Michelle Lawford, The Look of Love (PEOPLE 2026)

The nomadic Kazakh falconers of the Altai Mountains in Mongolia are devoted to their eagles. The relationship between this man and his eagle really struck me. There was love, but also was a wistful sadness. Having reached 12 years of age, it was time for the eagle to be released back into the wild, as is the tradition.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.