For a Guardian commission on teenagers and extreme make-up
Joe Fraser, who won parallel bars gold at the World Gymnastics Championships.
Three crucifixes stand on a hill overlooking the town of Redditch in Worcestershire. Every Easter, a local landowner puts them in place to mark Holy Week.
Handsworth, Birmingham
A street party observing social distancing in Redditch.
A street party observing social distancing on the High Street in Henley-in-Arden.
Residents of Henley-in-Arden pay their respects at 11am.
The renovated roof at the Grade II-listed Edwardian Moseley Road Baths in Birmingham.
Handsworth, Birmingham
Rose-Anna Ahmet, an art student turned fruit picker “I have been having a tough time adjusting to how hard European workers work, but just as long as you try and don’t give up, you can achieve it.”
Isaac Levido, the political strategist credited with orchestrating the Tory landslide election victory in 2019.
Dudley is a "red wall" constituency - one which traditionally votes Labour, but which voted Tory for the first time in the last election.
Lee has attempted suicide "five or six times." Most of his pain is linked to the end of football and the bankruptcy he suffered...he lost his house and his mother had her house repossessed too. He says every day is a struggle. He is doing well most of the time but there are days he cannot get out of bed.
Offices remain largely empty in Birmingham, despite workers being allowed to return for the first time since lockdown restrictions were eased.
Offices remain largely empty in Birmingham, despite workers being allowed to return for the first time since lockdown restrictions were eased.
People in the Balsall Heath area of Birmingham heading out to restaurants in the early evening. Birmingham has seen a spike in cases of Covid-19.
People in a park in the Balsall Heath area of Birmingham. The city has seen a spike in cases of Covid-19.
Nic Lloyd, chief executive of Malvern Theatre, rehearsing with actor Daniel Davis in The Snow Goose. The paired-down Covid-compliant production is replacing the panto this year.
"Gabriel's Garden", an art installation by Luke Jerram. A shadow of the Archangel Gabriel is cast by a pile of undelivered mail
Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Druids Heath, Birmingham.
Horse riders, Stanton, Worcestershire.
Ahmad Nawaz, who was shot by the Taliban in a terror attack at his school in Peshawar aged 14. His brother died in the same attack. He was taken to Birmingham for emergency surgery, became an anti-radicalisation youth activist and has just won a place to study Philosophy and Theology at Oxford University.
Janine Keppy and her 14 year-old autistic son, Xander, who also has a tracheostomy. He is unable to go to school due to the health risks from Covid-19.
Danny Watson, running thirty marathons in thirty days
An illuminated route through the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire.
Sir Roger Penrose, Emeritus Professor at the Mathematical Institute of the University of Oxford. He has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. He designed the paving with its non-repetitive pattern in front of this building
The UK’s last remaining public service shortwave transmitting station at Woofferton, Shropshire. Built in 1943, the site now transmits radio programmes for a number of broadcasters around the world including the BBC’s World Service
Jackie Weaver, the Cheshire Association of Local Councils official who shot to brief internet stardom for having an argument during a Zoom meeting with a parish councillor over local rules
Breakdancer Bgirl Terra, UK champion and now Olympic hopeful for Paris 2024.
One of the homeless people given free lodging by a hotel in Shrewsbury during the Covid crisis.
Charlotte Worthington, a BMX freestyler due to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Tightrope walker Chris Bullzini performing at Compton Verney Gardens, Warwickshire.
A vaccination centre in Leicester. The city has twice the UK’s average Covid infection rate
England fans celebrate the final whistle after beating Denmark in the Euro 2020 semi-final.
England fans in shock after Denmark’s goal in the Euro 2020 semi-final.
A butcher in Leicester. The city has twice the UK’s average Covid infection rate and hasn’t emerged totally from the first lockdown in March 2020.
Acrobats from the circus Circolombia stop by the Lady Godiva statue in Coventry. They are performing in the UK City of Culture festivities.
The annual mistletoe auction at Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire
Tightrope walker Chris Bullzini and aerialist Eloise Currie performing at Compton Verney Gardens, Warwickshire.
Shannon Flaherty, one of the youngest children in the UK to be given a prosthetic running blade by the NHS
The International Dog Agility Festival.
