Reading the week closely: culture, food, ideas and the wider world.

Photo credits

Photographs on this site are provided by Unsplash. They are illustrative and do not show the fictional people or places in the stories.

PhotoPhotographer
a woman with green hair sitting in a chairjim hatch
a man with his hands on his chestAce Maxwell
woman in black and white floral shirtJulian Wan
A man in a white shirt pointing at somethingAlamdar Manafov
a woman with long hair and a green sweaterFoto Bakirkoy
a man with a beard standing in front of a wallParimal Jain
an older woman in a black jacket and green jacketJonathan Cosens Photography
man in black button-up shirtAlex Suprun
a woman with long black hair and a denim jacketIvan Kazlouskij
a woman with a smile on her faceAbenezer Shewaga
A woman with long hair standing in front of a buildingBranislav Rodman
A smiling man in a black shirtAlef Morais
a woman smiling and wearing a white shirtKasia Mizera
man in gray denim jacket wearing black framed eyeglassesChristian Buehner
man in white button up shirt wearing gray knit capMD Duran
woman in white shirt with brown hairAlexander Krivitskiy
A man in a purple and blue hoodie sitting on a stoolSophia Taylor
a woman with long black hair smiling at the cameraFoto Bakirkoy
Capitol HillCaleb Perez
White concrete building under blue sky during daytimePartTime Portraits
A yellow calendar page with the text VOTE MIDTERM ELECTION circled on the thirdVitalii Abakumov
I voted #USelections2020visuals
A few signs in front of a buildingErnie Journeys
A row of flags in front of a buildingMmoka .
A table with chairs around itKaja Sariwating
Ornate parliament building brightly lit at night reflecting in waterHooman Being
Fountain penTrey Gibson
A flag on top of a building with a blue sky in the backgroundMateusz Zatorski
Blue pink and yellow abstract paintingBrian McGowan
Wind turbines stand in the blue ocean under skyRyan Fleischer
Blue and yellow fishDavid Clode
A mountain with a village in the foregroundashok acharya
A green plant sprouts out of a crack in the groundDan Meyers
Aerial view of colorful shipping containers stacked in rowsCosmin Andrei Buzamat
A basket filled with lots of red cherriesJosé Casado
A person riding an escalator at an airportGilbert Ng
A large open pit in the middle of a forestNoah Ridge
Red surfaceDenys Nevozhai
A rocket is flying through the air on a foggy daynader saremi
Colorful nebula with red and purple cloudsMarek Pavlík
An airplane flying over a city at nightAndy Sanchez
A rock that looks like it is made of rocksMiningWatch Portugal
Person diving on body of waterJeremy Bishop
A city with tall buildingsFrank Okay
A car driving down a street next to tall buildingsSweder Breet
Colorful houses lining a canal with small boats in Burano, ItalyANNIE HATUANH
A view of a city from the top of a hillJonas Kakaroto
Ocean under cloudy skyQuentin Grignet
Bookshelves under an illuminated, curved orange architectural ceilingSebastian Dario
A lighthouse on a cliffJohn Young
People browsing books in a well-stocked bookstoreIvanna K
Blue pencil on orange surfaceAlice Yamamura
Rows of colorful books neatly arranged on shelvesTobias Westphal
A row of empty red seats in a theaterKrišjānis Kazaks
A living room with a television and a toy carJOSHUA COLEMAN
Black and gray speaker beside red wallIsabel A Hermosillo
Teal and white concrete building under white clouds during daytimeErik Mclean
A camera and a monitor in a roomdlxmedia.hu
A sound board with many different colored buttonsJacob McGowin
A person singing on stageDuane Loux
A row of records on display in a storeMick Haupt
Group of people in front of stageAditya Chinchure
Draped table and stanchions in a bright, modern interior* hoshinomigiwa *
Modern art paintings displayed in a gallery hallFar Chinberdiev
Hands painting a clay pot on a spinning wheelMuneer ahmed ok
Colorful modern structure with stairs by water under blue skyTasha Kostyuk
