Photography

Photos of the Week: Humanoid Olympiad, Finger Wrestling, Haystack Rock

Sea lions in San Diego, a slippery-pole contest in Malta, the Balls of Fire festival in El Salvador, the World Tango Championship in Argentina, and much more

By Alan Taylor
A line of pyrotechnic displays and fireworks erupt as stunt planes fly overhead.
Andreea Alexandru / AP
Pyrotechnics go off as the Air Bandits aerobatic team performs above the runway of the Aurel Vlaicu International Airport, at the Bucharest International Air Show in Bucharest, Romania, on August 30, 2025.
A person wearing a frightening clown mask poses in front of a fiery background.
Jose Cabezas / Reuters
A masked man participates in the Bolas de Fuego (“Balls of Fire”) festival to remember the fight of Saint Geronimo against the devil with balls of fire, in Nejapa, El Salvador, on August 31, 2025.
A person walks on solidified lava, past flowing hot lava
Giuseppe Distefano / AFP / Getty
A man stands near a lava flow on Italy’s Mount Etna on August 28, 2025.
People walk on a mountain slope, past thousands of small lights arranged on the ground.
Zhang Xiaoliang / VCG / Getty
Tourists visit the Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring scenic spot, illuminated by thousands of solar-powered lights, in Dunhuang, Gansu province, China, on August 28, 2025.
Visitors to a night market with shops lining a canal look on as a performer sings on a boat passing by.
VCG / VCG / Getty
The singer Easyone performs during an open-air concert on a river in the town of Zhouzhuang, in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, China, on August 30, 2025.
People ride on a parade float shaped like a person's face covered in colorful flowers.
Nacho Cubero / Europa Press / Getty
A person in costume rides on a parade float during the 114th edition of the Battle of Flowers of Laredo, on August 29, 2025, in Laredo, Cantabria, Spain.
Several lines of soldiers march in unison during a parade.
Andy Wong / AP
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan’s World War II surrender, military personnel take part in a parade held in front of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, China, on September 3, 2025.
A protester swings a bamboo stick toward a group of riot police officers holding shields.
Bay Ismoyo / AFP / Getty
A woman strikes a police officer with a bamboo stick as police push back students during a protest outside the parliament building against lawmakers’ demands for higher allowances in Jakarta, Indonesia, on August 28, 2025.
A tennis player takes selfies with fans in the stands, many of whom are holding large tennis balls.
Pamela Smith / AP
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus takes photos with fans after defeating Spain’s Cristina Bucsa during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, on August 31, 2025, in New York.
A leaping dog catches a frisbee in its teeth
Jaap Arriens / NurPhoto / Getty
A dog catches a flying disc during the Zawody Latających Psów (“Flying Dogs Competition”) in Warsaw, Poland, on August 30, 2025.
A man strains as he wrestles with another man, each pulling on a short string with one finger.
Michaela Stache / AFP / Getty
Competitors face off during the 70th Bavarian finger-wrestling (Fingerhakeln) championships in Mittenwald, Germany, on August 31, 2025.
Four girls lean and lay on top of each other while sitting on a bench inside a bomb shelter.
Paula Bronstein / Getty
Students rest in a shelter at the Kyiv State Music Lyceum on the second day of classes, during an air-raid alert that lasted for more than three hours on September 2, 2025, in Kyiv, Ukraine. The start of a new school year for Ukrainian children after three years of war means dealing with the constant threat of attacks, and on some nights a lack of sleep in city shelters.
A group of photographers leans in to take pictures of Robert F. Kennedy Junior, who sits at a table before a Senate committee.
Andrew Harnik / Getty
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives to testify before the Senate Finance Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on September 4, 2025.
Several students sit at desks during a class in a windowless school room.
Evgeniy Maloletka / AP
Children draw during a lesson in the basement of a municipal building on the first day of school in Bobryk, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine, on September 1, 2025.
A pair of dancers, seen during a tango competition
Natacha Pisarenko / AP
Leandro Bojko and Micaela García compete in the stage-category finals of the World Tango Championship, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on September 2, 2025.
A humanoid robot wearing boxing gloves pretends to fight with a human being.
Thanassis Stavrakis / AP
Aadeel Akhtar, the CEO and Founder of Psyonic, playfully spars with the Unitree G1 robot at the First International Humanoid Olympiad in Olympia, Greece, on September 1, 2025.
A squirrel stands on its hind legs on the handlebars of a scooter, looking straight at the camera.
Alexander Nemenov / AFP / Getty
A squirrel begs for food from a scooter driver in a park in Moscow, Russia, on September 2, 2025.
A person falls into the water of a harbor, after falling off of a greased pole during a festival.
Darrin Zammit Lupi / Reuters
A competitor falls off the gostra, a wooden pole covered in lard, during celebrations of the religious feast of Saint Julian, patron of the town of St. Julian’s, Malta, on August 31, 2025.
A boy lays down on a beach, with a tall rock formation visible in the background.
Jenny Kane / AP
Makai Gates plays on the beach, with Haystack Rock in the background, in Cannon Beach, Oregon, on August 30, 2025.
A line of cable cars runs alongside steep mountain slopes in Hong Kong.
Calvin Ng / Imago / Nexpher Images / Reuters
Cable cars move through Ocean Park in Hong Kong, China, on September 3, 2025.
A small statue of Buddha, carved into a recess in a rock
Ayse Irem Cakir / Anadolu / Getty
One of hundreds of Buddhist carvings in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, photographed on August 19, 2025.
Two people pose for photographs while standing near the edge of a tall cliff in Yosemite National Park.
Apu Gomes / Getty
Visitors stand on a rock ledge at Taft Point, looking into Yosemite Valley under a smoky sky from the ongoing Garnet Fire, on September 1, 2025, in Yosemite National Park, in California.
People stand on a cantilevered observation deck in Moscow, seen at sunset.
Olesya Kurpyayeva / AFP / Getty
People visit Zaryadye Park at sunset in Moscow, Russia, on September 4, 2025.
A shepherd walks through a field, with the tall tower of a solar plant in the background, with many reflected rays of sunlight seen pointing towards its top.
Themba Hadebe / AP
A shepherd watches livestock near Khi Solar One, a solar-thermal plant that converts sunlight into electricity, outside Upington, in the Northern Cape province, South Africa, on August 29, 2025.
The burned-out shell of a building, seen during a wildfire.
Tracy Barbutes / Reuters
A property in Chinese Camp burns as the 6-5 Fire continues in Tuolumne County, California, on September 2, 2025.
A top-down aerial view of a winding Road through a densely populated part of San Francisco.
Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu / Getty
Cars drive along Lombard Street in San Francisco, California, on August 30, 2025.
A dog wades through deep floodwater.
Niharika Kulkarni / AFP / Getty
A dog wades through a flooded lane at the Manikarnika Ghat, after the water level of the Ganges River rose following upstream flooding, in Varanasi, India, on August 28, 2025.
A sea lion lurches through shallow surf toward the beach, with a person visible in the foreground.
Mike Blake / Reuters
A woman walks into the ocean as a sea lion makes its way to the beach in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, on September 3, 2025.

About the Author

Alan Taylor is a senior editor at The Atlantic.