This week, we coax rare wildcats out of the shadows and search for the elusive snow leopard. Plus, the ghostly bonsai forest; Los Angeles, before and after.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE 

Elusive, obscure, and eclipsed in popularity by their larger cousins, small wildcats are amazing, high-performance predators. For this Photo of the Week, National Geographic Explorer Joel Sartore traveled far and wide to track them down.

Photography 101: On the trail of the rare Himalaya snow leopard 

 See: Joel Sartore’s photo collection of vulnerable animals 

PHOTOGRAPH BY  REBECCA HALE 

More than 70 years ago, Japanese American artist John Naka cut the top off a mature juniper tree and planted it in a pot. Over the next decades, he surrounded it with 10 more tiny trees, one each to honor his grandchildren. This extraordinary bonsai forest, captured in these stunning images, is now on display. Where? 

A. St. Louis
B. San Francisco
C. Seattle
D. Washington, D.C. 

Related: These tiny creatures are saving our forests

PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER BROWN    

So much was erased from stretches of the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and Pacific Palisades; photographer Michael Christopher Brown found an intact mailbox and two orange-bearing trees reflecting the golden sunlight and the ocean. It’s part of a series of arresting before-and-after images, imbued with a wizened determination to rebound.

Related: How did these ‘miracle’ homes escape the L.A. wildfires? 

Today’s Soundtrack: Los Angeles, HAIM 

Thanks for reading today’s newsletter, which was edited and curated by David Beard and produced by Amanda Williams-Bryant. Sign up here to catch our Photos of the Week newsletter in 2025.