A woman wearing traditional Chinese costumes holds two snake figurines as she poses for a photo by Houhai Lake in Beijing on January 26, 2025, ahead of the Lunar New Year of the Snake which falls on January 29. (Photo by Pedro Pardo/AFP Photo)

Young woman, 20+, with goose bumps, standing on the beach, Niendorf at the Baltic Sea, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Europe on September 1, 2016. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photo)

Ladies enjoyed themselves last night – while keeping safe with their face masks on in Liverpool, United Kingdom on Saturday, December 5, 2020, after coronavirus restrictions were eased following the end of the second national lockdown. (Photo by London News Pictures)

Korean People's Army (KPA) soldiers march during a mass rally on Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang on September 9, 2018. Thousands of North Korean troops followed by artillery and tanks paraded through Pyongyang on September 9 as the nuclear-armed country celebrated its 70th birthday, but it refrained from displaying the intercontinental ballistic missiles that have seen it hit with sanctions. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

A solders in ceremonial attire sweats as he waits outside Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall, in which Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn scheduled to grant a public audience in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, May 6, 2019. King Maha Vajiralongkorn was officially crowned amid the splendour of the country's Grand Palace, taking the central role in an elaborate centuries-old royal ceremony that was last held almost seven decades ago. (Photo by Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP Photo)

Spectators in costume line the race route during the 12th stage of the 109th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 165,1 km between Briancon and L'Alpe-d'Huez, in the French Alps, on July 14, 2022. (Photo by Marco Bertorello/AFP Photo)

People out in Aberystwyth on “Booze Black Friday” or “Mad Friday” in Aberystwyth, Wales, UK on December 16, 2016. The “Booze Black Friday” is the last working Friday before Christmas when workers celebrate with their colleagues. Alcohol sales in pubs, clubs and off-licences rise dramatically on this day. (Photo by Keith Morris/Alamy Live News)

David Guttenfelder was born in Iowa and graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in cultural anthropology. He has worked for the AP since 1994 based in Kenya, the Ivory Coast, India and Japan. He is currently AP’s chief Asia photographer and his feature work has been used prominently in editorial publications throughout the world including Time and National Geographic. Photo: U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, fire mortars at known enemy firing positions from a base in the Pech River Valley in Afghanistan's Kunar province, Saturday, October 24, 2009. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/AP Photo)