amazing phenomena captured by sony world photography awards entrants

the world photography organisation has shared the shortlisted photographers in the open and youth categories of the 2019 sony world photography awards. attracting a record-breaking 326,000 submissions from 195 countries and territories, it showcases talent from around the world, boasting wondrous architecture, emotive portraits, and unbelievable moments across humanity.

synergy of humanity by eng chung tong, malaysia, shortlist, open, culture (open competition), ‘a humanity view of one of the minorities tribes in yunnan going about their daily working life. teamwork, coordination, and cooperation are essential for efficiency otherwise it will be chaos. an impression of once upon a time in yunnan.’

a diverse body of imagery has been submitted via the open competition across ten categories including traditional classifications like landscape and portraiture, and newer categories like creative. photographic artist richard ansett captures contemporary artist grayson perry, dressed as his alter ego claire. meanwhile, UI/UX designer jennifer bin shows the contrast of a newly built housing estate against a much older one.

end of nowruz celebration in iran (kurdistan) by hasan torabi, iran, shortlist, open, culture

the sony world photography awards consist of four competitions in total: professional (for a body of works), open (for a single image), student (for academic institutions) and youth (for 12-19-year-olds). photographers from the UK, italy, and the USA have submitted the highest volume of entries, with mexico, korea, and india experiencing the greatest increase in entry numbers.

drawing the happiness by ming kai chan, hong kong SAR, shortlist, open, culture

‘I was astonished with the diversity of work that was entered into the open and youth competitions,‘ shares youth and open judging chair rebecca mcclelland, photography director & head of art production for saatchi saatchi & prodigious. ‘the award represents a very democratic appreciation of photography, from tradition to emergent trends across all genres from nature to fashion. the competition allows the broadest demographic to have a platform.‘

a red river of faith by lifeng chen, china, shortlist, open, culture, ‘thousands of women buddhists line up the hillside to go to the mountains to practice the dharma, which is called da yuan sheng hui, in sichuan, china.‘

the winners will be revealed on february 26, with overall open and youth winners announced april 17, 2019. on april 18, an exhibition of the images will go on show at somerset house in london until may 6.

tangshan, 2018 by jennifer bin, canada, shortlist, open, architecture

hubris part I by katarzyna young, south africa, shortlist, open, architecture, ‘the new us embassy in london known as the new london embassy, was designed by kieran timberlake and built in nine elms beside the river thames. essentially, it is a glass cube enveloped in shimmering sails of plastic. the ‘transparent crystalline cube’ is intended to symbolize ‘transparency, openness, and equality’, according to the architects. the unusual form of the building’s facade is designed to minimize solar glare while still allowing natural light into the office spaces. the reflective facade shifts in color according to the weather and the position of the sun. I find this building utterly fascinating, simple yet alluring. my intention was to create an image that encapsulates its beauty and unique form.‘

forest of resonating lamps by yukihito ono, japan, shortlist, open, travel, ‘interactive installation by teamlab. the light of lamps reacts according to the movement of a person. this exhibit is permanently installed in odaiba, tokyo.’

national police day by piotr cyganik, poland, shortlist, open, motion, ‘photo was taken during show given by special horse unit from police forces from chorzow, poland. show was the part of polish national police day celebrations.’

spa ft crash by francois lenoir, belgium, shortlist, open, motion

face to face by manuel enrique gonzález carmona, spain, shortlist, open, natural world & wildlife, ‘picture taken in saltee islands, ireland. by means of a double exposure in camera, a single common murre (uria aalge) has been shown in two different positions. he intended to create a minimalist image showing mainly the white lines of the bird underexposing in camera.’

stumps, alder lake, nisqually river, washington by hal gage, united states, shortlist, open, landscape

a dog and its best friend by arvids baranovs, latvia, shortlist, open, creative, 2019 sony world photography awards. ‘a dog and its best friend reveal the secrets that hide in the dark in cīrulīši nature trail, gauja national park, latvia. darkness/light series. light-painted using lights attached to a drone.‘

the harvest by dikpal thapa, nepal, shortlist, open, culture, 2019 sony world photography awards. ‘I got stung by one of the largest bees in the world and I had already killed almost 7 or 8 bees by the time when I notice hunters around me calmly picking those bees off their body and throwing them away. they didn’t kill them. they just removed them from their body as soon as they sat on them. I didn’t ask why but understood the purpose we were there. we were there for harvesting the wild honey from the hives of himalayan bees. the intention was not to kill. that’s why they put fire. that fire was not just to avoid the bee sting but to fend off the larger population of bees so that the hunters could harvest the honey without causing much damage to them. they respected those bees. they respected the mother nature and the natural process. ‘gurungs’ from the remote himalayan range of nepal go to the wild twice a year just to harvest the honey from the himalayan honey bees. the mad hunters, the bravehearts, you name them and it still is not going to justify the wonder these guys pulled right in front of my eyes. after smoking out the majority of bees from the hives comes the time for harvesting the mad honey. they climbed down the ladder from the upper part of the cliffs bare hand and barefoot as you cannot wear anything on that rope or you run the risk of slipping your hand and your feet. that is it. the net on your face. the dress on your body and the ladder.’