This month’s selection of travel imagery mixes quiet moments and superlative views. The overall 2018 prize is a West Greenland trip with Wild Photography Holidays. Here: “This was taken on a safari in Kruger national park, South Africa. The scene was like something straight out of a storybook: a wild baboon, impala and elephant crossing the road together, all lined up neatly in a row”. (Photo by Will Clarke/The Guardian)

“Inspired by the French authorities' solution to move Romas from point A to point B, Romanian authorities planned and started forced evictions of Roma informal settlements in cities like Cluj-Napoca and Baia Mare. Some of these settlements date back to the early 1990’s. These communities were tolerated by the authorities who verbally encouraged Romas to build in the area, meanwhile, reassuring them nothing bad would ever happen to them. However, the the reality today is that during political campaigns, authorities are planning forced evictions without reasons other than ethnic cleansing of the cities. My home documents the every day life of Roma communities in Romania, 2011”. – Mugur Varzariu. (Photo by Mugur Varzariu, 2011 FotoVisura Grant Finalist)

Thoughts. They fly through the broad expenses of our mind, floating gracefully in midair, going into the clouds, and then reemerging once again. Some are quick and furtive, others are grand and majestic. We reflect upon them as they enter our minds, and once they leave, they are usually gone for good. However, some thoughts are different. These thoughts resemble a flock of angry birds or a swarm of hungry moths that invade your mind, slowly eating away at your sanity, strength, and desire to live. Such thoughts often plague that minds of people with Obsessive Compulsive disorder. They completely occupy their time; constantly there; ever-present. With his book sculpture, Thomas Wightman was able to accurately convey the way these thoughts consume the mind, slowly building a nest within it, resisting all attempts to drive them away.

Modern art is truly fascinating. Not in a way that it produces some novel things that will fascinate future generations for decades and even centuries to come. No, that is very far from the truth. On the contrary, modern art is essentially anything (yes, any little thing) that is a bit unusual and was created by a famous person. Let’s take the creation of Antoine Bridier-Nahmias for example. His brainchild is a set of pictures of petri dishes that were contaminated by various cultures of fungi. If this is art, I missed my chance of becoming famous when I accidentally left a piece of bread in a bag in a cupboard for about six months, and didn’t take a picture of the rather shocking results that awaited me when I finally discovered it. (Photo by Antoine Bridier-Nahmias)

“A snapshot from mountaineer's life”. Have you ever wondered how does a mountaineer's day start? I will give you a hint: you wake up at 3 am, set the stove, wake up your partner, pretend it is warm, quickly consume a high-calorie breakfast, watch your friends slowly ascending the icy slopes of your dream summit with their tiny head torches glimmering against perfectly blue ice, and hope for the good weather. One would ask: why all this trouble? The answer is easy: for the love of the adventure and the unknown. Location: Chamonix, Haute Savoye, France. (Photo and caption by Kamil Tamiola/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

“Harisu (하리수 or 河莉秀) is the stage name of Lee Kyung-eun originally Lee Kyung-yeop (born February 17, 1975), a transsexual pop singer, model and actress from South Korea. Born biologically male, Harisu identified as female from early childhood, and underwent s*x reassignment surgery in the 1990s. She is noted for being South Korea's first transgender entertainer, and in 2002 became only the second person in Korea to legally change their gender. Her stage name is an adaptation of the English phrase «hot issue»”.

Photo: South Korean transsexual singer and actress Harisu (R) poses for pictures with a fan who played the role of groom during a simulated Chinese wedding at a fan club activity on August 5, 2006 in Changchun of Jilin Province, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

“Former Harry Potter star Emma Watson has shed her squeak-clean image by parading the streets in a bra and hot pants for her role in Sofia Coppola's latest movie. The actress has signed up for a leading role in The Bling Ring, playing one of the real-life teens who stole from the homes of stars including Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Orlando Bloom in 2008 and 2009. A series of images from the Los Angeles film set are set to shock the Brit's younger fans as she has been photographed strutting in tiny shorts, a bra-style top, leather jacket and towering high heels”. (Photo by PR Photos/Gaz Shirley/KVS/PacificCoastNews.com)

Police officers detain an activist to prevent her from marching in a pride parade, which was banned by local authorities, in central Istanbul, Turkey on June 26, 2022. (Photo by Umit Bektas/Reuters)