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PHOTOS: 10 bronze statues of inspirational women in NYC by Statues for Equality"

Statues for Equality is a global mission to balance gender representation in public statues and honor women’s contribution to society. Gender inequality is among the most critical issues facing the world today, and having a public display of inspirational women for the world to see is a tangible step humanity can make toward a more equal society. Sadly the representation of female statues in most western countries is less than 4 percent.

On Woman’s Equality Day in New York City, Statues for Equality was launched and history was made with some of the world’s most influential woman. Ten inspirational and larger-than-life bronze female statues were unveiled on the iconic Avenue of the Americas to increase female representation in public art statues, from 3 percent to 9 percent overnight. Among these women are Oprah Winfrey, Jane Goodall, Cate Blanchett, P!nk and Nicole Kidman.

It was a long and complicated process to make sure each of the statues was a depiction of the woman precisely how she wanted to be seen. The artists began with a portrait study. To better understand the individual faces, artists Gillie and Marc began by first sketching, then painting the faces of each woman.

This process, starting in 2D, is important for developing the expressions and to allow the individual personalities to shine through when crafting the clay mold and transforming them into bronze masterpieces. Painted on fabric from around the world, they represent the diversity of womankind. Each painting has its own texture, shape and feel. From there, the artists collaborated with the women further. Each woman decided her own pose, outfit and flower on which to stand for her statue in bronze.

Gillie and Marc now want to expand their project around the world, with the goal of reaching complete gender equality of public sculptures — 50 percent —across the globe by 2025. (Statues for Equality)

Photography by Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News

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PHOTOS: Feeling the pain and joy of running the New York City Marathon

More than 50,000 people participated in the New York City Marathon this year. For many runners, by the time they crossed the Queensboro Bridge and entered Manhattan on First Avenue near the mile 16 point they were starting to feel the effects in their bodies and it was beginning to show on their faces. Here’s a look at how stressful it can be to compete in the New York City Marathon. (Yahoo News)

Photography by Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News

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Then and now: One year after devastating Paradise California wildfire

It has been one year since the Camp Fire ripped through the town of Paradise, Calif., charring over 150,000 acres, killing 85 people and destroying more than 18,000 homes and businesses.

After the fire, which was the deadliest in state history, the population of the town fell from roughly 26,000 residents to just over 2,000 and left many who still lived in nearby communities wondering how safe they really are. (Yahoo News)

Photography by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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PHOTOS: Feeling the pain and joy of running the New York City Marathon

More than 50,000 people participated in the New York City Marathon this year. For many runners, by the time they crossed the Queensboro Bridge and entered Manhattan on First Avenue near the mile 16 point they were starting to feel the effects in their bodies and it was beginning to show on their faces. Here’s a look at how stressful it can be to compete in the New York City Marathon. (Yahoo News)

Photography by Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News

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Then and now: One year after devastating Paradise California wildfire

It has been one year since the Camp Fire ripped through the town of Paradise, Calif., charring over 150,000 acres, killing 85 people and destroying more than 18,000 homes and businesses.

After the fire, which was the deadliest in state history, the population of the town fell from roughly 26,000 residents to just over 2,000 and left many who still lived in nearby communities wondering how safe they really are. (Yahoo News)

Photography by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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PHOTOS: Fluorescent turtle embryo wins forty-fifth annual Nikon Small World Competition

Nikon Instruments Inc. today announced the winners of the forty-fifth annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition. First place was awarded to microscopy technician Teresa Zgoda and recent university graduate Teresa Kugler for their visually stunning and painstakingly prepared photo of a turtle embryo. Captured using fluorescence and stereo microscopy, the colorful final image is a masterful example of image-stitching.

Image-stitching is an imaging technique that required the 2019 winning pair to stack and stitch together hundreds of images to create the final image of their turtle. Adding to the challenge was the size and thickness of the turtle embryo. Creating the final image required precision, patience, and deep imaging expertise, as the organism’s size meant only very small parts of the turtle could be imaged on the focal plane at a time.

