Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE WINNING SINGLE images of the 2019 Sony World Photography Awards’ Open competition have been released this week.
Selected from a record-breaking number of entries from 195 countries and territories, they judges have rewarded 10 exceptional single images that each fit the brief of the diverse categories.
The winning photographers come from a broad range of countries and backgrounds and include full-time professional photographers, photographers who have recently converted from other careers, and enthusiasts alike.
The winners will now go on to compete for the Open Photographer of the Year, winning $5,000 (€4390). This photographer, along with the professional categories’ winners, will be announced at an awards’ ceremony in London on 17 April.
Here are the winners:
Architecture
Philippe Sarfati, French with the image Heatwave
The 21st century museum’s staff waters the lawn during a summer afternoon. Kanazawa, Japan, July 2018
Culture (supported by Culture Trip)
Pan Jianhua, China Mainland with the image Shadow Puppetry
Shadow Puppetry is an ancient folk art with a history of more than 2000 years in China. The village shadow Puppets performers perform for the local villagers in the courtyard of a stone house.
Creative
Martin Stranka, Czech, with the image Dreamers and Warriors
“Whether you are physically male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy – all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. All those other things are the glass that contains the lamp, but you are the light inside. We should never stop following our dreams, fighting for our ideals and protecting our visions which are all symbolised by the animals captured in this series & Dreamers and Warriors.”
Motion
Christy Lee Rogers, American with the image Harmony
Shot underwater in Hawaii, this image is part of my Muses Collection. What started to work best for me was having a perspective from outside of the water, looking in and using the surface of a pool as a canvas, utilizing natural effects like the refraction of light with movement to bend reality, and shooting at night so I could really control my light.
Landscape
Hal Gage, American with the image Stumps, Alder Lake, Nisqually River, Oregon
Stumps exposed from the water levels on the manmade Alder lake on the Nisqually River Dam, Washington.
Natural World and Wildlife
Tracey Lund, British with the image Underwater Gannets
Whilst on a trip to Shetland, the biggest thing I wanted to do was photograph the gannets as they feed underwater. The photography takes place at sea around some of Shetland’s remotest headlands. Dead bait is used, using fish the Gannets would normally eat, locally sourced around Shetland. To be able to capture what goes on under the water was an unbelievable experience and one I will never forget.
Portraiture
Richard Ansett, British with the image Grayson Perry – Birth
I have been working closely with Grayson Perry for 5 years developing conceptual campaigns for his social documentary films. This ‘Birth’ concept is designed and inspired by the inexhaustible mother and child motif brought upto date for the 21st century and all shot ‘in camera’ at a studio near his home. Baby Dylan was supplied by the client’s press officer recently on maternity leave. We thought it would be a great early memory.
Still Life
Rachel Yee Laam Lai, Hong Kong SAR with the image Peony and Leaves
Although the peony is beautiful, it depends entirely on help from the green leaves. (Chinese proverb) However brilliant you may be, you can’t do anything without support from others.
Street Photography
Carole Pariat, French with the image Open-Air Toilet
This stony forest, situated in the South of China, is composed of many stone peaks which were sculptured gradually by the process of erosion due to rain and wind. On the background, the mountain, shaped also during millions of years. And between the 2, these skyscrapers erected in no time at all in China contrast with this magic landscape without age. Nevertheless, in the similarity of their form, the stony constructions rising of the ground, seem to begin a silent dialogue, with the maze of high buildings drawn by the hand of the men. Picture taken last May.
Travel (supported by Eurostar)
Nicolas Boyer, French with the image Woman Wearing a Wedding Dress
Woman wearing the shiromuku dress (made of the kanjis shiro (白) “white” and muku (無垢) “purity” that the bride wears during a traditional Shinto wedding in Tokyo.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Once in the days it was the skill of the photographer in terms of lighting, framing , exposure etc that produced a good photograph. Nowadays it is the skill on the computer. Some of the photographs above are so photoshopped it’s hard to call them photographs. Maybe call them images.
@Don Kravallo: but these are photographs not art, that’s what he’s saying and he has a point
@Unsinkable No.2: Define art please.
@Clifford Brennan: thank you
@Don Kravallo: Some photography competitions allow wholesale image manipulation, some don’t. This one does. Them’s the rules. The naysayers are free to enjoy the competitions that suit their ideas of what photography is. The rest of us can enjoy the results either way.
@Unsinkable No.2: I would have said these are art, not photographs. It is why I am getting more and more drawn to my phone and instagram. A 6cm X 6cm space to fill with an image which has had nothing done to it beyond cropping. There is a simplicity and purity in that which I like.
@Don Kravallo: Art never changes young man, only perception.
@Don Kravallo: Is the ageist comment really necessary? I think he makes a point worth considering whether you like it or not. The role of the photographer has certainly changed in more recent times. He/She used to be a craftsman with skills of a different nature. Every aspect had to be considered, particularly lighting, composition and darkroom skills. The photographer now plans with post production in mind and has the computer skills to make a jigsaw. It’s all still photography, just different. I do think though, that the magic has gone and the mystery is lost. People are now unsurprised at what is being produced. Photography as we knew it is dead. Everything is now possible with a computer.
@Pat Comer: totally agree would love to see the original images to compare. Photography has evolved with technology but this has turned it into something else. Nothing like admiring a true photo. None of them stand out to me with the exception of the shadow puppets.
@Pat Comer: dodging and burning in the darkroom was the early version of photoshop, photos back in the day were manipulated more than people realised, the trick is in knowing what can be done to a scene when you see it, knowing what your toolbox is capable of, you dont just press a button and it turns a bad photo into a good one.
Baby Dylan looks unimpressed.
Nearly thought the Schweppes advert was one of the photos there for a second
Portraitures favoured by Hyacinth Buckett and Hilda Ogden
Rather one of these hanging on my wall than a Basquiat
have your say