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Photography

Gallery: The incredible overall winners of the 2019 Sony World Photography Awards

By Rich Haridy
April 24, 2019
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McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Sauber's Charles Leclerc crash at the first corner during the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, August 26, 2018
Francois Lenoir, Belgium, Shortlist, Open, Motion (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Overall Open Photographer of the Year, this image was shot underwater in Hawaii and is part of a collection called Muses
Christy Lee Rogers, United States of America, Open Photographer of the Year, Open, Motion (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
In Germany, pools are public. They are part of social and cultural life, open for all social classes, a place where people spend a lot of time, especially in childhood and which leaves pleasant memories. Everybody can afford the inexpensive entrance fee. The series was shot by drone, in summer 2018 at a height of only a few meters
Stephan Zirwes, Germany, 1st Place, Professional, Architecture (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
A sledge – a special decision for every child : slide to the left, you can stand in low water – slide to the right, you have to swim in the deep water. Built in 1964
Stephan Zirwes, Germany, 1st Place, Professional, Architecture (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Entos Eyesus church forest on an island in Lake Tana near Bahir Dar
Kieran Dodds, United Kingdom, 3rd Place, Professional, Landscape (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Ethiopia has lost 95 percent of its native forests due to human activity in the last century. What remains surrounds circular Tewahedo Orthodox churches; these ancient canopies are protected as a tenet of faith
Kieran Dodds, United Kingdom, 3rd Place, Professional, Landscape (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
México, Baja California Sur, Bahia Magdalena. A striped marlin hunting a school of mackerel some 40 miles off the coast of San Carlos
Christian Vizl, Mexico, 2nd Place, Professional, Natural World & Wildlife (Professional), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
México, Baja California Sur, Los Islotes. A sea lion swimming among a school of sardines
Christian Vizl, Mexico, 2nd Place, Professional, Natural World & Wildlife (Professional), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
An image showing a detailed ecology recovery landscape. The background is a quarry face covered by green/cyan plastic netting. A young sapling stands in the center, supported by a bag of nutrition liquid and a pile of semi-artificial red soil
Yan Wang Preston, United Kingdom, 1st Place, Professional, Landscape (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
A group of transplanted trees wrapped in green and white plastic, standing quietly above a new pond as part of the Haidong North Mountain Forest Park
Yan Wang Preston, United Kingdom, 1st Place, Professional, Landscape (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
From a series titled Back to the Future
Peter Franck, Germany, 3rd Place , Professional, Architecture (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Third place winner in the Professional Architecture category
Peter Franck, Germany, 3rd Place , Professional, Architecture (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
At the end of a long day at her veterinary practice, Odette makes supper, accompanied by Bob and, on her shoulder, Willy, a two-year-old free-flying chestnut-fronted macaw she rescued as a chick. Odette and her son also share their home with nine cats and 10 dogs. Bob is unfazed by his housemates
Jasper Doest, Netherlands, 1st Place, Professional, Natural World & Wildlife (Professional), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Bob walks through the hallway, past the bathroom, back to his room. During rehabilitation, DVM Odette Doest found out that Bob had been habituated by humans and therefore could not be reintroduced back into the wild. So now he spends his time at her house, where he shares a room with his other avian rescue friends
Jasper Doest, Netherlands, 1st Place, Professional, Natural World & Wildlife (Professional), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
The fate of one of the world’s greatest Functionalist masterpieces, Paimio Tuberculosis Sanatorium (1933) is at stake. The owner of the property has decided to sell it in the next six months. The Alvar Aalto foundation has launched a an appeal to preserve Alvar and Aino Aalto’s key work intact and protect this example of “healing Modernism”
Tuomas Uusheimo, Finland, 2nd Place, Professional, Architecture (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
The main staircase of the sanatorium 
Tuomas Uusheimo, Finland, 2nd Place, Professional, Architecture (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
India, Tamil Nadu, May 2018. One of the skulls claimed to be the skull of a farmer who committed suicide, held by Mr Premkumar, a member of the South Indian Farmers Association. This skull was also used during a protest in Delhi in 2017, where farmers demanded a drought relief package and loan waiver for peasants from the state
Federico Borella, Italy, Photographer of the Year, Professional, Documentary (Professional), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
India, Tamil Nadu, May 2018. Rasathi, the wife of Selvarasy, a farmer who committed suicide in May 2017 by hanging himself in his own field. He got into debt with a cooperative society. A study carried out by Tamma A. Carleton, and published by PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) analyzed climate data from the last 47 years and compared it with the number of farmer suicides in the same period. The research concluded that changes in temperatures which have been occurring since the 1980s have played a role in the decision by thousands of farmers to take their own lives
