A love story with two log choppers. “In 1993, I was working on a project about life in the Olomouc region of Czechoslovakia. One day, I came to the village of Dlouhá Loučka-Křivá and went into a courtyard where I saw two old people, a husband and wife, sawing firewood for winter. They were working quietly, concentrating. I watched them fetch a beam from a wrecked barn, but they didn’t discuss how they planned to carry it to the saw. The woman faced one way, the man the other. When they realised, the woman eventually turned and followed her husband. The picture I took is the picture of many relationships – when each partner wants something different, but they have to come to an agreement, pull together eventually”. (Photo by Jindrich Streit)

Nature – first prize, stories. Pandemic Pigeons – A Love Story. The photographer’s daughter, Merel, cowers after Dollie flies past and perches on the balcony before entering the house in Vlaardingen in the Netherlands on 6 April 2020. “She’s still frightened when Dollie suddenly lands on the balcony railing. I hide my smile behind the camera, as I try to comfort her by saying they won’t hurt you. “I thought he was going to attack me”, she replies. As the nesting pigeons keep coming back to our place, slowly my girls have started to appreciate them – perhaps not as much as I do, but it’s a start”. (Photo by Jasper Doest/World Press Photo 2021)

A racoon jumps over a fence in almost deserted Central Park in Manhattan on April 16, 2020 in New York City. Gone are the softball games, horse-drawn carriages and hordes of tourists. In their place, pronounced birdsong, solitary walks and renewed appreciation for Central Park's beauty during New York's coronavirus lockdown. The 843-acre (341-hectare) park – arguably the world's most famous urban green space – normally bustles with human activity as winter turns to spring, but this year due to Covid-19 it's the wildlife that is coming out to play. (Photo by Johannes Eisele/AFP Photo)

Lyon's Ghanaian forward #37 Ernest Nuamah celebrates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Olympique Lyonnais (OL) and Stade de Reims at The Groupama Stadium in Decines-Charpieu, central-eastern France on March 30, 2024. (Photo by Olivier Chassignole/AFP Photo)

There isn’t exactly a college out there for face painting so Elsa Rhae Pageler‘s talent is as raw as it comes. Perhaps what’s even more amazing is that the video editor and producer from Kansas City graduated with a degree in Film and Media Studies and only does face painting and airbrushing as a side job. An application may take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours and apart from outside gigs, she features video tutorials on her YouTube channel showing how she paints herself to recreate video game and fictional characters. Photo: “Face Palm”. (Photo by Elsa Rhae Pageler)

A relative (L) of Champa Devi, 88, sits next to her body, minutes after her death at Mukti Bhavan (Salvation House) at Varanasi, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, June 21, 2014. The city of Varanasi, on the banks of the River Ganges, is widely considered Hinduism's holiest city and many Hindus believe that dying there and having their remains scattered in the Ganges allows their soul to escape a cycle of death and rebirth, attaining “moksha” or salvation. “Mukti Bhavan” or “Salvation House”, is a charity-run hostel that caters for people who wish to come to Varanasi to die. Guests can normally stay up to two weeks after which, if they haven't yet passed away, they are gently asked to leave. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

A park ranger stands next to a nothern white female rhinoceros named Najin at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, some 290 kms north of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on January 27, 2015. Najin is one of only five members of the sub-species left on the planet, three of which reside at Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Conservationists and scientists met in Kenya this week to come up with a last ditch plan to save the northern white rhinoceros from extinction. (Photo by Tony Karumba/AFP Photo)

“Coming back home at 5am sunrise, I was just beginning to digest the grand event I was lucky to witness and cover: the wedding of the grandson of one of the most influential spiritual leaders in Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community...”. – Ronen Zvulun via Reuters. Photo: Ultra-orthodox Jewish wedding in Israel. Tens of thousands of Ultra-Orthodox Jews of the Belz Hasidic dynasty gather at the wedding ceremony of Rabbi Shalom Rokach in Kiryat Belz, in Jerusalem, on May 21, 2013. Around 25,000 ultra-orthodox Jews took part, making it one of the biggest weddings of the past few years. (Photo by Gil Cohen)