Wednesday, May 13, 2026
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Photos of the Week: Met Gala, Beagle Rescue, Power Nap

Storks return to their nests in Iraq, scenes from the 61st Venice Biennale, a huge Shakira concert in Rio de Janeiro, a historic suspension-railroad train in Germany, and much more

This article was originally published by The Atlantic and is republished here under license.
A beautiful longhaired dog sits on grass.
Marcin Golba / NurPhoto / Getty
A Finnish lapphund pauses after fetching a ball in Łuczyce, Poland, on May 1, 2026.
A dog lays down and cools off under a faucet outside.
Martin Bernetti / AFP / Getty
A dog cools off under a stream of water during high temperatures at Omar Torrijos Herrera Recreational and Cultural Park in Panama City on May 3, 2026.
An artistic swimmer throws off a broad spray of water as they flip in the air.
Lintao Zhang / Getty
Team Japan competes in the Team Acrobatic final during Day 3 of the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup at Xi’an Olympic Sports Center Natatorium in Xi’an, China, on May 3, 2026.
Illuminated drones form the shape of Darth Vader in the sky above a city during a drone show.
Ahn Young-joon / AP
A Star Wars–themed drone show celebrated Star Wars Day at a park along the Han River in Seoul, South Korea.
A performer hangs upside down inside a large bell.
Marco Bertorello / AFP / Getty
A dancer performs in “Seaworld Venice” by the Austrian artist and choreographer Florentina Holzinger in the Austrian Pavilion during the preopening press view of the 61st Venice Biennale in Venice, Italy, on May 5, 2026.
A historic suspension rail car travels along beneath an elevated track.
Federico Gambarini / DPA / Getty
The so-called Kaiserwagen of the Wuppertal suspension railway pulls into Werther Brücke station in Wuppertal, Germany, on May 7, 2026. The historic train, recently renovated, is used for special occasions such as weddings.
A person swims in a transparent acrylic swimming pool bridge, seen from below.
Carlos Jasso / AFP / Getty
A person swims in the Sky Pool, a transparent, acrylic swimming-pool bridge between apartment blocs, on a sunny day in South London, May 2, 2026.
People fly colorful kites during a kite festival.
Giuseppe Cottini / Getty
People fly colorful kites during the Artevento Cervia 46th International Kite Festival on May 2, 2026, in Cervia, Italy.
A drone view of a giant sand portrait of David Attenborough on a beach
Phil Noble / Reuters
A drone view shows an artist from the Sand In Your Eye art team putting the finishing touches on a giant sand portrait of David Attenborough to mark the conservationist’s 100th birthday, on the beach in Morecambe, England, May 6, 2026.
More than a dozen tall video screens stand among a large crowd on a beach watching Shakira perform in concert.
Bruna Prado / AP
Fans pack the shores of Copacabana Beach to watch a free concert by Shakira in Rio de Janeiro on May 2, 2026.
Tourists ride a sightseeing train past horse-themed paddy field paintings.
Fang Yongtao / VCG / Getty
Tourists ride a sightseeing train past horse-themed paddy-field paintings in a scenic area in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, on May 4, 2026.
Three dogs wearing goggles pose for a photo at a tulip farm.
Mert Alper Dervis / Anadolu / Getty
Dogs wearing goggles pose for a photo at a tulip farm in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, on May 4, 2026.
People cycle past a humanoid robot police officer in China.
Agatha Cantrill / AFP / Getty
People cycle past a humanoid-robot police officer in Hangzhou, in China’s Zhejiang province, on May 3, 2026. The city’s traffic police deployed 15 humanoid robots in total to bolster their ranks during a national holiday.
Heidi Klum arrives at the Met Gala, wearing a costume that makes her look like a carved marble statue with a veil and gown.
Evan Agostini / Invision / AP
Heidi Klum arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit celebrating the opening of the “Costume Art” exhibition on May 4, 2026, in New York City.
A close view of Teyana Taylor wearing a shimmering, silvery flowing garment and hood.
Angela Weiss / AFP / Getty
The performer Teyana Taylor arrives at the 2026 Met Gala in New York City on May 4, 2026.
A person looks up at a tall waterfall along a steep plant-covered cliff.
Jenny Kane / AP
Joevanni Leyva looks up at Horsetail Falls on May 2, 2026, in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon.
A bus drives down a dirt road through a hilly desert area. The hills are remarkably striped with multiple colors.
Hu Zhichao / VCG / Getty
A view of the Qicai Danxia Scenic Area, also known as Colorful Danxia Scenic Spot, at Zhangye National Geopark on May 1, 2026, in China’s Gansu province
An aerial view of an expanse of lake water, roughly split in half with the left side being muddy water and the right side being clear blue water.
Ozkan Bilgin / Anadolu / Getty
Melting snow and heavy rainfall filled a stream with muddy water, which flowed into Lake Van, on May 5, 2026, in Van, Turkey.
A gallery attendant sits in a corner beside two tall walls covered in hundreds of photographs.
Marco Bertorello / AFP / Getty
A gallery attendant sits next to “Los Restos” by Spanish artist Oriol Villanova in the Spanish Pavilion during the pre-opening press view of the 61st Venice Biennale in Venice on May 5, 2026.
Two sisters prepare dozens of food plates on the rooftop of their house in Gaza.
Majdi Fathi / NurPhoto / Getty
Palestinian sisters Lina Zeid (right) and Aya Zeid prepare food plates on the rooftop of their house to distribute among displaced children as a charity in the Al-Tuam area, west of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on May 6, 2026.
A view of terraced fields on a steep slope in China
Costfoto / NurPhoto / Getty
A view of Jiabang terraced fields in Congjiang County, Guizhou province, China, on May 5, 2026
A farmer removes weeds from a wheat field with a hand tool.
CFoto / Future Publishing / Getty
A farmer removes weeds from a wheat field in Qingzhou City, Shandong province, China, on May 6, 2026.
A pair of storks stand on a nest atop a power pole, seen at sunset.
Ahsan Mohammed Ahmed Ahmed / Anadolu / Getty
Storks begin to appear with the arrival of spring in Duhok, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, on May 5, 2026.
Two people, one with a bagpipe, walk on a wall, leading a procession below them toward a pier.
Jane Barlow / PA Images / Getty
Convenor of the Gaudie, Thomas Payne, and the piper Joshua Neville lead fellow students from the University of St Andrews, in Scotland, wearing their traditional red gowns, in the Gaudie, a procession through the town and down to the pier. The annual Gaudie commemorates the former student John Honey, who in 1800 rescued members of the crew of the Janet of Macduff, which had run aground off the East Sands.
A flock of flamingos flies over wetlands.
Yavuz Görür / Anadolu / Getty
A flock of flamingos flies over Akgöl reeds in the Ereğli district of Konya, Turkey, on May 1, 2026, a key stopover on migratory routes and a popular destination for nature enthusiasts.
A horse peeks over a wall inside a stable.
Hussein Faleh / AFP / Getty
An Arabian horse peeks over a wall inside a stable at Al-Afandi Academy in the Iraqi city of Basra on May 5, 2026.
A woman holds a rescued beagle.
Eric Cox / Reuters
A woman holds a beagle that was rescued from Ridglan Farms, a commercial breeding facility that supplies dogs to animal-testing laboratories, as the animals—the first of more than 1,500 to be released—were prepared for adoption in Marshall, Wisconsin, on May 4, 2026.
Several people nap together outside, wearing masks over their eyes, during a napping contest.
Kim Soo-hyeon / Reuters
Participants sleep during the 2026 Power Nap contest at Han River park in Seoul, South Korea, on May 2, 2026.

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