Both Kugler and Zgoda are passionate micro-photographers, saying microscopy is a hobby that allows them to spend time on their dual passions of science and creative pursuits. Their winning image perfectly exemplifies the blend of science and art Nikon Small World aims to bring to the public each year. Zgoda currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts, Kugler in New York.

“Microscopy lets us zoom in on the smallest organisms and building blocks that comprise our world – giving us a profound appreciation for the small things in life that far too often go unnoticed,” said Kugler, “It allows me to do science with a purpose.”

“We are inspired by the beautiful images we see through the microscope,” added Zgoda, “It’s humbling and deeply fulfilling to be able to share that science with other people.”

“The Nikon Small World competition has been bringing stunning scientific images to the public for 45 years now,” said Eric Flem, Communications Manager, Nikon Instruments, “Our goal has always been to show the world how art and science intersect. As new imaging and microscopy techniques develop over the years, our winners showcase these technology advances more and more creatively. First place this year is no exception.”

Second place was awarded to Nikon Small World veteran Dr. Igor Siwanowicz for his composite image of three single-cell freshwater protozoans, sometimes called “trumpet animalcules.” He used confocal microscopy to capture the detail of the cilia, tiny hairs used by the animals for feeding and locomotion.

In third place is Mr. Daniel Smith Paredes, who placed for his image of a developing American alligator embryo. He snapped this photo at around 20 days of development using immunofluorescence and is studying the development and evolution of vertebrate anatomy.

In addition to the top three winners, Nikon Small World recognized 86 photos out of thousands of entries from scientists and artists across the globe. (Nikon)

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Photos: Stunning lipstick art from makeup artist Tutushka features oceans, flowers, and food

This makeup artist is blowing minds with her stunning lip art. The incredible designs are 3D and include seashells, seashores, fruit, chocolate, pizza and even animals.

The artist, Tutushka from Nikolaev, Ukraine, has been a professional makeup artist for 15 years and started her journey into makeup art by winning a lipstick-art contest.

Tutushka has amassed thousands of likes on her pictures and has almost hit 50,000 followers by sharing her creative designs. (Caters News)

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PHOTOS: Animal Shutterbugs

Animals and cameras, it’s always a recipe for hilarity. Here are some of our favorite snaps we have seen recently, including curious lion cubs and a squirrel who wanted to have a go at being an amateur snapper. (Caters News)

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PHOTOS: In monochrome — Venezuelan fishermen among oil ruins

The landscape of Venezuela’s once robust oil industry lies all around fishermen and their families who live in villages clustered on the edge of Lake Maracaibo. Their struggles on a briny bay fouled by petroleum seeps and derelict oil rigs are etched onto their faces and stained into their clothes.

Seeing these people and this place on an earlier reporting trip, veteran Associated Press photographer Rodrigo Abd knew he had to go back. This time, he set down his lightning-fast digital Canon and spread the tripod of his 19th century-style box camera to make black and white portraits of the fishermen and the industrial decay they call home.

The Argentine-born photographer had turned the lens of his box camera before on subjects in Guatemala, Afghanistan, Mexico and the streets of his home-base of Lima, Peru, documenting a spectrum of life’s emotions, from joy to tragedy. He felt the slower pace and mood of box photography would help capture the poignancy and pain of Cabimas where fisherman live and work among idle, gray machinery.

“In the end, it was a story about the oil industry and people,” Abd said. “It was an industry built 50 years ago, but nowadays is broken, and somehow the black and white photos suggest that.”

At sunrise, the men of Cabimas wade into the lake to harvest shrimp, fish and crabs. Women wait in the shade of shacks where they hand wash shellfish coated in oil. The workday is done when the fishermen unbolt their skiff motors and stow them on the banks for safekeeping.

Having heard their stories and observed their lives once before, Abd knew he would return, this time lugging along his box camera. “I thought it was a good idea to complete what I already had and to see the same story in a different way, in a more poetic way,” he said. (AP)

Photography by Rodrigo Abd/AP

Photos taken July 2019

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PHOTOS: Comic Con in full costume in Gotham City

New York Comic Con is the East Coast’s largest pop culture convention and the only one that takes place in the comic book, publishing, media, and licensing capital of the world — Gotham City.

