Sony World Photography Awards Professional Competition Finalist announced

The World Photography Organisation is pleased to reveal the finalist and shortlisted photographers in the Professional competition for the Sony World Photography Awards 2020.

Words by

Sony World Photography Awards

© Jon Enoch, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Professional, Portraiture, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards. | A man poses with his scooter in Hanoi with a delivery of pet fish, taken at the start of 2019. The riders have an amazing ability to transport all wonder of goods in amazing quantities. I spent a week chasing down amazing looking riders and their cargos and convincing them to pose for the camera.

The World Photography Organisation is pleased to reveal the finalist and shortlisted photographers in the Professional competition for the Sony World Photography Awards 2020. Also included are details of new photographic projects by Sony Professional Grant 2019 recipients. Works by both Professional competition finalists and Grant recipients will go on display as part of the Sony World Photography Awards 2020 exhibition at Somerset House this April.

Now in its 13th year, the Awards’ Professional competition rewards a remarkable body of work for technical excellence and a fresh perspective on contemporary subjects. The winner of Photographer of the Year 2020 will be selected from the group of Professional finalists and announced during the Sony World Photography Awards 2020 ceremony in London on 16 April.

Over 345,000 images from 203 territories were submitted across the 2020 Awards’ four competitions andover 135,000 were entered across the Professional competition’s 10 categories – the highest number of entries to date. A new Environment category has been introduced this year in recognition of the growing importance of this topic in both fine art photography and photojournalism.

This year’s finalist projects engage with a wide array of topics, photography techniques and presentation methods, covering personal subjects and observations, inventive approaches to storytelling and shedding light on little known but critical issues.

Sony World Photography Awards 2020 finalist photographers and projects are:

© Sandra Herber, Canada, Finalist, Professional, Architecture, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards


ARCHITECTURE

Forms and textures are the focus of abstract photographs by José De Rocco (Argentina), featuring vibrant building exteriors in Formalism, as well as Jonathan Walland’s (UK) Structures; a minimalist black & white series depicting modern constructions. Sandra Herber’s (Canada) Ice Fishing, Lake Winnipeg presents whimsical images of the colourful ice fishing huts that dot the frozen surface of the lake in winter.

© Serge Varaxin, Russian Federation, Shortlist, Professional, Creative, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

CREATIVE

In Seeds of Resistance, Pablo Albarenga (Uruguay) pairs pictures of landscapes and territories in danger from mining and agribusinesses with portraits of the activists fighting to conserve them. Using shots of social media posts, chats and Skype or WhatsApp calls, Kill Me With an Overdose of Kindness by Dione Roche (Italy) examines the way in which relationships and intimacy are lived and expressed online. Witness Objects by Luke Watson (UK) comprises images of pinhole cameras made using historical objects from the Bosnian War alongside photographs taken with these makeshift cameras of meaningful locations around Sarajevo.

© Hashem Shakeri, Iran, Finalist, Professional, Discovery, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards | Image Description: A portrait of Dorna and Sevda, both 12, walking around the town on a weekend. The new town of Parand is located 30 km southwest of Tehran province. There is literally no entertainment or programs for children and adolescents here. Many of them tend to become affected by depression a while after settlement.

DISCOVERY

In Invisible Wounds, Hugh Kinsella Cunningham (UK) stains his images in red to communicate the suffering and distress caused by a viral Ebola outbreak in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo while in The Cave, Maria Kokunova (Russia) uses symbolism and allegory to examine personal trauma. Cast Out of Heaven by Hashem Shakeri (Iran) looks at the lives of those forced to leave Tehran due to the economic downturn and move into inadequate state-funded housing projects.

© Youqiong Zhang, China, Finalist, Professional, Documentary, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards | In The Eastern Industrial Park, about 40 kilometers away from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, the Huajian Group has another factory here, in the factory complex, there are dozens of other companies from China.

DOCUMENTARY

Didier Bizet’s (France) series Baby Boom examines the reborn phenomena, a lifelike baby doll collected by enthusiasts and used by adoptive parents in preparation and by elderly patients in need of companionship. Poignant portraits of Hongkongers injured during the protests are the focus of Chung Ming Ko’s (Hong Kong) project Wounds of Hong Kong, whereas Zhang Youqiong’s (China) From ‘Made in China’ to ‘Made in Africa’ documents workers in the Chinese funded venture, the Ethiopian Oriental Industrial Park, a key enterprise in China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ in Africa.

© Marco Garofalo, Italy, Shortlist, Professional, Environment, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

ENVIRONMENT

Wahala by Robin Hinsch (Germany) documents the devastating effects of continued oil spillage and natural gas flaring along the Niger delta river. In Atlas from the Edge, Álvaro Laiz (Spain) explores the concept of ‘natural symmetry’ as practiced by the indigenous group, the Chukchi, whose traditional lifestyle evolved according to their mode of subsistence. In The Future of Farming, Luca Locatelli (Italy), portrays high tech agrofarming systems from around the world, a possible solution to future food shortages.

