Michael Dressel was born in Berlin but spent four decades living and working in the US. As the election looms, he talks us through his new book capturing a nation in crisis
‘Things are truly scary’: the divided states of America
Week in wildlife in pictures: a diva beaver, 100 hungry raccoons and the fattest bear | Environment
Invasion of the trash bandits … just a few of the 100 raccoons that surrounded a woman’s home in Poulsbo, Washington, US. She had been feeding a small number, but “somehow, the word got out in raccoon land and they all showed up to her house expecting a meal,” a spokesperson for the sherriff’s office said. They sent deputies to help the woman, who was frightened to leave her home, since raccoons can be aggressive
Maggie Smith â a life in pictures | Culture
Before she reached a new level of TV celebrity in the 21st century, Smith had a remarkable big-screen career, channelling her stage presence into the camera whether as Jean Brodie or her tragic, absurd âauntâ persona
âA distressing realityâ: our beautiful planet under threat â in pictures | Art and design
Damith Osuranga Danthanarayana: Human Disaster, 2023
Taken in Ampara, Sri Lanka, this photograph exposes a distressing reality: due to the reduction of natural habitats and the absence of efficient waste management, elephants are attracted to eat garbage dangerously close to human habitation. Plastic waste threatens their lives, yet currently thereâs no effective solution. Waste accumulation near forests lures elephants, and many other animals, away from their natural habitats, jeopardising their safety. During Danthanarayanaâs exploration, a small elephant was found, hurt by a homemade explosive
Where the magic happens: Americans let you into their bedrooms
From campervans and parks to bedsits crammed with family members, photographer Barbara Peacock finds her subjects at their most vulnerable
The inaccessible and abandoned islands of New York â in pictures | Art and design
Photographer Phillip Buehler, who captured the death of the American mall in a 2022 photo series, has a new exhibition of pictures from the last 50 years that trace the often forgotten history of the islands surrounding Manhattan. No Man Is an Island: Poetry in the Ruins of the New York Archipelago is now on show until 23 June at the Front Room Gallery in New York.
- Words and photographs by Phillip Buehler
Week in wildlife – in pictures: amorous frogs, battling stallions and an overaffectionate jaguar
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world