Federico Borella, Italy, Photographer of the Year, Professional, Documentary (Professional), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Winning entry in the Youth competition
Zelle Westfall, United States of America, Youth Photographer of the Year, Youth, Diversity (2019 Youth competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Four women select the oranges that are going to be exported to all of Europe
Sergi Villanueva, Spain, Student Photographer of the Year, Student, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Three people picking oranges in the field of one of them
Sergi Villanueva, Spain, Student Photographer of the Year, Student, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Interior at the restaurant Hexenlochmühle
Christina Stohn, Germany, 2nd Place, Professional, Brief (Professional), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
In the artist's words: "This series takes place in my home of Hawaii. I use traditional film and silver gelatin to shoot and print images of controversial building and infrastructure projects in Hawaii. I then attempt to remove the buildings from the image by laser etching them. The laser leaves a scar on the image, much like the permanent damage from infrastructure which cannot be removed"
Leah Schretenthaler, United States of America, 2nd Place , Professional, Creative (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Welcome to Akaka Falls
Leah Schretenthaler, United States of America, 2nd Place , Professional, Creative (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Shooting for this last series took place entirely in the Kolor Studio in the heart of Rio de Janeiro, where all the sets and accessories were built by the Kolor Art Collective
Pol Kurucz, France, 3rd Place , Professional, Creative (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Akashinga, meaning "the brave ones" in Zimbabwe's Shona dialect, is an all-female, community-driven conservation model. It empowers severely disadvantaged women to restore and manage a network of wilderness areas as an alternative to trophy hunting
Brent  Stirton, South Africa, 2nd Place, Professional, Documentary (Professional), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Petronella Chigumbura, 30, an elite member of the all-female Akashinga conservation ranger force undergoes stealth movement and concealment training in the bush near their base
Brent  Stirton, South Africa, 2nd Place, Professional, Documentary (Professional), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
This project looks under the surface and examines the hidden landscape within the spaces in which our food is produced. Looking at cyclical changes and the relationship between chaos and control in the natural environment. In the polytunnel, the seasons are stretched and softened within a polythene skin, creating its own cosmos
Marco Kesseler, United Kingdom, 2nd Place, Professional, Landscape (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Winter in the polytunnel; dried asparagus plants being cleared in anticipation for the roots to throw out new shoots in the spring
Marco Kesseler, United Kingdom, 2nd Place, Professional, Landscape (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Within the traditional Romanian mindset, the house is considered the nucleus of the family life, a primordial space which generates and preserves vital energies
Felicia Simion, Romania, Shortlist, Professional, 
In the traditional Romanian mindset, the house is considered the nucleus of family life
Felicia Simion, Romania, Shortlist, Professional, Architecture (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Ayah, 37 and Aisha, 18 drink from Burger King cups in a mall ahead of the face veil ban in Hundige, Denmark, July 19, 2018
Andrew Kelly , Australia, Shortlist, Professional, Documentary, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
SQM mine in the Atacama desert in northern Chile. The Atacama is famous for being the world’s driest place. Four thousand metres above sea level in the rain shadow of the Andes Mountains, almost no rain falls here and the people who do live here have historically scraped a living breeding llamas and goats or knitting hats. So it’s remote and isolated. It’s also the world’s largest source of lithium, home to minerals that provide the power that fuels our modern daily life
Catherine Hyland, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Professional, Landscape (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Pyongyang, North Korea. On the football field adjacent to Mirae Primary School, with the typical skyscrapers of Pyongyang in the background, children practice the synchronized execution of a tul, a series of offensive and defensive techniques against one or several virtual adversaries
Alain Schroeder, Belgium, Shortlist, Professional, Sport (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Pyongyang, North Korea.For the first time since 2013 and in honor of the 70th anniversary of the creation of North Korea on September 9, 1948, the Mass Games, also known as the Arirang Festival, are held at the May Day stadium in Pyongyang, one of the five largest stadiums in the world. In addition to the 100,000 volunteer participants on the field performing during the 90 minute event, 17000 students seated in the grandstand facing the public execute a series of images using a card stunt technique whereby following specific directions, with military precision, all 17000 participants simultaneously unfold colored panels to form sweeping grand images
