Even if you travel 365 days a year around the world throughout your whole life, you’ll never be able to see everything our world has to offer. There are small, hidden parts that can be only be taken in for a moment, but fortunately, many photographers have set themselves the goal of capturing all those moments and sharing them with us. Enjoy 16 amazing photos that took part in the Smithsonian Museum's annual photography competition, all of which reveal sights you would probably not have seen otherwise.
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1. "Lion’s Mane Jellyfish" - Photo: Martin Prochazka
This jellyfish is being tempted by some plankton.
2. "Split Screen" - Photo: Jassen Todorov
In the picture you can see an industrial pond in New Mexico, taken from a height of 300 meters from which it looks like a perfect oil painting.
"Downstairs" - Photo: Klaus Lenzen
This photo was taken in a government building in the Reichstag area of Berlin. The photographer waited a long time until someone came down the stairs, and it paid off.
"Seeing Double” - Photo: Vikas Datta
Seagulls glide over a beach and create a shadow that seems to double the number of birds in the air.
5. "My Post-Irma Street" - Photo: Sandra Portal-Andreu
This picture was taken after Hurricane Irma hit Miami. The boy in the picture is the photographer's 5-year-old son.
6. "Yaks beside Pangong Lake" - Photo: Yusuf Chiniwala
Yaks are a regular sight in Tibet, and these yaks were given a refreshing stop next to Pangong Lake, where they were able to eat beside in such a stunning environment.
7. "Renewal" - Photo: Meaghan Ogilvie
This picture was taken underwater and inverted, so the top is actually the bottom of the pool.
8. "The King" - Photo: Fredo Jarko Krebs
Portrait of a Griffon vulture.
9. "Salt Field Workers" - Photo: Matty Karp
Women working in a salt field in Vietnam.
10. "Leather Drying in Dhaka" - Photo: Erberto Zani
This woman works in a leather factory on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The pieces of leather scattered on the floor will become wallets, belts, and shoes that will be sold all over the world.
11. "Rhino from Chitwan" - Photo: Tania Sharapova
About 600 rhinos live in Chitwan National Park, and the photographer described their photography as an amazing experience. She was instructed to climb a tree if a rhinoceros ran in her direction, but in the area where she photographed there were hardly any trees to climb, so she was very afraid.
12. "Birthplace of Statue" - Photo: Aung Ya
In the photo, you can see a sculptor sculpting a statue with full concentration.
13. "Stepping out of the Shadows" - Photo: Laurence Bouchard
A woman with a striped umbrella passes through gates that cast a long shadow.
14. "Shadow Highlight" - Photo: Mohammad Mohsenifar
Two women walk down the street with graffiti.
15. "Beat the Heat" - Photo: Philip Am Guay
Children enjoying sprinklers in the play area of a mall in Cebu City, Philippines.
16. "A Perfect Flutter - Photo: Sirsendu Gayen
This picture was taken in India in the Ganges region. The photographer was very fond of the movement of the cloth that fluttered in the wind.
