These are the amazing close up pictures of North Korea's mass games - after photographers were previously banned from taking shots so close to the dazzling formation dances.They feature over 100,000 people in the performing art displays that include tens of thousands of gymnasts synchronizing movements in line with a background of card-turners who entertain spectators. About 20,000 of them form the background to the show holding large books whose pages flip simultaneously to produce the huge displays.The rapid change of images sees one card exchanged for another in a swift and synchronized movement that takes hours of rehearsals and detailed choreography.Photographer Werner Kranwetvogel, 40, captured the stunning shots after he gained rare access to the communist country's public displays.
Playing, splashing and generally messing around, these polar bears show they certainly have a soft spot for the water, and not just each other .
She was the 18th century celebrity who made men faint in awe of her beauty by her very presence .
Villages on the Somerset Levels have faced weeks of flooding with no respite from the conditions in sight .
PILES of trash provide a living for thousands in Nairobi, Kenya .
FROM ICE bubbles to boiling lava, these photographs highlight the stunning shapes and patterns found in nature .
Standing on the edge of a never-ending black hole, this is one leap you wouldn't want to make .
WONDERS of the world have been transformed into their mini-versions in a seven-year round the world adventure .
A little caterpillar fearlessly scampers down a branch and confronts a praying mantis .
Pictures of John Anslow a prisoner who escaped from a prison escort van in North Worcestershire Monday, 23 January .
HUDDLING under a leaf, a pair of adorable Javan scops owls take shelter from the rain .
THIS is the awesome moment an Osprey catches its prey travelling at 50mph, giving new meaning to FAST FOOD .