunt for the ghosts of an empire. Rebecca Litchfield is one who couldn’t resist the haunting allure of the ruins of the Soviet Union.

In the early morning of September 22, 2021, in the Baiyun Mountain Forest Park, Wuzhou City, Guangxi, the surrounding mountains are unobstructed, clouds and mists are lingering, and the gorgeous colorful glow is reflected by the sunrise. (Photo by Sipa Asia/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Kyla Drumm, 5, waits after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in Skippack, Pennsylvania, U.S., November 3, 2021. (Photo by Hannah Beier/Reuters)

A woman and her son hold firecrackers during Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in Mumbai, India, November 4, 2021. (Photo by Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters)

Off from school due to the Thanksgiving holiday this week, Felix Naranch, 7, right, and his brother Asa Naranch, 3, play with their father Stu Naranch in a pile of fall leaves that they raked together in a park, Tuesday, November 23, 2021, in Washington. (Photo by Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)

Two men pull their boat over a railroad crossing in Nidderau-Eichen near Frankfurt, Germany, Friday, January 13, 2023. They came over the fields that were flooded by heavy rainfalls and continued their trip on the other side. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)