Over the course of 18 years, photojournalist and National Geographic Explorer Brent Stirton has made 13 trips to document the promise and peril of Virunga National Park, which is home to some of the world’s few remaining mountain gorillas. His images from the park and other wildlife refuges have been widely published, including on the cover of
National Geographic.

Stirton has created a photobook showing some of his most moving images from the park: a processional for a mortally wounded silverback gorilla, the powerful bond between an orphaned mountain gorilla and her caretaker, the human toll of political conflict, and the grit it takes to advocate for conservation. 

Submissions for this year’s Your Shot challenge for Best of the World are now open! Click through to find out how to take part and show off the landscapes and journeys captured by you. 

There are many early urban centers that still thrive in modern times, whether due to geographical location, rich resources, or simply sheer historical luck. Take a look at some of our oldest cities on each continent.

Thanks for reading today’s newsletter, which was edited and curated by William O'Connor with the help of National Geographic’s photo team. It was produced by Alisher Egamov. Did someone forward this to you? Sign up here to catch next week’s Photo of the Week newsletter.