National Geographic @natgeo

natgeo Photo by @gabrielegalimbertiphoto / From my Toy Stories series. This is Niko, 5, from Homer, Alaska. Toy Stories is an ongoing project—wherever I travel in the world, I take portraits of children with their favorite toys. In three years, I've visited over 50 countries, where I've recorded the spontaneous and natural joy that unites kids, despite their diverse backgrounds. Whether the child owns a veritable fleet of miniature cars or a single stuffed monkey, the pride that they have is moving, funny, and thought-provoking. Follow me @gabrielegalimbertiphoto for more photos and stories. #toys #play #kids #child #children

natgeo Photos by @andreabruce / Martin Luther King Day in Anacostia, a neighborhood in southeast Washington, D.C., usually includes a parade down Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue with high school bands, dance squads, candy and a lot of walking. This year, the parade didn’t happen due to COVID-19, but remnants of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy were still apparent. I went to Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue to see how residents were carrying on despite the canceled parade and the militarization of their city and asked them to reflect on this moment in history. "For democracy, what I would like to see is an equal education for all, children and adults," said Emma Ward, Ms. Senior D.C. 2011, seen in the second image, while volunteering on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.

natgeo Photo by Kris Graves @themaniwasnt / The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial located in downtown Washington, D.C., was opened to the public in 2011 and is administered by the National Park Service. The memorial’s design was inspired by a line from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech: “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” For more info on my work, please follow @kgpnyc and @themaniwasnt

natgeo Photo by Prasenjeet Yadav @prasen.yadav / Taking photos of snow leopards in the snow was quite challenging. Extreme cold shutting off the camera trap, killing the battery of either the camera or the flashlights, snowfall blinding the lens, etc. This was one instance when the technology worked fine, but the cat's curiosity killed the image. One of the cubs got curious about the trap and flashlight and ran ahead to inspect it and unexpectedly triggered the camera. I wish all three individuals were entirely in the frame, as this was so close to what I wanted. I still love the way the female is standing and looking at the camera. Snow leopards live a long life, and that's where camera trapping becomes essential in understanding their long-term population dynamics. This female, along with other individuals in the landscape, has been photographed by the research camera traps of Snow Leopard Trust over the years. Himachal Pradesh, India. Follow me @prasen.yadav for more photos from the extremely biodiverse states of India and parts of Central Asia.

natgeo Photo by @kiliiiyuyan / Beluga whales are trapped by chunks of young sea ice broken apart by wind. They remained in this small open area for several days until the young ice dispersed. Yugu Ningeok, from the Alaskan village of Utqiagvik, remembers touching one when he was a child. “I lay quiet on the ice and hundreds passed by." Follow me @kiliiiyuyan for more about the human relationship to wildlife. #alaska #whale #arcti

natgeo Photo by @celestesloman / This is a self-portrait taken with my youngest brother Schuyler on Block Island, Rhode Island, where we quarantined together for part of the COVID-19 pandemic. Block Island has a small community and no hospital on the island itself, so the community has taken measures to protect its aging population from COVID-19. Schuyler is currently a junior in college and is unsure if he will be able to go back to school amid the uncertainty and changes that have occurred during the pandemic.

natgeo Photo by Robbie Shone @shonephoto / Underground in Slovenia, the main Grand Canyon-like passage of Škocjanske jama, a deep gorge that has been carved out over hundreds of thousands of years as the Reka River made its way to sea.

natgeo Photo by David Guttenfelder @dguttenfelder / Young Choi takes a photo of her dog Winston in front of the security fence and National Guard vehicles guarding the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Choi lives in D.C. and routinely walks her dog or bikes the same area. "The sad thing is that we don't know when or if it will ever be normal again," she said.

natgeo Photo by @johnstanmeyer / Roads leading to the Capitol Building have been blocked by the National Guard and other law enforcement in Washington, D.C., days before the Inauguration.

natgeo Photo by @tamaramerino_photography / Self-portrait submerged in water. There are good days and there are days that are not so good. There are moments that overwhelm me with anxiety, uncertainty, and despair. There are moments when I dream as if I am awake in strange worlds, and when the night comes, I cannot fall asleep. I don't know what is really going on outside my four concrete walls anymore, other than what I can see on a cold glass screen, without a human’s heat, without an animal’s smell. Santiago, Chile, was in strict lockdown for over 145 days, so this photo explores the connection between myself and nature, highlighting the role of the environment in society’s collective well-being and what we stand to lose when that connection ruptures. This photo is part of my series “Quarantine Diary” that documents my life during the pandemic. Follow me on @tamaramerino_photography for more. #coronavirus #covid19 #lockdown

natgeo Photo by Muhammed Muheisen @mmuheisen / A couple years ago, I spent time on the world’s only floating animal sanctuary, in Amsterdam. De Poezenboot, Dutch for “the catboat,” hosts around 50 stray and abandoned cats, 17 of which are permanent residents that have lived on the boat for several years. Day after day, you become part of their environment; you're just another big cat to them. This is Kasumi, one of the permanent residents. For more photos and videos from different parts of the world, follow me @mmuheisen and @mmuheisenpublic . #muhammedmuheisen #Amsterdam #Netherlands #cat

natgeo Photo by David Guttenfelder @dguttenfelder / Mark Weissner fires a handgun at the 5 Star Firearms firing range in Zion, Illinois. Weissner, who manages the range, said the lanes are popular and packed daily. There was a run on firearms and ammunition immediately after violence broke out in neighboring Kenosha, Wisconsin, at the end of August: “Our inventory started out at around 500 firearms. We were all of a sudden down to six. It looked like we’d been robbed.” Demand has continued through the fall and winter, he said. A majority of buyers now, he noted, are first-time gun owners not of any one race or gender. “People who you would never expect to be armed are armed,” he said. Follow along with me as I drive to Washington, D.C., from my home in Minneapolis, stopping along the way to photograph this moment in the U.S.