Snorkeler, Mexico

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Photograph by Paul Nicklen

A snorkeling tourist floats in a cenote called Las Calaveras—“the skulls”—near Tulum. Local Maya got their drinking water here until about 30 years ago, when divers found bones. Archaeologists have recorded the remains of more than a hundred people, usually shrouded by the water’s primordial darkness.

Ruby Beach, Washington

Photograph by Abelardo Morell

With the ground beneath his feet as a canvas, photographer Abelardo Morell uses the camera obscura technique—focusing light through a small opening onto a dark surface—to inspire fresh appreciation for America's national parks.