Photography

The powerful overall winners of the 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

The powerful overall winners of the 2020 Sony World Photography Awards
Overall Winner. José is one of the leaders of the Achuar indigenous people in the Sharamentsa community. He defends his rainforest by generating projects in collaboration with external organizations
Overall Winner. José is one of the leaders of the Achuar indigenous people in the Sharamentsa community. He defends his rainforest by generating projects in collaboration with external organizations
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Overall Winner. José is one of the leaders of the Achuar indigenous people in the Sharamentsa community. He defends his rainforest by generating projects in collaboration with external organizations
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Overall Winner. José is one of the leaders of the Achuar indigenous people in the Sharamentsa community. He defends his rainforest by generating projects in collaboration with external organizations
Black Francis
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Black Francis
Bentenjima, on the west coast of Japan
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Bentenjima, on the west coast of Japan
Ukrainian Railroad Ladies
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Ukrainian Railroad Ladies
The lower part of the image shows the massive grids where the prison barracks of Topaz War Relocation Center that incarcerated 10,000 Japanese people living in U.S. were constructed
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The lower part of the image shows the massive grids where the prison barracks of Topaz War Relocation Center that incarcerated 10,000 Japanese people living in U.S. were constructed
Lop Nor is a former salt lake, now largely dried-up, located in Xinjiang province in northwest China. This barren area was used intermittently as a nuclear weapons testing site from 1964 to 1996, with as many as 45 tests carried out underground and in the atmosphere
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Lop Nor is a former salt lake, now largely dried-up, located in Xinjiang province in northwest China. This barren area was used intermittently as a nuclear weapons testing site from 1964 to 1996, with as many as 45 tests carried out underground and in the atmosphere
Formalism I
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Formalism I
The great indoors provides optimal growing conditions for lettuce and other leafy greens at Siberia B.V. in Maasbree, Netherlands. Each acre in the greenhouse yields as much lettuce as 10 outdoor acres and cuts the need for chemicals by 97%
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The great indoors provides optimal growing conditions for lettuce and other leafy greens at Siberia B.V. in Maasbree, Netherlands. Each acre in the greenhouse yields as much lettuce as 10 outdoor acres and cuts the need for chemicals by 97%
Tilos, Greece
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Tilos, Greece
Some dolls are equipped with devices that mimic heartbeats, breathing, sucking or head mobility. These devices are carefully hidden inside the doll’s padding, and can be recharged via USB
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Some dolls are equipped with devices that mimic heartbeats, breathing, sucking or head mobility. These devices are carefully hidden inside the doll’s padding, and can be recharged via USB
Natural gas flaring site, Ughelli, Niger Delta, Nigeria
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Natural gas flaring site, Ughelli, Niger Delta, Nigeria
Right: Drica portrayed lying in her ancestral land. Left: Aerial view of the Rio Norte Bauxite Mine next to the Quilombola territory, on the Trombetas River. Pará, Brazil
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Right: Drica portrayed lying in her ancestral land. Left: Aerial view of the Rio Norte Bauxite Mine next to the Quilombola territory, on the Trombetas River. Pará, Brazil
The subject is lit via four flashes triggered by a homemade controller. Each image is a composite of between 200 and 600 individual pictures stacked and stitched together
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The subject is lit via four flashes triggered by a homemade controller. Each image is a composite of between 200 and 600 individual pictures stacked and stitched together
Hurry
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Hurry
A view of half-constructed buildings in the new town of Pardis. Pardis is located 17 km northeast of Tehran province, Iran
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A view of half-constructed buildings in the new town of Pardis. Pardis is located 17 km northeast of Tehran province, Iran
Ice Fishing Huts, Lake Winnipeg
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Ice Fishing Huts, Lake Winnipeg
Centre Point - Richard Seifert & Partners
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Centre Point - Richard Seifert & Partners
Prison barrack #04 (Poston War Relocation Center, Poston, Arizona)
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Prison barrack #04 (Poston War Relocation Center, Poston, Arizona)
A Temminck’s Pangolin learns to forage again after being rescued from traffickers on the Zimbabwe/South Africa border
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A Temminck’s Pangolin learns to forage again after being rescued from traffickers on the Zimbabwe/South Africa border
Tokyo (Japan), Miraikan, The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation: a close-up of Alter, a robot on display at the museum
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Tokyo (Japan), Miraikan, The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation: a close-up of Alter, a robot on display at the museum
Tilos, Greece
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Tilos, Greece
Frontline health worker of the Ebola response poses for a portrait at a medical facility
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Frontline health worker of the Ebola response poses for a portrait at a medical facility
A portrait of Dorna and Sevda, both 12, walking around the town on a weekend. The new town of Parand is located 30 km southwest of Tehran province. There is literally no entertainment or programs for children and adolescents here
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A portrait of Dorna and Sevda, both 12, walking around the town on a weekend. The new town of Parand is located 30 km southwest of Tehran province. There is literally no entertainment or programs for children and adolescents here
Scales of the Urania Ripheus in 45x
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Scales of the Urania Ripheus in 45x
Formalism I
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Formalism I
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Pablo Albarenga has taken the top Photographer of the Year prize in the 2020 Sony World Photography Awards for an incredible series entitled Seeds of Resistance, contrasting portraits of environmental activists with the territories they are trying to protect.

This year’s final wave of winners in the massive annual contest were whittled down from a record-breaking 350,000 submissions. Albarenga receives the US$25,000 top prize for a series that Chair of the 2020 Professional competition, Mike Trow, calls a powerful visual record of the human face of deforestation.

“The judging process this year was challenging - there were a number of extraordinary stories and sets of images that could have won the overall title, but Seeds of Resistance really stood out,” says Trow. “Pablo is from Uruguay and this project is deeply personal to him as a photographer. The effort required to envisage, produce and shoot this series is laudable in every way.”

The subject is lit via four flashes triggered by a homemade controller. Each image is a composite of between 200 and 600 individual pictures stacked and stitched together
The subject is lit via four flashes triggered by a homemade controller. Each image is a composite of between 200 and 600 individual pictures stacked and stitched together

Alongside the Professional competition is the Open competition, accessible to all photographers with a focus on single images. UK photographer Tom Oldham won the 2020 Open Photographer of the Year competition for his expressive portrait of Charles Thompson (aka Black Francis), frontman of the band The Pixies.

Black Francis
Black Francis

Other highlights from the top entries across the 10 Professional competition categories include Korean photographer Chang Kyun Kim’s poignant series of shots examining WW2 Japanese internment camps in the United States, Adalbert Mojrzisch’s mind-bending macro insect photographs, and Iranian photographer Hashem Shakeri’s portraits of the half-constructed new communities being built on the outskirts of Tehran.

A view of half-constructed buildings in the new town of Pardis. Pardis is located 17 km northeast of Tehran province, Iran
A view of half-constructed buildings in the new town of Pardis. Pardis is located 17 km northeast of Tehran province, Iran

Take a look through our gallery at the overall winners from this year’s stellar Sony World Photography Awards, or checkout more highlights from 2020 and previous years.

Source: World Photography Organization

View gallery - 25 images
1 comment
1 comment
ljaques
The USB baby charging and pic of Pardis were both intriguing.