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15 April 2020
The World Photography Organization has announced this year's category winners and shortlist in the Open competition of the Sony World Photography Awards 2020, recognizing the best single images from 2019.
Over 100 photographers were shortlisted in the competition along with 10 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 reward. The overall Open winner will be announced June 9 on the World Photography Organization and Sony's online platforms.
CATEGORY WINNERS
The 10 category winners include:
Architecture: Rosaria Sabrina Pantano (Italy) for Emotional Geography, a black-and-white image featuring 38° Parallelo, a pyramid shaped sculpture by Mauro Staccioli which stands at the exact point where the geographical coordinates touch the 38th parallel.
Creative: Suxing Zhang (Mainland China) for Knot, a portrait of a young woman with a collage of symbolic elements. This single black-and-white image is part of the series Hua (meaning flower in Chinese) which looks at flowers as metaphors of femininity.
Culture: Antoine Veling (Australia) for Mark 5:28, a photograph capturing the moment when members of the audience were invited on stage to dance at an Iggy Pop concert in the Sydney Opera House on April 17, 2019. Depicting Iggy Pop in a crowd of dancing fans, the image focuses on the singer, a woman reaching to touch him and a stage assistant struggling to keep people at bay. The scene, which was likened to a Caravaggio painting, conjures a biblical passage: Because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." (Mark 5:25-34, line 28).
Landscape: Craig McGowan (Australia) for Ice Reflections, an image of a solitary iceberg, set against the fjord walls in Northeast Greenland National Park. The iceberg and surrounding landscape are perfectly mirrored in the clear waters of the river resulting in a painterly and abstract photograph.
Motion: Alec Connah for Going Down!, a record of the moment the four cooling towers of Ironbridge Power Station in Shropshire were demolished on Dec. 6, 2019.
Natural World & Wildlife: Guofei Li (Mainland China) for Tai Chi Diagram, taken in Botswana, the picture features two cheetahs licking each other clean following a successful hunt. Their position in the frame resembles the shape of a Yin and Yang symbol.
Portraiture: Tom Oldham for Black Francis, a black-and-white portrait originally taken for MOJO Magazine, of Pixies frontman Charles Thompson (aka Black Francis). Oldham, an experienced portrait photographer, was painfully aware of the many photoshoots his sitter has been the subject of and asked him to acknowledge his frustration with the process. The resulting image, picturing the singer digging his hands into his face, offered the perfect gesture and ran as the lead image for the article.
Still Life: Jorge Reynal (Argentina) for A Plastic Ocean, a photograph of a dead fish seemingly struggling for breath in a plastic bag. The image highlights the plastic pollution crisis of our oceans.
Street Photography: Santiago Mesa (Colombia) for Colombia Resiste, the photograph documents a protester in Medellin where workers and street vendors were taking part in a march when the riot squad dispersed them. This demonstration is one of many that have broken out across Latin America in recent years for reasons including the rising cost of living, inequality and lack of opportunity.
Travel: Adrian Guerin (Australia) for Riding a Saharan Freight Train, an image taken from the top of the rear carriage of the iron-ore train in Mauritania as it was making its 700km long journey from the coastal town of Nouadhibou to the Saharan wilderness of Zoue[!]rat. Stretching 2.5km in length, it's one of the longest trains in the world transporting more than 200 carriages loaded with rocks.
FULL LIST
The full list of winners and shortlisted candidates includes:
Architecture
Category Winner
Rosaria Sabrina Pantano, Italy
Shortlist
Justin Chui, Hong Kong; Massimo Crivellari, Italy; Paul Crudgington, U.K.; Marcin Giba, Poland; Iraklis Kougemitros, Greece; Alexandre B. Lampron, Canada; Peter Li, U.K.; Wen Lu, Mainland China; Liliana Ochoa, Colombia; Peter Plorin, Germany; Eleni Rimantonaki, Greece; Franco Tessarolo, Switzerland; Eng Tong Tan, Malaysia; Stephen Tomlinson, U.K.
