A police officer offers a prayer to his weapon as part of a ritual at their headquarters on the occasion of Dussehra, or Vijaya Dashami, festival in Ahmedabad, India, October 15, 2021. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

A Nihang or Sikh warrior performs “Gatka”, an ancient form of Sikh martial arts, during a religious procession on the eve of the birth anniversary of the ninth Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar on April 17, 2025. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

There are many types of collections. Some are formed by purposefully collecting certain objects, such as stamps or coins. However, some collections are only a byproduct of an obsession, a quirk of mind. For example, Paul Brockmann got into the habit of buying his girlfriend and later his wife a dress every time they went ballroom dancing. It might seem excessive to some, but it was his way of showing his affection. Overtime, this collection grew to be enormous, counting 55,000 dresses in total. Basic math tells us that either they went ballroom dancing three times per day for every day of their lives, or he bought them in huge bundles every time.

A commuter gestures to Boris Johnson as he rides across Vauxhall Bridge in London, England on November 19, 2015. The London mayor was opening a cycle superhighway. (Photo by John Stillwell/PA Wire)

A Hindu holy man is reflected on a mirror as he prepares a bowl of vermillion powder for devotees near “Sangam”, the confluence of holy rivers of Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, during the annual traditional fair of Magh Mela in Allahabad, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, India, Tuesday, January 6, 2015. Hundreds of thousands of devout Hindus are expected to take holy dips at the confluence during the astronomically auspicious period of over 45 days celebrated as Magh Mela. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

Fighting Infections (single image) | Fighting Pandemic by Sudipto Das. “It’s exhausting. A tram conductor in Kolkata, India, wears protective clothing from head to toe even in the heat of a summer afternoon. This was when restrictions were easing after India’s first Covid-19 lockdown – public transport was running, but staff were advised to suit up like this. We’ve all grown used to saluting the efforts of healthcare workers, but plenty of other people in public-facing jobs have performed gruelling duties too to keep people safe”. (Photo by Sudipto Das/Wellcome Photography Prize 2021)

Common squirrel monkeys observe their Christmas present, a box full of mealworms, at the South America enclosure of the Budapest Zoo, in Budapest, Hungary, 24 December 2017. (Photo by Photo by Attila Kovacs/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A model's make up picture is stuck to a mirror backstage during the Autumn/Winter Madrid's Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, in Madrid, Wednesday, February 1, 2012. (Photo by Daniel Ochoa de Olza/AP Photo)