The prestigious Sony World Photography Awards are accepting entries from photographers around the world. The awards are organised by the World Photography Organisation and it’s free to enter. Visit www.worldphoto.org for more details and to submit your photographs.
Photographers are competing for a range of cash prizes and Sony’s latest digital equipment. There’ll be a gala ceremony in London next April and winning and shortlisted photographs will also be published in the 2015 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards book and exhibited at Somerset House, London.
Here’s a selection of the finest entries from last year’s competition
Nature & Wildlife
© Michael Nichols / National Geographic Society, US, Winner, Nature & Wildlife: “The lion (Panthera leo) is synonymous with wild Africa. Few people realise that illegal killing, relentless habitat loss, and habitat fragmentation has this species in a crisis that must be addressed by the world, not just Africa.
“Nearly a century ago, there were as many as two hundred thousand lions in Africa. Today, the most recent surveys estimate that there are fewer than thirty thousand wild lions.”
People
© Ivor Prickett: “Ten years after the allied invasion of Iraq, the semi-autonomous north of the country, commonly known as Kurdistan, is booming.
“Thanks to oil revenues and previously unfathomable trade and business links with Turkey, it is easy to find luxury hotels, shopping malls and fast cars in the region’s capital, Erbil”.
Travel
© Christian Vilz: “Cenotes from the Maya word dzonot ‘well’ refers to any locations with accessible groundwater in a deep natural pit or sinkhole.
“In Mexico they exist in the Yucatan Peninsula, and where considered sacred places for the ancient Maya civilisation.
“Millions of tourists from all over the world visit them every year because of their intrinsic naturalistic beauty and value.”
© Wilfred Berthelsen: One in a series of black-and-white images taken in Svalbard © Wilfred Berthelsen
© Ricardo Teles: “Food production is a global challenge. Grain production in Brazil has been growing rapidly, setting records year after year due to expansion of plantation areas and better farming techniques.
“However, investments in infrastructure mainly related to transportation did not follow the rhythm of the increased production growth.”