New York Comic Con attracted over 250,000 fans in 2018, easily making it the largest comic book and pop culture gathering in the country.

People dressed up as their favorite superheroes from movies, sci-fi shows, animation, video games and comic books. The most popular character was “The Joker” from the Batman series.

The annual convention runs until October 6. (Yahoo News/New York Comic Con)Photography by Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News

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PHOTOS: Fire breaks out at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

Notre-Dame Cathedral went up in flames on Monday in a roaring blaze that devastated the Parisian landmark, a searing loss for the city and for France.

Flames that began in the early evening burst through the roof of the centuries-old cathedral and engulfed the spire, which collapsed, quickly followed by the entire roof.

A huge plume of smoke wafted across the city and ash fell over a large area. Parisians watched on, many of them lost for words.

“Like all our compatriots, I am sad this evening to see this part of all of us burn,” President Emmanuel Macron tweeted.

“Basically the whole rooftop is gone. I see no hope for the building,” said witness Jacek Poltorak, watching the fire from a fifth-floor balcony two blocks from the southern facade of the cathedral, one of France’s most visited places.

Firefighters tried to contain the blaze with water hoses and cleared the area around Notre-Dame, which sits on an island in the River Seine and marks the very centre of Paris.

Buildings around were evacuated.

Nobody was injured, junior interior minister Laurent Nunez said at the scene, adding: “It’s too early to determine the causes of the fire.” France 2 television reported that police were treating it as an accident.

“Everything is collapsing,” a police officer near the scene said as the entire roof of the cathedral continued to burn.

Macron cancelled an address to the nation that he had been due to give later on Monday evening. A presidential official said Macron was to go to the scene of the blaze.

The cathedral, which dates back to the 12th century, features in Victor Hugo’s classic novel “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site that attracts millions of tourists every year.

The Gothic cathedral is famed for its many carved stone gargoyles, stunning stained glass windows and the flying buttresses that hold up its walls.

“There are a lot of art works inside…it’s a real tragedy,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told reporters at the scene.

The cathedral was in the midst of renovations, with some sections under scaffolding and bronze statues were removed last week for works.

The wood and lead spire was built during a restoration in the mid-19th century, according to the cathedral’s website. (Reuters)

Photos: Pierre Galey/AFP/Getty Images (2), Lori Hinant/AP, Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images, Patrick Anidjar/AFP/Getty Images, Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images (2), Nicolas Liponne/NurPhoto via Getty Images, Nicolas Liponne/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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PHOTOS: Lion king photographer

Hilarious pictures have emerged of lion cubs playing with a photographer’s camera equipment. The entertaining shots were taken by Jihad Adan, 37, in a lion park in Johannesburg, South Africa. While Adan, who has been taking photographs of wild animals for 20 years, survived the up-close encounter with the lion cubs, he was worried the same wouldn’t be true for his camera. (Caters News)

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PHOTOS: Egg-travagant treats for big cats

Park keepers have treated their big cats to seasonal gifts: their very own Easter eggs. To coincide with the U.K.’s  West Midland Safari Park’s “Easter Extravaganza” — at which guests can enjoy the spectacle of 50 giant “eggs” dotted around the park — park staff created large papier-mâché eggs for the cats, complete with colorful animal-print patterns. And the park decided to make the season even more EGG-citing, filling some of the eggs with meat for their carnivorous cheetahs Cody and Epezi, as well as Sumatran tigers Hujan and Nakal. (Caters News)

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PHOTOS: Desert takes starring role in photographer’s breathtaking Milky Way shots

The deserts of Argentina take on a starring role in this photographer’s breathtaking Milky Way shots. Amateur snapper Gonzalo Javier Santile, 46, spent the last two years capturing these rare shots of the galaxy as it arced over deserts in Salta Cafayate, Cordoba Valle de Punilla, Provincia de Buenos Aires and the Rio Negro province. (Caters News)

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Sojourn back to the landscapes and wildlife of Namibia