Shortlisted: Pooyan Shadpoor, Houcheraghi. While walking along the shore of Larak, Iran – an island in the Persian Gulf – Shadpoor came across this luminous scene. The “magical lights of (the) plankton ... enchanted me so that I snapped the shot”, he writes. (Photo by Pooyan Shadpoor/2016 EPOTY)
Bathers brave the cold waters of the North Sea as they take part in the annual Boxing Day dip at Redcar Beach on December 26, 2019 in Redcar, England. The event attracts hundreds of people each year who take to the cold water wearing fancy dress as they help to raise money for a number of charities. (Photo by James Glossop/The Times)
Participants from a North Korea military band perform during the Spasskaya Tower international military music festival in Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Friday, August 23, 2019. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)
Sharni Edwards, 27, and Robyn Peoples, 26, a Belfast couple who are the first known same-s*x couple to get married in Northern Ireland, kiss after being married, in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland on February 11, 2020. (Photo by Phil Noble/Reuters)
Natural world and wildlife shortlist. Lop Buri in Thailand is home to hundreds of macaques, which local residents consider to be disciples of the Hindu god Hanuman. While some people love them, others fear or even hate them. Despite the inconvenience they often cause, the macaques are generally respected and considered sacred. (Photo by Joan de la Malla/Sony World Photography Awards)
Typhoon Haiyan survivor Mariena Delacueva stands amongst the ruins of her families home on November 6, 2014 in San Antonio, Samar, Philippines. Mariena's looks after the property after her parents moved to Manila to find work so they can save enough money to rebuild the house. Residents of Leyte and surrounds are preparing for the 1-year anniversary since Super Typhoon Yolanda struck the coast on November 8, 2013, leaving more than 6000 dead and many more homeless. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)