Our Favorite Picture From Around the World This Month - 1
“Rubber Duck,” a 59-foot-tall inflatable sculpture created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, was on display for a month in Kaohsiung. The installation drew large crowds and inspired a tribute, performed by costumed young girls. This image appears in the January 2018 issue of National Geographicmagazine.
Visitors navigate an ice maze at the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Heilongjiang, China’s northernmost province. Beginning each December, more than a million people come to admire attractions such as full-size castles, sculptures, and a 15-story ice tower. This image appears in the December 2017 issue of National Geographicmagazine.
Mount Bromo, on the volcano-dotted island of Java, erupted for exactly one year, from November 12, 2015, to November 12, 2016. The cone emitted varying levels of ash and heat, disrupting flights and local tourism. This image appears in the November 2017 issue of National Geographicmagazine.
Raccoons cluster near a path in New York’s Central Park, hoping for handouts from nocturnal visitors. City officials say feeding the omnivorous mammals is risky—raccoons can carry rabies—and unnecessary, given how resourceful they are. It’s also illegal. This image appears in the October 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Dead monarch butterflies carpet a snowy forest floor in Michoacán state. At least nine million, over 40 percent of this colony, died after an unusually intense spring storm—possibly due to climate change—hit their mountain sanctuary. This image appears in the September 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine.
As summer temperatures soar, 96 fountains at the base of the Unisphere help visitors beat the heat in this long-exposure shot. The stainless steel globe in New York City’s Flushing Meadows Corona Park—140 feet tall, 120 feet in diameter, 350 tons—is a lasting reminder of the 1964-65 World’s Fair. Its rings symbolize three early orbital flights, heralding the dawn of the space age. This image appears in the August 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Decoratively dyed bundles of incense dry in Quang Phu Cau, a commune in Hanoi. The aromatic material—burned to mark life events and connect with the spirit realm—has been a hallmark of Vietnamese culture for thousands of years. This image appears in the June 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine.
A cloud of hungry migratory locusts descends on a tree near Isalo National Park. Swarms like this one—the result of a robust rainy season, when the insect’s population swells dramatically—appear once or twice a decade. This image appears in the May 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Matabei Sakura—a flowering, centuries-old cherry tree in Uda—blossoms beneath a starry sky in this long-exposure shot. Over 40 feet tall, with a trunk 10 feet around, the tree is named for a samurai warrior who died in the 17th century. This image appears in the April 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Like mushrooms sprouting in soil, wooden poles capped with ice poke free of the sea at an old port in Tallinn. Lit by the rising sun, these remnants of a dock on the Paljassaare Peninsula are visible due to an unusually low tide. This image appears in the March 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine.
A drifting jellyfish plays host to a small constellation of brittle stars. Scientists aren’t sure why the two invertebrate species sometimes unite. The salad-bowl-size jelly may offer the stars food, protection, or transportation. This image appears in the March 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine.
On a misty morning in London’s Richmond Park, a red deer stag bellows during mating season. From September to November, mature males roar and thrash the brush with their antlers to attract females, aka hinds, and to intimidate rivals. This image appears in the March 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine.
In Manitoba’s Wapusk National Park, a polar bear and her fourmonth-old cub nestle by a willow tree. Hungry mothers and cubs exit their birthing dens each spring—at the same time seal pups are born on pack ice in nearby Hudson Bay. This image appears in the February 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Braids of frost adorn beech and spruce trees on a ridge in the West Beskids. The discontinuous range— part of the ecologically important Carpathian Mountains—also spans Poland and Slovakia. This section has been protected since 1973. This image appears in the February 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine.
What’s black and white and bred all over? Pléneau Island, where gentoo penguins mate each spring. Here, a thousand or so of the big, flightless birds—average size: 12 pounds, 2.5 feet tall—get acquainted during a snowstorm. This image appears in the February 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine.
