Simply breathtaking: Sony World Photography Awards
Each year, Sony holds a photography competition welcoming amateurs, professionals and even young people under the age of 20 to submit their masterpieces for global judgement. The striking entries were categorised by their content, from architecture and wildlife to travel, still life and split second snaps
Youth and Open winners will be announced on March 18, while professional winners and the L’Iris D’Or/ Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year title will be revealed on April 30. The winner of the coveted L’Iris D’or prize will take home $25,000.
Astrid Merget, creative director of the World Photography Organisation, describes the entries as “an impressive collection of photographs, spanning dozens of genres, styles, locations and subject matters.” Indeed, the images cover issues like mental illness, natural disaster, domestic abuse, poverty, friendship and happiness in unlikely situations.
Open Architecture Shortlist: Simon Butterworth – “A Welsh slate quarry.”
Youth Environment Shortlist: Anna Vadasz – “I took this photo in August in my Summer holiday. I went to a small lake near my grandparents house to take some shots of the landscape, but first I noticed a large amount of water bugs on the surface of the water. I used long shutter speed to render the movement of these interesting insects.”
Open Panoramic Shortlist: Arir Arir Irawan Pinem – Road to Bromo Temple, Indonesia.
Professional People Shortlist: Ivor Prickett – “A local Kurdish family prepare a barbecue dinner at sunset overlooking the city Sulaimaniya.”
Professional Contemporary Issues Shortlist: Kacper Kowalski.
Professional Contemporary Issues Finalist: Sara Lewkowicz – “One month into their courtship, Shane had his girlfriend Maggie’s name tattooed on his neck.”
Open Travel Shortlist: Simon Morris – “A hunter rests in his little house on the plains in Western Mongolia with his Eagle which is hooded.”
Open Nature and Wildlife Shortlist: Helga Urban – “Colourful mountains. This picture was made in Iceland, Ladmannalaugar. I climbed a lot, but when I arrived at the top of the mountain and saw this beautiful view it was very marvellous.”
Open Smile Shortlist: Nick Ng Yeow Kee – “Three siblings in a poor village in Megzhi District, Yunnan Provine, being happy even without the modern necessities of the city child.”
Professional Current Affairs Finalist: Dan Kitwood – “A man fans flames on a fire in Tanuan, Phillipines after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.”
Professional Contemporary Issues Shortlist: Christian Werner – “Komang, 26 years old, is chained by her family in a hut in the jungle near Singaraja, Indonesia, for 8 years. The family says Komang could not handle her divorce. She strayed aimlessly and naked through the village, as the family decidided to put her in chains. The only support that families receive from the state for their mentally ill family members, is a concrete shack which is built to lock away the “possessed”. The last time she got washed was two months ago.”
Open Smile Shortlist: Alpay Erdem – “A muddy face from the mud bath going into the lake in Turkey.”
Open Arts and Culture Shortlist: Ngai Bun Wonh – China.
Open Low Light Shortlist: Jim Grover – “A woman, wrapped up to keep warm, keeps an all-night vigil by a candlelit grave in the Atzompa cemetery in Oaxaca, Mexico as part of the Day of the Dead festival.”
Open Split Second Shortlist: Allan Gichigi – “This is a fisherman in Lake Victoria casting his net, as he fishes. Fishing is a big economic activity in Kisumu, Kenya.”
Open Arts and Culture Shortlist: Valerie Prudon – “Photo taken in Braxton, Australia during a rodeo show. Cowboys are waiting their turn.”
Open People Shortlist: Guillermo Barquero – Costa Rica.
Open People Shortlist: Juan Carlos Ruiz Duarte – “I lived a Sandstorm in the Arbore territory. This boy was spotted beside a dead tree.”
Youth Culture Shortlist: Aashish Rajesh – “This shot was taken at the entrance of the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.”
Open Travel Shortlist: Farid Sani – “Nirsam Village is a country side village, in Alborz mountains, Iran.”