Close-up of screen printing with red inkAnthony Roberts
Vintage travel posters displayed outside a shopTita
A chef cooks with large flames on a grillIzzedine Elfatih
A wooden table topped with bowls of foodWayne W
Yellow and white candy lotStefano Segato
Two gourmet meals served on a table by the seagabbiistudios
A dining room with a lot of tables and chairsZoshua Colah
Knife, squash slices and seedsLouis Hansel
Colorful decorative sardine cans displayed on yellow shelvesEric Prouzet
Grilled chicken salad with vegetables and nuts, top viewZayed Ahmed Zadu
Brown bread on yellow textilePatrick Tomasso
A colorful pastry on a blue platePavel Shitov
Green matcha powder with whisk and scoop on wooden trayCharles Chen
The interior of a bar with stools, glass cups and empty bottles attached to the roof in MadridMaria Voss
Person pouring liquor in clear drinking glassLouis Hansel
Brown coffee beans in clear glass bowlMiles Burke
A tree with fruit growing on itNico Smit
A field of wheatPic Studio
Red wooden beehive on hiveAndreas Schantl
A group of cheeses sitting on a wooden shelfMichael Lock
A display of strawberries and orange juices at a marketMárcio Azevedo
Rolling hills with olive trees under a blue skyAlexis Presa
A blue park bench against a yellow wallIvett M
Fountain pen on black lined paperAaron Burden
A tree with no leavesBotond Czapp
A view of a building through a windowMarko Lengyel
Nighttime street scene with traffic and pedestriansAnton Sidarau
Glacier ice formation on murky water with mountain backdropLiosha Shyp
A close up of a violin on a tableNadiia Ganzhyi
A person wearing a chef's hat and holding the chinFotos
A blue and orange globe with a pink backgroundGabriel Vasiliu
A pencil resting on a dot grid paper with hand drawn website wireframesVitalii Abakumov
A thin orange crescent of the sun against a solid black skyAleksey Rusov
A close up of a cell phone with a blue backgroundNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Photo of brown jellyfishJeffrey Hamilton
Blue and white abstract illustrationChris Ried
White and brown concrete building under blue sky during daytimeMohammad Shahhosseini
A vintage nokia phone rests on a blue surfaceFotografia Lui Vlad
A laptop computer sitting on top of a wooden deskAustin Hervias
Gray electronic device on white tableJeswin Thomas
White and blue tablet computer keyboardLorenzo Herrera
Silhouette of trees under blue sky during night timeNavi
A beaver swims in calm, rippling waterWolfgang Hasselmann
A large flock of birds flying over a fieldJames Wainscoat
Red creature mural on a brick archwayChloë Forbes-Kindlen
An animal that is laying down in the grassUdara Karunarathna
A stream of water flowing over rocks in a riverHenry Hartmann
Brown leaves in close up photographyEugene
A beautiful moth perched on a flowerJames Wainscoat
A large flock of birds standing in shallow waterSam
A small bird sitting on a wire against a blue skyOleksandr Skochko
Selective focus photography of toadstoolTimothy Dykes
Shallow focus photography of green grassNadiia Ploshchenko 🇺🇦
A single lavender plant in a field with blurred treesmos design
Selective focus photography of red flowersJoshua Hoehne
Three potted plants on a weathered rooftopAdhitya Sibikumar
Three assorted vegetablescharlesdeluvio
Brown grass field near body of water during daytimeMa Ti
Snowy cliffs with pine trees against a vibrant orange sky during the golden hourValentina Stanoaie
A river running through a forestJonny Gios
Dirt path leading to colorful striped mountains under blue skyMauro Mathys
Green grass beside calm water at daytimeJohn-Mark Strange
White and brown painted wallSam Moghadam
Serene wooden chapel interior with light rays and a personDaniel Miksha
Red and blue concrete buildingMiguel Bernardo
Traditional house with thatched roof, timber framing, and blue windowsStefan Szankowski
Colorful storefronts with blooming pink flowers in frontZhang Yi
A room filled with lots of wooden chairsSudatip T.
