Photos of the Week: Icy Hearts, Warm Beach, Raging Fire

Published 14 hours ago
Source: theatlantic.com
Photos of the Week: Icy Hearts, Warm Beach, Raging Fire
A reveler dressed as Frankenstein's monster plunges into the ocean during a polar bear plunge event.
Joseph Prezioso / AFP / Getty
A reveler dressed as Frankenstein’s monster plunges into the ocean during a snow storm on January 1, 2026, in Boston. The polar plunge on New Year’s Day dates back more than 100 years in the city, but many people, mainly members of the L Street Brownies, take daily swims 365 days a year in the ocean.
A person poses while wearing ornately decorated green make up on their face.
R.Satish BABU / AFP / Getty
An artist poses for a photograph before performing at the Veethi Virudhu Vizha festival, showcasing traditional Indian art forms, in Chennai, on January 4, 2026.
A crowd watches from the sides of a street and balconies as a parade float shaped like a giant head with a colorful headdress passes by.
Ivan Valencia / AP
Revelers take part in the Black and White Carnival in Pasto, Colombia, on January 6, 2026.
People in a three-person kayak paddle on shallow floodwater, showing a bike path just beneath the surface.
Stephen Lam / San Francisco Chronicle / Getty
People paddle along a flooded Mill Valley–Sausalito Path during king tide in Mill Valley, California, on January 3, 2026.
A humanoid robot dressed in a traffic police uniform stands with arms outstretched in a road.
VCG / Getty
A humanoid robot dressed in a traffic police uniform hit the streets on January 8, 2026, in Wuhu, Anhui province, China. The robotic officer directed traffic, detected violations, and gave polite voice reminders.
A group of older women perform beside a humanoid robot.
VCG / Getty
Elderly people interact with a robot at a nursing home on January 7, 2026, in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, China.
An art installation features a bus bursting through an upper-story wall of a building.
He Penglei / China News Service / VCG / Getty
An art installation features a bus bursting through a wall, seen at Meixin Red Wine Town in Chongqing, China, on January 6, 2026.
Members of a traditional firefighting preservation group perform atop tall bamboo ladders.
Eugene Hoshiko / AP
Members of a traditional firefighting preservation group perform ladder stunts during the annual New Year’s Fire Brigade Review on January 6, 2026, in Tokyo.
A wildfire burns through a forest, seen at night.
Martin Levicoy / AFP / Getty
A wildfire burns through a forest on Mount Pirque at El Hoyo, in the Patagonian region of Chubut province, Argentina, on January 7, 2026.
Smoke rises from a fire above buildings in a city.
AFP / Getty
An image captured from video shows smoke rising above Fort Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, after a series of explosions in Caracas on January 3, 2026. The United States military was behind a series of strikes against the Venezuelan capital, leading to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Several U.S. law-enforcement officers escort Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife along a helicopter landing pad.
Adam Gray / Reuters
In New York City, law-enforcement officials move Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, out of a helicopter, headed for the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in Manhattan for an initial appearance to face U.S. federal charges including narco-terrorism, conspiracy, drug trafficking, money laundering, and others, on January 5, 2026.
A full moon rises over huge illuminated ice structures.
Ng Han Guan / AP
A full moon rises over ice structures at the annual Ice and Snow Festival held in Harbin in China’s Heilongjiang province, on January 4, 2026.
A motorcycle racer rides on a dusty path through a shallow desert valley.
Thibault Camus / AP
A racer rides on a path during the second stage of the Dakar Rally between Yanbu and Alula, Saudi Arabia, on January 5, 2026.
An aerial view of several cars driving on a highway that has covered by shallow floodwater, each car leaving a wake behind it.
Ethan Swope / AP
Cars drive on Highway 101, flooded by a king tide on January 3, 2026, near Corte Madera in Marin County, California.
About 10 people slide and tumble down a steep snow-covered hill.
Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters
Japan’s Ren Nikaido celebrates with teammates after winning the men’s individual ski-jumping event during the Four Hills Tournament in Innsbruck, Austria, on January 4, 2026.
A pony stands in a field, surrounded by snow-covered shrubs and grasses.
Alain Jocard / AFP / Getty
A pony stands in a field in Chisseaux, near Tours, France, following a fresh snowfall on January 7, 2026.
A zookeeper with a clipboard poses while standing beside a camel.
Leon Neal / Getty
Rachel Melvin, a zookeeper, poses with a domestic Bactrian camel during an event to promote the annual stocktake at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, in Dunstable, England, on January 8, 2026.
A close view of the head of a swimmer fully immersed in a lake, surrounded by ice
Christopher Furlong / Getty
The cold-water swimmer Autumn Lea takes a freezing dip at sunset in the waters of Pickmere Lake on January 5, 2026, in Knutsford, England.
An aerial view of a lakeside neighborhood beside a frozen lake, which has swirling patterns visible in the ice.
Marton Monus / Reuters
A drone view shows a frozen lake near Budapest, Hungary, on January 7, 2026.
Two skaters leave tracks in ice as they skate over a frozen flooded plain.
Toby Melville / Reuters
Skaters leave tracks in the ice as they cross the frozen flooded plain of Port Meadow, in Oxford, England, on January 7, 2026.
A fire eater spits out flammable liquid, creating a ball of fire above a crowd of festival-goers.
Bernat Armangue / AP
A fire eater performs during the traditional Cabalgata de Reyes parade in Madrid, on January 5, 2026, as part of the festivities marking the Catholic feast of Epiphany.
Two young people pose, dressed in traditional clothes.
Tiksa Negeri / Reuters
Girls dressed in traditional Oromo Karrayyu costumes attend the naming ceremony of the new Oromo Karrayyu traditional leader Abbaa Gadaa in Fentale, Oromia region, Ethiopia, on January 4, 2026.
A winter nighttime view of a neighborhood of half-timbered houses in Germany
Ina Fassbender / AFP / Getty
A view of the architectural monument Alter Flecken, made up of 80 half-timbered houses in the old town of Freudenberg, Germany, seen on a winter’s night, January 7, 2026
An aerial view of a person using a pulley system on a cable to cross over turbulent flood water.
Chaideer Mahyuddin / AFP / Getty
This aerial picture shows a man and a child using cables to cross a river in the aftermath of flash floods that destroyed adjacent villages in Ketol, Indonesia’s Aceh highland province, on January 6, 2026.
A migrant plays with a little girl aboard a rescue ship in the Mediterranean.
Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP / Getty
A migrant plays with a little girl aboard the rescue ship Ocean Viking, operated by the NGO SOS Méditerranée, as they sail to a designated port of disembarkation in Savona, Italy, on January 3, 2026. Thirty-three migrants were rescued by crew members of the ship.
People gather for a roadside vigil in a residential neighborhood.
Bruce Kluckhohn / AP
People gather for a vigil after an ICE officer shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good earlier in the day, January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis.
An aerial view of a very crowded beach, covered with many umbrellas
Connie France / AFP / Getty
An aerial view of Yuyos beach in Lima, Peru, seen on January 4, 2026
An elevated view of an ice installation made up of frozen walls, creating the shapes of two hearts
VCG / Getty
A view of a twin heart-shaped “icefall” installation, adorned with roses, at the 27th Harbin Ice and Snow World on January 2, 2026, in Heilongjiang province, China
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