Menu Close

The Sony World Photography Awards 2025 capture everything from cultural celebrations to polar bears

Sony World Photography Awards 2025 category winners

sony-world-photography-awards-featured-image

The World Photography Organisation has announced the category winners and shortlisted photographers for the Sony World Photography Awards 2025 Open competition. The Open competition of the World Photography Awards is in its 18th year and aims to celebrate photographers’ ability to “distill a singular moment and to evoke a broader narrative.” Entrants submitted their strongest images from 2024 across 10 categories, including landscape, portraiture, street photography, wildlife and more.

This year, the free-to-enter competition received over 419,000 submissions from 200 countries and territories. All of the shortlisted photographs can be seen at worldphoto.org.

In addition to the category winners, the Open Photographer of the Year will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on April 16. Select winning and shortlisted images will be displayed in the World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House in London from April 17 to May 5 and then travel to other locations.

Architecture

Xuecheng-Liu -China-Mainland -Winner -Open-Competition -Architecture -Sony-World-Photography-Awards-2025

Photographer: Xuecheng Liu

Image title: Center of the Cosmos

Selected for the photograph Center of the Cosmos, which shows New York’s iconic Times Square from above, using a very wide angle to highlight the expanse of the city.

Copyright: © Xuecheng Liu, China Mainland, Winner, Open Competition, Architecture, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Creative

Jonell-Francisco-Philippines-Winner-Open-Competition-Creative-Sony-World-Photography-Awards-2025

Photographer: Jonell Francisco, Philippines, Winner, Open Competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Image title: Kem the Unstoppable

Selected for Kem the Unstoppable, an elegantly photographed collage portrait, alluding to Renaissance traditions of portraiture.

Copyright: © Jonell Francisco, Philippines, Winner, Open Competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Landscape

Ng-Guang-Ze -Singapore -Winner -Open-Competition -Landscape -Sony-World-Photography-Awards-2025

Photographer: Ng Guang Ze

Image title: None

Selected for his mesmerising black-and-white shot of a stream meandering through grasslands into a lake in the distance, taken in Wenhai, Lijiang.

Copyright: © Ng Guang Ze, Singapore, Winner, Open Competition, Landscape, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Lifestyle

Hajime-Hirano -Japan -Winner -Open-Competition -Lifestyle -Sony-World-Photography-Awards-2025

Photographer: Hajime Hirano

Image title: None

Selected for his meticulously composed image of a street vendor selling electronic parts in Akihabara, once Japan’s largest electronics town following a period of rapid economic growth in the late 1950s.

Copyright: © Hajime Hirano, Japan, Winner, Open Competition, Lifestyle, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Motion

Olivier-Unia -France -Winner -Open-Competition -Motion -Sony-World-Photography-Awards-2025

Photographer: Olivier Unia

Image title: Tbourida La Chute

Selected for Tbourida La Chute, in which the photographer captures the danger and excitement of the moment a rider is thrown from their mount during a ‘tbourida,’ a traditional Moroccan equestrian performance.

Copyright: © Olivier Unia, France, Winner, Open Competition, Motion, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Natural World & Wildlife

Estebane-Rezkallah -France -Winner -Open-Competition -Natural-World- -Wildlife -Sony-World-Photography-Awards-2025

Photographer: Estebane Rezkallah

Image title: The Whale Raft

Selected for The Whale Raft, depicting a group of polar bears feasting on the carcass of a whale in east Greenland.

Copyright: © Estebane Rezkallah, France, Winner, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Object

Sussi-Charlotte-Alminde -Denmark -Winner -Open-Competition -Object -Sony-World-Photography-Awards-2025

Photographer: Sussi Charlotte Alminde

Image title: Octopuses in the Sky

Selected for Octopuses in the Sky, showcasing elaborate handmade kites at the Fanø International Kite Fliers Meeting, one of the world’s largest kite flying events.

Copyright: © Sussi Charlotte Alminde, Denmark, Winner, Open Competition, Object, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Portraiture

Yeintze-Boutamba -Gabon -Winner -Open-Competition -Portraiture -Sony-World-Photography-Awards-2025

Photographer: Yeintze Boutamba

Image title: Encounter

Selected for Encounter, a tender portrait of two people shot in the intimacy of a bedroom. The photographer wanted to immortalise this moment for the sitters.

Copyright: © Yeintze Boutamba, Gabon, Winner, Open Competition, Portraiture, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Street Photography

Khairizal--Maris -Indonesia -Winner -Open-Competition -Street-Photography -Sony-World-Photography-Awards-2025

Photographer: Khairizal Maris

Image title: Celebrating Football Club Victories

Selected for Celebrating Football Club Victories, which pictures the elation of fans celebrating a win by their local football club by lighting flares in Bandung, West Java.

Copyright: © Khairizal Maris, Indonesia, Winner, Open Competition, Street Photography, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Travel

Matjaž-Šimic -Slovenia -Winner -Open-Competition -Travel -Sony-World-Photography-Awards-2025

Photographer: Matjaž Šimic, Slovenia

Image title: Ask a Shaman

Selected for Ask a Shaman, depicting a group of shamans in La Paz, Bolivia, where they play a major role in Native Bolivian traditional culture, shot against the brightly painted local architecture.

Copyright: © Matjaž Šimic, Slovenia, Winner, Open Competition, Travel, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Author:
This article comes from DP Review and can be read on the original site.

Related Posts