Landscape
Category Winner
Craig McGowan, Australia
Shortlist
Or Adar, Israel; Hong Chen, Hong Kong; Marcin Giba, Poland; Kai Hornung, Germany; Stanley Lin, Taiwan; Marco Minischetti, Italy; Viktor Einar Vilhelmsson, Iceland; Hsiang Hui (Sylvester) Wong, Malaysia
Portraiture
Category Winner
Tom Oldham, U.K.
Shortlist
Frederic Aranda, U.K.; Will Bolsover, U.K.; Laurent Caitucoli, France; Gareth Cattermole, Ireland; Lorena Zschaber GuimaraÌÉes, Brazil; Katinka Herbert, U.K. Justin Keene, U.K.; Ottavio Marino, Italy; Sawamaru Pokiru, Japan; David Ridgway, U.K.; Ulana Switucha, Canada; Dmitrii Tulmentev, Russian Federation; Greg Turner, U.K.; Tales Yuan, Mainland China
Creative
Category Winner
Suxing Zhang, Mainland China
Shortlist
Lucia Benavento, Argentina; Cristina Coral, Italy; Henry Oude Egberink, Netherlands; Julian Fabiolato, U.S.A.; Katie Farr, U.K.; Erica de Haas, Netherlands; Martina Holmberg, Sweden; Marek Juras, Czech Republic; Stanislav Stankovskiy, Russia; David Swindler, U.S.A.; John White, U.K.
Motion
Category Winner
Alec Connah, U.K.
Shortlist
Jessica Chappe, U.S.A.; Roberto Corinaldesi, Italy; Marc Le Cornu, U.K.; Lloyd Lane, U.K.; Peter Svoboda, Slovakia; Jonathan Taylor, U.S.A.; Muriel Vekemans, Belgium; Emma Williams, U.K.; Lior Yaakobi, Israel
Still Life
Category Winner
Jorge Reynal, Argentina
Shortlist
Javier De Benito, Spain; Simone Bramante, Italy; Antonio Coelho, Portugal; Kunkun Liu, Mainland China; Ian Knaggs, U.K.; Igor Kryukov, Russian Federation; Arnaud Montagard, France; Chris Patterson, U.K.; Kihyoung You, Republic of Korea
Travel
Category Winner
Adrian Guerin, Australia
Shortlist
Kendall Greene, U.S.A.; Trung Pham Huy, Viet Nam; Chen Jun, Mainland China; Kaitlyn Kamperschroer, U.S.A.; Veliko Karachiviev, Bulgaria; Hu Qing, Mainland China; Michael Paramonti, Germany; JoséÌ Mar&iÌacute;a P&eÌacute;rez, Argentina; Jonathan Rogers, U.K.; James Rushforth, U.K.; Tran Tuan, Viet Nam
Culture
Category Winner
Antoine Veling, Australia
Shortlist
Ignacio Alvarez Barutell, Spain; Diana Buzoianu, Romania; Kinyas Bostanci, Turkey; Sergio Carrasco, Mexico; Satheesh Chandran, India; Gil Kreslavsky, Israel; Ted Lau, U.K.; Mahesh Lonkar, India; Antonino Maurizio Clemenza, Italy
Natural World & Wildlife
Category Winner
Guofei Li, Mainland China
Shortlist
Rachel Brooks, U.K.; Marleen Van Eijk, Netherlands; Michael Faint, U.K.; Anastasia Kaminskaya, Russian Federation; Alex Kydd, Australia; Shivansh Mathur, India; Adam Stevenson, Australia Will Venter, South Africa; Marcus Westberg, Sweden
Street Photography
Category Winner
Santiago Mesa, Colombia
Shortlist
Indranil Aditya, India; Peter Brooks, U.K.; Jaime Diaz, Spain; Daniel Heilig, Hungary; Misha Japaridze, Russian Federation; Tim Johnston, U.K.; Jon Liu, Mainland China; Joaqu&iÌacute;n Luna, Spain; B&üuml;lent Suberk, Turkey; Xun Yuan, Mainland China