Photography

Photos of the Week: Cave Lights, Mountain Shepherd, Snowbirds Formation

Major storm damage in coastal Alaska, a scene from São Paulo Fashion Week, a 700-year-old mosque in Mali, a Radio City Rockettes rehearsal in Manhattan, and much more

By Alan Taylor
Purple blossoms fill a field in front of autumn-colored trees.
Patrick Pleul / DPA / Getty
Purple Phacelia blossoms bloom in a field in front of autumn-colored trees in the Oder-Spree district of Brandenburg, Germany, on October 12, 2025.
A shepherd raises his arms in front of a herd of sheep.
Dominika Zarzycka / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty
Baca leads about 1,200 sheep in Nowy Targ, Podhale, in the Polish part of the Tatra Mountains, as the sheep-grazing season ends, on October 12, 2025. This ceremonial annual migration of the sheep is called redyk, celebrated as a festive time by highlanders from the Tatra Mountain region and the wider Carpathian area.
Several people ride horses in shallow water.
Sue Ogrocki / AP
Jennifer Jellison (front), a veterinarian from Canton, Ohio, rides her horse named I Believe in Magic at Cleveland Metroparks Edgewater Beach on October 10, 2025, during a Ride the Beach event in Cleveland.
Visitors walk through a cave that is illuminated by multi-colored lights.
Matthias Bein / DPA / Getty
A Halloween-themed light show greets visitors to the Barbarossa Cave in Kyffhäuserland, Germany, on October 12, 2025.
A cat walks on debris in a church damaged by a Russian military strike.
Oleg Petrasiuk / Ukrainian Armed Forces / Reuters
A cat walks on debris in a church damaged by a Russian military strike in the front-line town of Kostiantynivka, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, amid Russia’s ongoing invasion, on October 13, 2025.
Freed Palestinian prisoners gesture through a large bus window.
Ramadan Abed / Reuters
Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel as part of a swap of hostages and prisoners in a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 13, 2025.
A man attempts to remove parts of a razor-wire barrier.
Eyad Baba / AFP / Getty
A man attempts to remove parts of a razor-wire barrier at the so-called Netzarim corridor near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on October 10, 2025, as people make their way back to Gaza City.
A mallard flaps its wings while floating in a pond.
Martin Lelievre / AFP / Getty
A mallard flaps its wings at the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, on October 12, 2025.
A rat runs onto the pitch during a soccer match.
Charlotte Wilson / Offside / Getty
A rat runs onto the pitch during the Group J FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Wales and Belgium at Cardiff City Stadium on October 13, 2025, in Cardiff, Wales.
An aerial view of jockeys riding small carts behind horses on a track, casting long shadows
Lee Smith / Reuters
Jockeys and horses compete during harness racing in York, England, on October 11, 2025.
Members of the Radio City Rockettes rehearse in a studio.
Jeenah Moon / Reuters
Members of the Radio City Rockettes rehearse ahead of the 100th-anniversary season of the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes in Manhattan, New York City, on October 14, 2025.
A view of a historic church next to fields and vineyards on an autumn day in France
Sebastien Bozon / AFP / Getty
This aerial photograph shows a view of the Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur Church next to fields and vineyards on an autumn day in Hunawihr, Alsace, France, on October 15, 2025.
A close view of a Sri Lankan junglefowl, looking much like a chicken
Thilina Kaluthotage / NurPhoto / Getty
A Sri Lankan junglefowl, the country’s national bird, at Horton Plains National Park in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka, on October 15, 2025
Anti-I.C.E. protesters in dinosaur costumes dance outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland.
Mathieu Lewis-Rolland / Getty
Anti-ICE protesters in dinosaur costumes dance outside of the ICE building in Portland, Oregon, on October 12, 2025.

A large rocket lifts off from a ship.
AFP / Getty
A Gravity-1 rocket lifts off from a launch ship in the waters off Haiyang, in China’s Shandong province, on October 11, 2025. The rocket, claimed to be the world biggest solid-fuel carrier rocket, was making its second launch, carrying a wide-field satellite and two experimental satellites into orbit.
A large crowd of people gather around an ancient mosque, built of mud and brick, repairing and replastering it.
Hameye Capii / AFP / Getty
Residents gather during the annual replastering of the Djinguereber Mosque, in Timbuktu, Mali, on October 12, 2025. The 2025 replastering marks the 700th anniversary of the construction of this mosque, erected in the 14th century during the reign of Emperor Kankou Moussa.
A nighttime aerial view of a collection of illuminated cabins situated around a larger Tibetan building
VCG / Getty
Log cabins are illuminated in the Seda Wuming Buddhist College (also known as Larung Gar Buddhist Academy) in Sertar County, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, China, on October 13, 2025.
a18_G-2240532575.jpg
Gerardo Vieyra / NurPhoto / Getty
A person wears makeup and costume, dressed as La Catrina, alongside authorities from the Xochimilco mayor’s office in Mexico City, where a press conference was held to announce various cultural activities to commemorate the Day of the Dead in Mexico on November 1 of this year, on October 13, 2025.
a19_AP25286693143484.jpg
Ettore Chiereguini / AP
A model wears a creation from the Gloria Coelho collection during a São Paulo Fashion Week event at the Júlio Prestes train station in São Paulo, on October 13, 2025.
A person poses, leaning on a small lunar rover.
Dan Himbrechts / AAPIMAGE / Reuters
Lunar Outpost’s mechanical engineer Chloe Chang poses with the Australian Space Agency’s Roo-ver during South by Southwest Sydney, in Sydney, Australia, on October 15, 2025.
A football player kicks a ball, seen in silhouette.
Quinn Rooney / Getty
Georgia Patrikios of the St. Kilda Saints kicks during the AFLW Round 9 match between the Saints and the Collingwood Magpies at RSEA Park in Melbourne, Australia, on October 12, 2025.
a22_G-2240610551.jpg
Patrick Pleul / DPA / Getty
The Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds fly in formation above Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, California, during Fleet Week on October 11, 2025.
An aerial view of a very blue-colored lake, beside dry and bare mountain slopes.
Bao Gansheng / VCG / Getty
An aerial view of Bandir Blue Lake in Kashgar Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, on October 10, 2025
A great blue heron stands beside a “no fishing” sign.
Ronen Tivony / NurPhoto / Getty
A great blue heron stands beside a no fishing sign at Lake Eola Park in Orlando, Florida.
Houses in a neighborhood, seen beside the front edge of an older lava flow that has cooled and hardened atop the ruins of at least one house.
Marco di Marco / AP
A house destroyed by lava is visible on October 10, 2025, on the edge of a hardened lava flow that reached Grindavik, Iceland, during an eruption on January 14, 2024.
An aerial view of a flooded plain and village in Alaska, following a devastating storm.
Alaska National Guard / Anadolu / Getty
The Alaska Air National Guard conducts a search-and-rescue mission following the remnants of Typhoon Halong that caused severe damage in Kipnuk, Alaska, on October 13, 2025. The storm caused major flooding and damage in several coastal Alaskan villages, and hundreds of residents have been airlifted to safety.
A chair that washed up in a storm sits in a patch of trees.
Allison Joyce / AP
A chair that washed up in a storm sits in a patch of trees surrounded by debris in Buxton, North Carolina, on October 13, 2025.
Athletes run in a race, seen silhouetted against a low sun.
Ezra Shaw / Getty for Ironman
Athletes compete in the running portion of the 2025 Ironman World Championship Women’s Race on October 11, 2025, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

About the Author

Alan Taylor is a senior editor at The Atlantic.