Alain Schroeder, Belgium, Shortlist, Professional, Sport (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Dennis and Cindy Adere are not racing themselves, but brought their car collection along to watch the action at Speed Week
Sigurd Fandango, Norway, Shortlist, Professional, Sport (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Like a checkerboard representing the oyster tables of the Thau pond, near Sète
Gérard Bret, France, Shortlist, Open, Landscape, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Photographed in Kuitun Grand Canyon, Xinjiang
Lu Quanhou, China, Shortlist, Open, Travel (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
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
Lifeng Chen, National Awards 2nd Place, China Mainland, Shortlist, Open competition, Culture , 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
A photo of extremes, showing the contrast of a newly built housing estate in Tangshan versus a much older, decrepit one
Jennifer Bin, Canada, Shortlist, Open, Architecture (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
This photo was taken in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China in January 2018.  It is known as Chang'an in history. The photo shows the Xi'an City Wall after snow. This photo is presented in the form of nine photos stitched into a nine-square grid to show the solemn beauty of the ancient Xi'an city wall
Liu Rui, China, Shortlist, Open, Architecture (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
A machine in a woodland on Dartmoor
Neil Burnell, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Open, Landscape, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Long Exposure shot of the Old Victorian Lighthouse off the coast of Dovercourt, Essex. 40 Second exposure taken at high tide on an overcast day on 17th February 2018
Shaun Mills, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Open, Architecture (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
The Kölnbrein Dam in Austria was conceived in the '30s and then only constructed in the '70s. It is Austria tallest dam at 200 metres at an elevation of 1,933m
Dean Grossmith, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Open, Architecture (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Seeing the Light I
Christopher Madden , United Kingdom, Shortlist, Open, Architecture (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
A scooter rider providing scale and context in relation to the Aquatics Centre, London
Daniel Portch, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Open, Architecture (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Sauber's Charles Leclerc crash at the first corner during the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, August 26, 2018
Francois Lenoir, Belgium, Shortlist, Open, Motion (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Galia Melon from 'The Secret Lives of Fruits and Vegetables' project which examines the mystical origins and evolution of the foods we take for granted
Maciek Jasik, United States of America, Shortlist, Open, Still Life (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
The mirrored entrance of Tokyu Plaza
Connor Henderson, Australia, Shortlist, Open, Architecture (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
The skin, as a reflection of our interior
Mikeila Borgia, Argentina, Shortlist, Open, Portraiture (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Stumps exposed from in spring when water levels on the man-made Alder lake on the Nisqually River Dam, Washington are low
Hal Gage, United States of America, Shortlist, Open, Landscape (Open Competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Snow Hill in Antarctica
Nadia Aly, United States of America, Shortlist, Open, Natural World & Wildlife, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
A walk on the bike
Alexandr Vlassyuk, Russian Federation, Shortlist, Open, Creative, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
The Arabian Red Fox ( Vulpes vulpes arabica ) is a subspecies of the Red Fox and is native to Arabia and adapted to life in the desert. It inhabits virtually every environment in Arabia from cities along the coast to desert and mountains
Msaaed Al Gharibah, Kuwait, Shortlist, Open, Natural World & Wildlife, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
A beach on the Oregon coast
Masako Metz, Japan, Shortlist, Open, Landscape, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
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
Katarzyna Young, South Africa, Shortlist, Open, Architecture (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
The boundless and snow-covered landscape of the tundra is the natural habitat of the Nenets people and their reindeer that live in perfect harmony with the environment and with humans. The need of food drive the reindeer to migrate along the Yamal Peninsula. The sleds are now ready for the next migration and the Northern Lights can only be considered as a positive signal sent to the Nenets by the spirits of the tundra
Sara Bianchi, Italy, Shortlist, Open, Landscape, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Misty fog flew through the top of Tre Cime, the Italian alps, on a calm night
Kuo Zei Yang, Taiwan, Province of China (China), Shortlist, Open, Landscape, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Sardine Run off the coasts of Mbotyi River, heart of rural South Africa: a group of common dolphins trap a small shoal of sardine in a net of bubble, before launching the assault
David Salvatori, Italy, Shortlist, Open, Natural World & Wildlife, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
The Altai Mountains. Russia