High above the village of Črni Vrh, fantastical ice formations—including spikes over a yard long—encase the trees and lookout tower atop Mount Javornik. The windswept ice, or hard rime, is the result of fog freezing after a week of snow and gales. This image appears in the December 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Off the coast of the Vava‘u islands, a newborn humpback whale—perhaps less than a week old—drifts near the placid surface. Already about 15 feet long, it could grow to 50 feet. These waters are a prime calving ground for the species. This image appears in the December 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
In the village of Deštné in the Orlické Mountains, an ice-encrusted house is a landmark for contestants in the Šediváčkův Long dogsled race. European mushers and up to 700 dogs compete in the annual four-day race, which covers 150-some miles. This image appears in the December 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
At a brick factory on the outskirts of Yangon, a swaddled baby sways in a makeshift hammock. The child’s mother works at the kiln, where she’s paid for each brick she manufactures. Many families work—and live—at the site. This image appears in the November 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
A dusty pastoral scene unfolds in Bitlis Province, where shepherds guide their flocks toward grazing areas near Nemrut Mountain. This arid part of eastern Turkey—with its harsh climate and scant arable land—is heavily reliant on livestock. This image appears in the November 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
In the Sonoran Desert near Red Rock, Arizona, a fast-moving electrical storm and a rainbow share the sky in this composite image. Several ranges in this part of Arizona—including the nearby Tortolita Mountains—help spawn thunder and lightning. This image appears in the November 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Above an abandoned house near Denton, Nebraska, a bruised summer sky crackles with atmospheric electricity. The phenomenon in this composite image—four shots taken within 20 minutes—is often called cloud-to-cloud lightning. This image appears in the October 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
As mist haunts the Black Forest, a sure-footed red fox makes its way up the trunk of a half-fallen Douglas fir tree. This resourceful species, found across the Northern Hemisphere, is a symbol of cunning in many cultures and mythologies. This image appears in the October 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
In a scene Dalí might have dreamed, rose-ringed parakeets flap to a roost in London’s Hither Green Cemetery. Thousands of the wild birds—a non-native species of debatable origin—live in the city. The trails appear via flash and long exposure. This image appears in the October 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
With the mating season under way, two common toads get intimately acquainted in a shallow of the Lez River. Their reproductive embrace—in which the smaller male clasps the female beneath her forelegs—is called axillary amplexus. This image appears in the August 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
On a frigid winter day in Andalusia’s Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park, a rain-fed pond ripples with color and life. Geranium leaves, frozen oxygen bubbles, and nutrient-rich algae share space beneath a thin sheet of ice scored with thaw lines. This image appears in the August 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
A harvest mouse—Europe’s smallest rodent—grooms itself on a hogweed flower head in a meadow near Moulton, England. This adult was raised in captivity, microchipped, and released as part of a study on how the elusive species survives. This image appears in the August 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
In Chiang Mai, floating lanterns set the night alight during the annual Yi Peng festival. The tradition, rooted in Buddhism, emphasizes reflection and spiritual cleansing. The lit lanterns, or khom loi, are hot-air balloons made of rice paper. This image appears in the July 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Against a velvet backdrop in a South Carolina lab tank, a mushroom coral resembles a blooming flower. These invertebrates are used for tissue explants, a type of plant propagation. Eighteen photos were stitched together to make this composite. This image appears in the July 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Seen from below, an autumn blaze of maple leaves is veined by a crooked lattice of trunks and branches at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. The Tokyo site is a hot spot for momijigari, the centuries-old Japanese tradition of viewing fall foliage. This image appears in the July 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Hundreds of brightly clad teammates form the base of a human tower during the biennial Concurs de Castells competition in Tarragona. The Catalonian cultural tradition dates to the 18th century. UNESCO officially recognized it in 2010. This image appears in the June 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
In a home aquarium in Kenora, tiny bubbles stipple the stems and skins of cherries submerged in soda water. Effervescence like this occurs when carbon dioxide saturates a liquid and clusters on smooth surfaces before rising and escaping. This image appears in the June 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
As two women sew fishnets in the village of Vinh Hy, waves of green fabric swell like a restive sea. Fish is a key source of protein in Vietnam. The country also has extensive shrimp and catfish farms, making it one of the world’s top seafood exporters. This image appears in the June 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
At a hotel in the suburbs of Nairobi, a Rothschild’s giraffe named Lynne spots an offer she can’t refuse: pellets of bran and molasses in the hand of Sala Carr-Hartley, age six. The 140-acre site is a sanctuary for the endangered subspecies. This image appears in the April 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
In the tall grass of West Bengal, a man in the vivid guise of a Hindu deity performs a Chhau dance—a martial mix of folk, tribal, and religious elements. These theatrical dances, staged at festivals in eastern India, reenact scenes from Sanskrit epics. This image appears in the April 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Moments after a recital, seven ballerinas relax backstage at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida. Most of the four- and five-year-old girls, who had just portrayed fairies onstage, were wearing makeup for the first time. This image appears in the April 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Sunset paints the sacred Meoto Iwa (“wedded rocks”) in pastel hues. Bound by heavy rice-straw ropes, the two stacks off the coast of Futami—Izanagi (left) and Izanami—symbolize the Shinto deities said to have created Japan. This image appears in the March 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Frigid meets florid in a garden in Hami, where a blooming tree, watered the night before, dangles ice during a two-day cold snap in April. This cold-tolerant species will survive to bloom next year, but the plunge damaged many crops in the area. This image appears in the March 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Young pupils in Sinuiju perform a dance routine for a group of Chinese tourists. The border town—separated from Dandong, China, by the Yalu River—has long been open to its neighbors. It began admitting some Western tourists in 2013. This image appears in the March 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine.
