CATEGORY WINNERS AND SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED
The World Photography Organization is delighted to announce this year’s category winners and shortlist in the Open competition of the Sony World Photography Awards 2021, recognizing the best single images from 2020.

Over 100 photographers were shortlisted in the 2021 competition alongside ten category winners. Each winner receives the latest digital imaging equipment from Sony to develop their vision and will go on to compete for the prestigious Open Photographer of the Year title and a $5,000 (USD) reward.
The overall Open winner will be announced on the 15th April. Winning and shortlisted work will be presented in the form of a virtual exhibition available to view via the World Photography Organisation website from the 15th April.
The ten category winners are:
ARCHITECTURE
Klaus Lenzen (Germany) for The Blue Window, depicting a ramp of stairs at the Hyatt hotel in Düsseldorf ascending towards a window from which a view of clear blue skies is reflected. Seemingly floating in space, the stairs and window are framed in dark shadows that highlight the design while also adding an element of surrealism.
CREATIVE
Tamary Kudita (Zimbabwe) for African Victorian, a portrait of a young black woman dressed in Victorian dress and holding traditional Shona cooking utensils. The image probes at stereotypical contextualizing of the black female body and offers an alternative visual language through which a multifaceted African identity is presented.
LANDSCAPE
Juan López Ruiz (Spain) for Electric Storm on Lavender, a dramatic photograph capturing the moment lighting strikes a flowering field of lavender with a solitary tree at its center, set against a dusky evening sky. Taken in the province of Guadalajara, Spain.
LIFESTYLE
Mariano Belmar Torrecilla (Spain) for Dias de playa, a softly focused picture of two women enjoying a morning walk on the beach in Alicante, Spain.
MOTION
Marijo Maduna (Croatia) for Girl Power, a black & white photograph recording the moment when a woman dives off a cliff on the island of Lokrum near Dubrovnik, Croatia, while her friends stand-by and watch.
NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE Cristo Pihlamäe (Estonia) for Little Kiss, an amusing picture of a hare looking out into the field with its tongue sticking out.
OBJECT
Kata Zih (Hungary) for Memento, depicting a tailor’s mannequin in an empty room. For Zih, the stillness of the scene evokes a feeling of solitude and stirs up memories of lockdown.
PORTRAITURE
Lyudmila Sabanina (Russian Federation) for Son, featuring a young child sitting on a table while gazing into space, lost in contemplation. The photograph shows another side to childhood, one of calmness and reflection.
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
F. Dilek Uyar (Turkey) for Disinfection, a cinematic image documenting an employee of the Health Affairs unit of Ankara Municipality in protective gear walking along the train platform while spraying it with disinfectant.
TRAVEL
Khanh Phan (Vietnam) for Drying Fish, a photograph of a lone woman surrounded by hundreds of trays of drying fish in the Long Hai fish market in Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Vietnam. Taken from above the pattern, of the fish in trays resembles a large piece of fabric with the woman seemingly weaving it all together.
This year’s Open competition was judged by Gastón Deleau, Director, FOLA, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The overall winners of the Open, Professional, Student, and Youth competition of the Sony World Photography Awards 2021 will be announced on 15 April 2021 via the World Photography Organization’s digital and video platforms. For more information about winners and shortlists please visit www.worldlphoto.org
OPEN COMPETITION 2021 FINALISTS AND SHORTLIST
ARCHITECTURE: Category Winner: Klaus Lenzen, Germany Shortlist: Farshid Ahmadpour, Islamic Republic of Iran Abdulla Al-Mushaifri, Oman Steffen Ebert, Germany Simone Hutsch, Germany Vytenis Jankūnas, United States Klaus Lenzen, Germany Kunkun Liu, China Mainland Aleksandr Lefler, Russian Federation Jordan McChesney, Canada Vitaly Medvedev, Russian Federation Da Miane, Georgia Jose Pessoa Neto, Portugal Holger Ostwald, Germany Ashwani Sarda, India | CREATIVE: Category Winner: Tamary Kudita, Zimbabwe Shortlist: Edita Bízová, Czech Republic Tatenda Chidora, Zimbabwe Maximilien Diaz, France Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian Federation Ali Jamshidi,, Islamic Republic of Iran Joosep Kivimäe, Estonia Angiolo Manetti, Italy Jarod Mauws, Belgium Alireza Movahedi, Islamic Republic of Iran Hoije Nuuter, Estonia Nara O’Neil, Australia Jing Shen, China Mainland Georgе Shpuntov, Russian Federation Kylli Sparre, Estonia | LANDSCAPE: Category Winner: Juan López Ruiz, Spain Shortlist: Luca Donegani, Italy Kevin Frank, Switzerland Jinjing Lyu, China Mainland Joaquin Marco, Spain Andrea Ortiz Diaz, Colombia Mehdi Parsaeian Islamic Republic of Iran Lorenzo Poli, Italy Scott Portelli, Australia James Rushforth, United Kingdom Hans Kristian Strand, Norway Markus Wiedmann, Germany Parker Yost, United States |
