“Dread and wonder” is how photographer Bryant Austin described the feeling of a solid, mighty tap on his shoulder from a humpback whale. He sometimes floats in the ocean for hours waiting for the giant creatures to come to him. It took six years to complete his latest book, “Beautiful Whale."

Right before photographer Theron Humphrey started a 50-state photo-project road trip, he made a stop in a Marietta, Georgia, animal shelter and adopted a puppy, Maddie. She accompanied him across 65,000 miles, quickly becoming what Humphrey describes as his best friend.

Photographer Anne Berry created fine-art photographs of primates behind glass, capturing the nostalgia of the animals living in captivity and illustrating human’s purposeful separation from the natural world. “I want people to feel some melancholy and empathy” when looking at the images, she said.