Oleg Kugaev, Russian Federation, Shortlist, Open, Landscape, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Romania, at a poisoned lake from the mining area
Antonio Gandore, Romania, Shortlist, Open, Landscape, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
The Arugam Bay girls surf club which is the very first surf society for local women in the history of Sri Lanka
Maxwell Gifted, France, Shortlist, Open, Travel (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Sunrise at Mount Bromo East Java Indonesia.Cool weather at 8°c around 4.00 am
Roslan Nasir, National Awards 2nd Place, Malaysia, Shortlist, Open competition, Landscape, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
'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
Dikpal Thapa, National Awards 1st Place, Nepal, Shortlist, Open competition, Culture, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Cīrulīši nature trail, Gauja National Park, Latvia
Arvids Baranovs, Latvia, Shortlist, Open, Creative, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Aerial view of a small frozen forest lake in Oslo, Norway
Svein Nordrum, National Awards 1st Place, Norway, Shortlist, Open competition, Landscape, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Turin, Piazza Castello
Rosaria Sabrina Pantano, Italy, Shortlist, Open, Street Photography (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Dolomites mountain ranges in south Tyrol, Italy
swapnil deshpande, India, Shortlist, Open, Landscape, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Morning view from a hotel in Stockholm
audun nygaard, Norway, Shortlist, Open, Street Photography (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
A jellyfish pulsates its umbrella right beneath the surface at the end of the blooming season in Mar Menor (Spain) coastal lagoon
Angel Fitor, Spain, Shortlist, Open, Natural World & Wildlife, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
The Ethiopian wolf is one of the rarest animals in the world and at risk of extinction. There are only 500 almost all concentrated in the Sanetti plateau, about 3,600 meters high. Sanetti plateau National Park Ethiopia
Roberto Marchegiani, Italy, Shortlist, Open, Natural World & Wildlife, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Sterling Falls in the heart of Milford Sound New Zealand. The water falls a staggering 151 m into the basin  with such force that it rips across the surface in a beautiful web like texture throwing spray in every direction
Robert Saunders, New Zealander, Shortlist, Open, Landscape, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
The photo was taken at Kaluts desert of Kerman, Iran
Laily Hassan, Malaysia, Shortlist, Open, Travel (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
This shot was taken close past midnight in Svolvær
Siddharth Sachar, India, Shortlist, Open, Travel (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Nowruz is the traditional Iranian festival of spring which starts at the exact moment of the vernal equinox, commencing the start of the spring. It is considered as the start of the New Year among Iranians
Alimohammad Karami, Iran, Shortlist, Open, Culture (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia-The last frontier
Paul-Vlad Epure, Romania, 1st Place, National Awards, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Freedom
Kaiwen Yang, China, 3rd Place, National Awards, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
One of the emblematic memories of the old industry of Győr, the blasting of the last chimney of the former Plant Oil Factory
Zoltán Nemes 'mettor', Hungary, 1st Place, National Awards, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
The road to Jeju Island volcano
Jae Beom  Cho, Korea (Republic of), 3rd Place, National Awards, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Midnight Surf
Paul Franzchel De Mesa, Philippines, 1st Place, National Awards, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Miss Faversham. Margate, Kent
Edward Thompson, United Kingdom, 3rd Place, Professional, Brief (Professional), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
A Syrian refugee girl in Tarlabasi. She lost both her parents during the war and was taken to Istanbul by some family friends, who now take care of her. The peculiar color of her eyes according to her adoptive family is a gift of God
Jean-Marc Caimi & Valentina Piccinni, Italy, 1st Place, Professional, Discovery (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
A shirtless young protester in Gaza gripping a Palestinian flag with one hand and swinging a slingshot over his head with the other, on the northern border between the Gaza Strip and Israel in the weekly protests against the Israeli blockade of Gaza, which has been imposed by Israel for the past 12 years
Mustafa Hassona, Palestine, State of, 3rd Place, Professional, Documentary (Professional), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
Grapefruit hanging in a lit courtyard, Oaxaca city
Maela Ohana, France, 3rd Place, Professional, Natural World & Wildlife (Professional), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
The ferry between Harris and North-Uist is the only way to connect the two islands. The fate of the islands has become increasingly uncertain after Brexit. The region’s few industries rely heavily on trade within the European Union. European infrastructure subsidies, which include those for roads, ferry docks, and causeways, have made the islands more accessible in the past decades. Without the maintain of the infrastructure that connects the mainland to the islands, it could become harder, even more fragile, for the young to stay
Laetitia Vançon, France, 3rd Place, Professional, Portraiture (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
View gallery - 84 images