LIFESTYLE: Category Winner: Mariano Belmar, Spain Shortlist: Antonino Barone, Italy Isabela Teresa Basilio Neri, Brazil Gemma Brunton, United Kingdom Holger Bücker, Germany Stefano Butturini, Italy Aimee Glucina, New Zealand Michail Karagiannis, Greece Hamed Rahmati, Islamic Republic of Iran Alexey Tsiler, Russian Federation Brad Walls, Australia | MOTION: Category Winner Marijo Maduna, Croatia Shortlist: Sandi Bertoncelj, Slovenia Hersley-Ven Casero, The Philippines Serkan Çolak, Turkey Tadiwanashe Murowe, Zimbabwe Mary Nhoileen Maypa, The Philippines Ruud Peters, The Netherlands Daniel Portch, United Kingdom Zdeněk Vošický, Czech Republic Brad Walls, Australia Xianshe Ye, China Mainland | NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE: Category Winner: Cristo Pihlamäe, Estonia Shortlist: Thoedoros Apeiranthitis, Greece Hin Man Au, Hong Kong Amish Chhagan, Zambia Yuta Doto, Japan Arturo de Frias, Spain Tatyana Nemova, Russian Federation Alex Pansier, The Netherlands Alexandre Pietra, Switzerland Mati Puum, Estonia Inger Rønnenfelt, Denmark Koki Shinoda, Japan Andrew Suryono, Indonesia Iakovos Thoedoros, Greece |
PORTRAITURE: Category Winner: Lyudmila Sabanina, Russian Federation Shortlist: Frederic Aranda, United Kingdom Shirsendu Banerjee, India Paul Benns, United Kingdom Bella von Einsiedel, Germany Reinis Fjodorovs, Latvia Sabbir Hossen, Bangladesh Zeng Jinwen, China Mainland Heun Jung Kim, South Korea Justin Keene, United Kingdom King Mtambisi, Zimbabwe | OBJECT: Category Winner: Kata Zih, Hungary Shortlist: Steve Chandler, United Kingdom Christian Holz, Argentina Uwe Langmann, Germany Klaus Lenzen, Germany Agata Mroczek, Poland Paolo Paccagnella, Italy Stefan Pankow, United Kingdom Ann Petruckevitch, United Kingdom Manuel Schmidt, Germany Masumi Shiohara, Japan | STREET PHOTOGRAPHY: Category Winner: F.Dilek Uyar, Turkey Shortlist: Dina Alfasi, Israel Dimpy Bhalotia, India David Keith Brown, United States Gary Cummins, Ireland Ramunas Danisevicius, Lithuania Basu Deb, India Tommaso Galli, Italy Vytenis Jankūnas, United States Ares Jonekson, Indonesia Bartlomiej Jurecki, Poland Tomasz Kowalski, Poland Francesco Lopazio, Italy |
TRAVEL: Category Winner: Khanh Phan, Vietnam Shortlist: Marios Forsos, Greece Alexis Guevara, Mexico Graeme Haunholter, Canada Martina Lo Casto, Italy Rune Mattsson, Norway Hiroki Nose, Japan Yukihito Ono, Japan Franz Sußbauer, Germany F.Dilek Uyar, Turkey Min Min Zaw, Myanmar |
IMAGES AVAILABLE AT WORLDPHOTO.ORG/PRESS
About Sony World Photography Awards
Produced by the World Photography Organisation, the internationally acclaimed Sony World Photography Awards is one of the most important fixtures in the global photographic calendar. Now in its 13th year, the free-to-enter Awards are a global voice for photography and provide a vital insight into contemporary photography today. For both established and emerging artists, the Awards offer world-class opportunities for exposure of their work. The Awards additionally recognise the world’s most influential artists working in the medium through the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Awards; previous recipients include Martin Parr, William Eggleston and Nadav Kander.
About World Photography Organisation
The World Photography Organisation is a global platform for photography initiatives. Working across up to 180 countries, our aim is to raise the level of conversation around photography by celebrating the best imagery and photographers on the planet. We pride ourselves on building lasting relationships with both individual photographers as well as our industry-leading partners around the world. The World Photography Organisation hosts a year-round portfolio of events including the Sony World Photography Awards, one of the world’s leading photography competitions, and PHOTOFAIRS, leading international art fairs dedicated to photography. For more details see worldphoto.org. Follow the World Photography Organisation on Instagram (@worldphotoorg), Twitter (@WorldPhotoOrg) and LinkedIn/Facebook (World Photography Organisation). Our hashtags to follow are #sonyworldphotographyawards #swpa.
About Sony Corporation
Sony Corporation is responsible for the Electronics Products & Solutions (EP&S) business in the Sony Group. With the vision of “continuing to deliver Kando and Anshin to people and society across the world through the pursuit of technology and new challenges,” Sony will create products and services in areas such as home entertainment & sound, imaging, and mobile communications. For more information, visit: www.sony.net
Sony Imaging Products & Solutions Inc.
is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation that is responsible for its imaging products and solutions businesses, from consumer camera, solutions with a focus on broadcast- and professional-use products, to medical business.
IMAGE CREDITS
LEFT TO RIGHT BY ROW:
© Zeng Jinwen, China Mainland, Shortlist, Open competition, Portraiture, Sony World Photography Awards 2021
© Yukihito Ono, Japan, Shortlist, Open competition, Travel, Sony World Photography Awards 2021
© Brad Walls, Australia, Shortlist, Open competition, Lifestyle, Sony World Photography Awards 2021
© Manuel Schmidt, Germany, Shortlist, Open competition, Object, Sony World Photography Awards 2021
© Jarod Mauws, Belgium, Shortlist, Open competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2021
© Alexis Guevara, Mexico, Shortlist, Open competition, Travel, Sony World Photography Awards 2021
© Medvedev Vitaly Viktorovich, Russian Federation, Shortlist, Open competition, Architecture, Sony World Photography Awards 2021
© Steve Chandler, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Open competition, Object, Sony World Photography Awards 2021
© Mary Nhoileen Maypa, Philippines, Shortlist, Open competition, Motion, Sony World Photography Awards 2021
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