Orange and black plastic deviceMarkus Spiske
A couple of knives sitting on top of a cutting boardAndrey Matveev
Four white metal mugs on brown wooden tableAndré Freitas
Woman in white sweater lying on bedALAN DE LA CRUZ
Close up of a person wearing an orange coatVitalii Kyktov
A close up of a needle with a red threadImmo Wegmann
Unpaired brown leather lace-up dress shoerupixen
Women's red coatJohn Cameron
Woman in red sleeveless dress standing on stairsMike Lloyd
Green grass field with houses during daytimeJOGphotos
A ferry boat sails on the water near a portTimur Seyfelmlyukov
Sailboats and a small pink floating house in a harbor with a stone breakwaterzeynep elif ozdemir
Silhouette of people standing on lake during sunsetChristian Lue
Row of traditional terraced houses under a clear blue skyBruce Barrow
White plastic cup with white powderCTRL - A Meal Replacement
Green glass and its shadow on a blue surfaceMarkus Kammermann
A close-up of a speakerEtactics Inc
White wooden table with chairsTheStandingDesk
A woman swimming in the ocean with an orange life jacketPat Ferranco
A person running in a parkMichael Pointner
A pair of pink and black dumbs on a blue backgroundRay Shrewsberry
Group of runners on a boardwalk with palm treesYuval Zukerman
Yoga mat, weights, and a towel ready for a workoutAndrea Stuart
White and red tennis netIsaac E. Quezada
A man and woman sitting in a windowbuian_photos
A lone person standing in the middle of a desertAlexander Psiuk
A red lamp sitting in a window next to a blue wallNk Ni
Water droplets on glass windowNathan DeFiesta
A person holding a smart phone in their hand@felirbe
Brown throw pillowDan Farrell
A pile of colorful round objectsAlexander Schimmeck
Gold framed eyeglassesBartosz Sujkowski
A person wearing orange shoes standing next to a yellow lineMarek Piwnicki
Strawberry shake in clear drinking glassEESOFUFFZICH
A city with many buildingsUmberto di Capua
White and brown concrete building beside river under blue sky during daytimeEugene Kuznetsov
A group of people standing in front of a buildingCaio Fernandes
A river running through a valleyAndrea Junqueira
Three people walking on a path toward stone ruins near a grassy hillRina Kemppainen
The roof of a building with a sky in the backgroundWilliam Warby
A large building with a gold domed roof surrounded by a parking lot with Palacio de Bellas Artes in the backgroundAngela Monterrubio
Boats docked in a sunny harbor with city buildingsPhilippe BONTEMPS
People eat on street foodsK X I T H V I S U A L S
An empty parking lot with a tall tower in the backgroundEloi Motte
White and brown houses near snow covered mountain during daytimeAron Gestsson
A boat on a river at sunset with trees in the backgroundAndrey Zvyagintsev
Train and mountainAnna Tremewan
City surrounded by mountainsPatrick Ogilvie
Green trees near mountainsBaptiste Azais
Red and white lighthouse on top of hillCole Wyland
A row of houses with ivy growing on themJosh Smith
A red bridge over a river in a city at nightSylvia Xu
Green trees near body of water under blue skyMagnus Östberg
Ancient white monastery built into a towering cliffDD GR
A soccer match in a stadium at nightAlex Simpson
Three women playing soccerJeffrey F Lin
Goalie about to catch the ballVidar Nordli-Mathisen
A large group of people holding red and white flagsBernd 📷 Dittrich
An aerial view of a brightly lit soccer field at night surrounded by dark treesMohamad Kazemi
A golf course with a lake in the backgroundNick Agee
A small island in the middle of a large body of waterDavid Ford
A man standing on top of a lush green field next to a golf ballCory Bjork
Golf club and ball on putting green with machineChiputt Golf
A couple of people standing on top of a lush green fieldStrvnge Films
Man in blue and black wetsuit swimming on blue waterJoão Marcelo Martins
Swimming pool with stainless steel ladderEtienne Girardet
Abstract paintingJaanus Jagomägi
A woman swimming under a wave in the oceanAlkım Saraç
Blue and white painted wallSean Ferigan
People running on gray asphalt road during daytimeMiguel A Amutio
Group of people running on streetSpencer Imbrock
Runners and crew at a race finish lineLeviosa Hou
A person riding a bicycle on a roadHector Ramon Perez
A large yellow building with a signChris Porter