Winners and shortlisted images from the Open competition of the Sony World Photography Awards show off a breadth of talent and inspiration. Amy Davies selects some favourites to share
Every year, the Sony World Photography Awards is separated into two competitions – an Open and a Professional. As you might expect from the title, the Open competition can be entered by anybody, amateur, professional or somewhere in between.
The Open competition is further split into several categories, comprising Architecture, Creative, Landscape, Lifestyle, Motion, Natural World & Wildlife, Object, Portraiture, Street Photography and Travel. While the professional categories show off superb talent, there’s always something special about the Open competition, which arguably is a little looser, freer and more creative. Perhaps it’s because the Open category is based on a single image, rather than a portfolio, but it’s here where we see some of the wackier, more daring and downright strange imagery.
The overall Open Photographer of the Year went to Dinorah Graue Obscura from Mexico, for her picture which topped the Nature & Wildlife category.
This year, the Open category also attracted some controversy when the winner of the Creative category turned out to be an AI creation submitted by Boris Eldagsen, who later declined the award – this means there is no winner for this category, but there are still some fantastic shortlisted images.
We’d encourage all readers to give the Open competition ago. Entry is free, but images must have been taken in the year preceding the entry date. The next competition has not officially opened yet, but the closing date is usually in January, so you have plenty of time to think of an interesting topic to shoot.
Over the next few pages, I’ve selected several of my favourites from the competition. Feel free to let us know via the usual methods listed on page 3 if you have your own highlights.
For more information, and to see more pictures from both the Open and Professional competitions, visit worldphoto.org
Slam on the Brakes by Zhenhuan Zhou Winner, Motion, China Mainland
Taken in Ontario, Canada, in August of last year, it’s easy to see why this daring image of barrel racing took home the top prize in the Motion category. For the uninitiated, barrel racing is a competition where cowgirls ride quickly around barrels, with the one who completes this in the shortest time winning. Every time a horse reaches a barrel, it must brake sharply, turn around the barrel and then race to the next one.
The Silos by Mark Benham Winner, Architecture, United Kingdom
