These 4 awe-inspiring photos show just what it takes to stand out amongst 10,000 images

Left: Four young Black girls in matching gold and white sequinned majorette uniforms and tall feathered headdresses stand against a plain wall, each looking in a different direction with composed, unselfconscious expressions. Right: A chimpanzee sits alone on a concrete pyramid in a zoo enclosure, in front of a large painted mural depicting a lush tropical forest, with water trickling from an opening in the painted landscape above.

The Royal Photographic Society's International Photography Exhibition has been running since 1854. That's longer than the Eiffel Tower has existed, longer than the internal combustion engine, longer than the telephone. In 172 years, it's seen photography move from wet collodion glass plates to AI-assisted compositing... and it's still finding new work worth showing.

This year's 167th edition has drawn over 10,000 images from 5,233 photographers across 41 countries. From that pile, a panel of five judges has selected 318 photographers for the shortlist.