The best photos from the shortlist of the 17th Smithsonian Photo Contest

The Smithsonian magazine Smithsonian - according to the Washington Post, one of the most popular publications in the United States - has determined the finalists of the annual photo contest. The awards will traditionally be held in six categories: "Wildlife", "People", "Travel", "American Experience", "Altered Images", as well as "Pictures taken on a mobile phone".

This year, the competition received more than 36 thousand applications from 145 countries. 60 works made it to the final, from which the winners will be chosen after an open online voting.

Janine Krayer was born in Germany, but has been working in African countries for many years. She filmed a female leopard in Chobe National Park in Botswana a few minutes before the storm. The animal is enjoying the last rays of the sun.

The woman in the photo is called Nalumu. In 2014, when she was returning home from the market, an unknown man attacked her and doused her with acid. Nalumu spent several months in the hospital. Her hands suffered the most. There are scars on Nalumu's body, because of which her neighbors now call her a monster. Now Nalumu lives with her family and makes necklaces for sale.

Another nominee in the "People" category is a portrait of Danish athlete Anders Hoffman, one of the founders of the Iceman project, whose goal is to show people that all limitations exist only in their perception. To do this, the Dane arranges a triathlon marathon in Antarctica: you need to swim 3.9 kilometers in icy water, ride 180 kilometers on a bicycle and run 42.2 kilometers.

Claressa Shields — the first American Olympic champion in boxing. A photo taken in June 2018 shows her fight with Hanna Gabriels from Costa Rica. On that day, Shields was knocked down at the end of the first round for the first time in her career. However, she still won the fight: the judges' decision was unanimous.

The picture of Matt Gillespie (Matt Gillespie) is presented in the nomination "American experience". The photo shows a house in Georgia, where a tornado passed through. Most of the trees around were felled by the elements, but the building survived, having received minimal damage.

A father and son are fishing in a cave in southern Vietnam during the rainy season. The photo is nominated for a victory in the category "Travel".

Indian Zayn James (Zhayynn James) photographs wildlife and always tries to make his pictures tell a story. Most often, James works in Africa and in the jungles of India.

The gray pelican, which lowered its head due to the weight of the water trapped in its throat bag, was photographed by James on the Kaveri River, sacred to Hindus.

A series of photographs by the Iranian Peyman Naderi is a tribute to the Dutch Renaissance artist Rogier van der Weyden. Nominated in the category "Altered Images", Naderi's work refers to Weyden's famous painting "Portrait of a Lady".

However, the Iranian tried to convey not only the artist's point of view, but also his own. That is why there are several pictures: some are close to the original, and on others it shows its own angle of view. According to Naderi, this can be seen as a competition between an artist and a photographer.

In the picture taken in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, a man poses on a scooter and with aquarium fish, which he delivers. Briton John Enoch chased delivery men on mopeds for a week, and then asked them to pose for a photo.

Photographer Dasha Pears is sure that every person conducts an internal dialogue.

In the project "Me and Myself" (Me and Myself), Pierce decided to show how the two parts, into which, in her opinion, everyone's personality is divided, interact with each other.

Photographer Tuan Nguyen Tan (Tuan Nguyen Tan) lives in Vietnam's largest city Ho Chi Minh City. He films mainly his native country. In the photo nominated for the victory in the category "Altered Images", he captured buffaloes crossing the lake in search of new sources of food, near the town of Tainin.

20-year-old Madina is a Dungan. They are a people who live mainly in Kyrgyzstan, Southern Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Dungans practice Islam. For a long time they practiced endogamy, that is, they married only within their own social group. Now Dungans can create families with representatives of other nations.

The photo shows Madina's wedding. Her head is covered with a red veil, after which she will go to the groom's house. Dungan wedding ceremonies are still largely focused on the traditions of the XIX century.