A general view of dried-up rivers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia December 2, 2013. Western Australia's Pilbara region, which is the size of Spain, has the world's largest known deposits of iron ore and supplies nearly 45 percent of global trade in the mineral. (Photo by David Gray/Reuters)

“Red Land: Sunset Cloud Village is one of the most picturesque places in Red Land, China. As its name indicates, it's best to see before sunset. The reddish brown soil turns redder after rainfall and after farmers plow the land”. (Photo and comment by Peng Jiang/National Geographic Photo Contest via The Atlantic)

A participant of the “Mrs Universe 2015” contest from Caribbean Coast, Mayra Joli poses for a photo with a woman during their visit in central botanical garden in Minsk, Belarus, August 25, 2015. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

If the most popular foods of Rio de Janeiro have one thing in common, it is their informality. You can find fine restaurants in the city, but they do not set Rio apart from other places. What does set it apart, and what invariably brings its residents, known as "Cariocas," together is the unpretentious food they eat in bright, loud, crowded bars and restaurants, on busy street corners, or after a day at the beach. Here: A view of traditional bolinhos de bacalhau (fried codfish balls) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 7, 2016. (Photo by Sergio Moraes/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.

A woman is led aside as her partner is detained by Ukrainian security forces for being aggressive at an army checkpoint in the southeastern port city of Mariupol, on May 11, 2014. Residents’ attitudes appear to have hardened considerably with the deaths of dozens of pro-Russian activists in the city of Odessa this month and with reports that troops fired at a crowd in Mariupol last week. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

Members of the grounds crew try to catch a cat that got loose on the field during the eighth inning between the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 2, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

A boy crawls under a cow during a religious ceremony celebrating the Tihar festival, also called Diwali, in Kathmandu, October 23, 2014. Hindus all over Nepal are celebrating the festival during which they worship cows, which are considered a maternal figure, and other animals. Also known as the festival of lights, devotees worship the goddess of wealth Laxmi by illuminating and decorating their homes using garlands, oil lamps, candles and colourful light bulbs. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)