After a couple of months of slow reveals, the final overall winners of the 2019 Sony World Photography Awards have been announced featuring a provocative array of images. The impressive assortment of winners in one of the world's largest photo competitions cover everything from moving photojournalism to impressionistic underwater photography.

The Sony World Photography Awards this year amassed a record-breaking 326,997 entries spanning 195 countries. The overall Photographer of the Year prize was selected from the 10 professional category winners, judged on a submitted series of between five and 10 images. Federico Borella took this year's big prize with a series of emotional images investigating the link between increased suicide rates amongst farmers in South India and global warming.

Overall Open Photographer of the Year, this image was shot underwater in Hawaii and is part of a collection called Muses
Christy Lee Rogers, United States of America, Open Photographer of the Year, Open, Motion (Open competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards

The Open Photographer of the Year, based on single image submissions, went to an incredible shot from Christy Lee Rogers. The gorgeous image above is titled Harmony and sees a stunning classical painterly composition created using surreal underwater photography techniques.

Ethiopia has lost 95 percent of its native forests due to human activity in the last century. What remains surrounds circular Tewahedo Orthodox churches; these ancient canopies are protected as a tenet of faith
Kieran Dodds, United Kingdom, 3rd Place, Professional, Landscape (Professional competition), 2019 Sony World Photography Awards

Other stunning highlights from this year's massive trove of winners include Stephan Zirwes' stylish geometric shots of public pools in Germany, Kieran Dodds' drone shots of Ethiopia's declining native forests (above), and Christian Vizl's beautiful black and white underwater portraits.

Take a look through our gallery for more winning and shortlisted highlights from this year's huge photo competition.

Source: Sony World Photography Awards

View gallery - 84 images

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Rich Haridy
Rich has written for a number of online and print publications over the last decade while also acting as film critic for several radio broadcasters and podcasts. His interests focus on psychedelic science, new media, and science oddities. Rich completed his Masters degree in the Arts back in 2013 before joining New Atlas in 2016.
2 comments
Wavmakr
For the most part there are many incredible photos in this series, but quite frankly the merit of many of them I find extremely questionable...........i would like to have some of the drugs those people were taking when writing the photo descriptions.
ljaques
I, too, wonder if some of those won because they were the only submission in that category. Some photos were outstanding (fox, fish, wolf, rivers), but at least half were so-so, at best.
Zimbabwe's Akashinga photos were dull, with the concept behind it extremely good. Go, ladies, go! Hunt those poachers! Kudos.
I wonder if Wavmakr was referring to the Bob photos re: drugs. <shakes head>
Is anyone else just DONE with drone photos yet?
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