Stuart Maconie, broadcaster & writer
Boxer Galal Yafai back at his first gym in Birmingham, after winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics
Palaeontologist Elsa Panciroli
The annual mistletoe auction at Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire
Oswestry in North Shropshire, which has seen its MP Owen Paterson resign after a lobbying scandal and will now hold a by-election
The Grade 2-listed engineering building at Leicester University
Sculptor Andrew Logan, who only wears jewellery he has made himself.
Mustafa and Haroon, two teenage brothers, who share a tiny one-bedroom flat in Leicester after their epic journey from Afghanistan a few years ago. They are desperate to stay in touch with their mother and sister, who are still over there.
Middle-aged skateboarders
Hurdler Lina Nielsen, who competes at the top level despite living with Multiple Sclerosis. “I never wanted to be known as the athlete who got MS, but it’s something that I hope will inspire people.
Autumn, Worcestershire
Cloudburst over the Fens, Cambridgeshire.
The millinery department at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s newly restored costume workshop.
Jeremy Clarkson on his farm in Oxfordshire. His new TV series follows his attempts to become a full-time farmer.
Carolyn Moody of the Welsh Seed Hub at work in her home-made potting shed. The co-operative grows seed featuring varieties which thrive in the challenging Welsh climate.
Middle-aged skateboarders
Gardening journalist Alys Fowler foraging in her local park.
Crufts, the largest dog show in the world, takes place every March in Birmingham, UK.
Crufts, the largest dog show in the world, takes place every March in Birmingham, UK.
Baby incubators being brought out of storage ready for loading on to an aid convoy going to Ukraine.
Linda in a “warm space” in Birmingham for those who struggle to pay heating bills at home. “Before discovering this place, I was living pay cheque to pay cheque and my mental health was atrocious. I feel like I’ve met my family here; I’ve come home,”
Santa’s grotto, Bridgnorth
Mist at dusk, Feckenham, Worcestershire.
Phil Jagielka, former Everton & England footballer, still playing at 40.
Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party leader
Steve Pateman, formerly a world-ranked Sumo wrestler and now a coach. Sumo is becoming increasingly popular in the UK
Greg Doran, artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He is to leave his role next year.
England fans at a pub in Nottingham react during the Women’s World Cup final.
A front garden memorial to a deceased pet dog in Coventry
Boxer Isaac Chamberlain in training for a cruiserweight title challenge. A drug mule at 12 years old, boxing turned his life around.
A Pekinese being prepared for the judging ring at Crufts, the world’s oldest dog show.
A poodle being prepared for the judging ring at Crufts, the world’s oldest dog show.
The Holm Oak tree at Westbury Court, Gloucestershire. The 400 year-old tree has been named “girth world champion” with a trunk circumference of 9.3 metres.
Alpesh Chauhan conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Tourists make their way to the top of Mount Snowdon on the last weekend of the summer holidays.
A snowstorm recedes to reveal the River Danube in Vienna.
Boxer Isaac Chamberlain in training for a cruiserweight title challenge. A drug mule at 12 years old, boxing turned his life around.
Jacob Rees-Mogg as a Praying Mantis puppet making its entrance during rehearsals for the Spitting Image stage show at Birmingham Rep Theatre.
Boys jumping in to a pool in the slate landscape in Snowdonia above Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi
England rugby player Ellis Genge in his gym in Leicester.
Father Joseph in the brewery at Mount St Bernard abbey. The monks make Tynt Meadow, an award-winning beer.
Bolsover, Derbyshire
Phil Brown, former Premiership manager with Hull City, now with Kidderminster Harriers.
Tourists make their way up the last few metres at the top of Mount Snowdon on the last weekend of the summer holidays.
Clearing up after yet more floods in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire.
The UK’s only licensed cannabis farm grows plants intended for the pharmaceutical industry.
Yvette Greenway who suffered complications from a vaginal mesh implant has been awarded a settlement of at least £1m from the NHS. “There should be a pot of money to provide damages for these women and a care plan in place as an automatic response to mesh-damaged people. It comes down to a perception of women and women’s health problems. We’ve all had enough of it.”