© Peixia Xie, China, Shortlist, Professional, Landscape, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards 2019 | 年10月20日至11月7日,航拍的新疆塔什库尔干塔吉克自治县吾格亚提盘山公路。 在新疆帕米尔高原,塔什库尔干塔吉克自治县县城到瓦恰乡之间有一条蜿蜒的盘山公路,最高海拔4200米,公路全长36公里,公路落差1000米。这条公路堪称为中国公路史上的一大巨献,该公路于2019年7月投入使用

LANDSCAPE

Torii by Ronny Behnert (Germany) features photographs of Buddhist and Shinto temples across Japan, while New Home by Chang Kyun Kim (Korea), comprises photographs of Japanese Internment Camps in which thousands of US citizens and residents of Japanese ancestry were imprisoned during the Second World War. Project 596 by Florian Ruiz (France) depicts the barren landscape of Lop Nor, a former salt lake in China previously used as a nuclear weapons test site.

NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE

Masahiro Hiroike (Japan) captures the enchanting lights emitted by fireflies in the forests of Tottori, Japan in Himebotaru and in Macro, Adalbert Mojrzisch (Germany) uses macro lens technique to provide a closeup view of the intricate colours and patterns of insect and amphibian eyes. Pangolins in Crisis by Brent Striton (South Africa) looks at the illegal trade and rescue efforts of pangolins, the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals.

© Denis Rouvre, France, Finalist, Professional, Portraiture, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards | Image Description: My name is Sephora, I live in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One morning, a prophet came to our house and accused me of being a witch. At Mama Olangi’s Church, I went through all kinds of exorcism rites, with the agreement of my aunt who made me fast every day from 6 am to 6 pm. She hit me, I had become the slave of the house. I was no longer even allowed to sit beside her children: she was afraid that I would "eat" them or that I would initiate them.

PORTRAITURE

In Passengers, Cesar Dezfuli (Spain) juxtaposes striking portraits of migrants taken in 2016 as they first arrived on European shores with more recent images that better convey their personalities and the transformation they’ve experienced. Unsung Heroes by Denis Rouvre (France) presents the portraits and harrowing tales of women who have been victims of violence and in Ukrainian Railroad Ladies, Sasha Maslov (Ukraine) portrays the women who work as train station guards and explores their social role as a symbol of continuity in a country torn by war and political upheavals.

SPORT

Wrestling has become the number one sport in Senegal and is also a means of social ascendance steeped in tradition and ritual, in Senegalese Wrestlers, Ángel Lopez Soto (Spain) explores these practices through images of young wrestles in training, whereas Dives by Andrea Staccioli (Italy) presents poetic portraits of athletes in mid-dive at the Gwangju Diving World Championships. Lucas Barioulet’s (France), The Long and Difficult Path of the Mauritanian National Women's Football Team looks at the challenges and cultural tensions faced by the female players in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

STILL LIFE

Disassembled Memory is a catalogue of photographs depicting the disassembled parts of Fangbin Chen’s (China) childhood bicycle in an attempt to recall and preserve his memories from that time, while in Plexus, Elena Helfrecht (Germany) delves into her family’s archive to examine the effects of inherited trauma and collective memory. In IMMORTALITY, INC. Alessandro Gandolfi (Italy) goes into research labs and institutions to document the processes and objects which represent modern science’s advancements in its pursuit to overcome death.

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PROFESSIONAL COMPETITION 2020 FINALISTS AND SHORTLIST

ARCHITECTURE:

Finalists:

Sandra Herber, Canada José De Rocco, Argentina Jonathan Walland, England

Shortlist:

Swen Bernitz, Germany
Liang Chen, China Mainland
Jeoffrey Guillemard, France
Marcin Płonka, Poland
Fyodor Savintsev, Russian Federation Laurin Schmid, Germany
Alexander Tatarenko, Russian Federation

DOCUMENTARY:

Finalists:

Didier Bizet, France
Chung Ming Ko, Hong Kong Youqiong Zhang, China Mainland

Shortlist:

Nicholas Moir, Australia Patrick Wack, France
Eddy van Wessel, Netherlands Ian Willms, Canada

NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE:

Finalists:

Masahiro Hiroike, Japan Adalbert Mojrzisch, Germany Brent Stirton, South Africa

Shortlist:

Pierre Anquet, France Songda Cai, China Mainland Marko Dimitrijevic, Switzerland Tobias Friedrich, Germany Joan de la Malla, Spain Yevhen Samuchenko, Ukraine

STILL LIFE:

Finalists:

Alessandro Gandolfi, Italy Elena Helfrecht, Germany Fangbin Chen, China Mainland

Shortlist:

Sabina Candusso, Italy
Emilia Cocking, United Kingdom Sandrine Dippa, France
Paul Fuentes, Mexico
Molly Percy, United Kingdom Yelena Strokin, Russian Federation Cecilia Manzanares Vargas, Mexico

CREATIVE:

Finalists:

Pablo Albarenga, Uruguay Dione Roach, Italy
Luke Watson, UK

Shortlist:

Michel Le Belhomme, France Nicoletta Cerasomma, Italy Joseph Ford, United Kingdom Ritsuko Matsushita, Japan


Serge Varaxin, Russian Federation Reuben Wu, UK

ENVIRONMENT:

Finalists:

Robin Hinsch, Germany Álvaro Laiz, Spain
Luca Locatelli, Italy

Shortlist:

Jenny Evans, Australia Marco Garofalo, Italy
Eddo Hartmann, Netherlands Maximilian Mann, Germany Pierpaolo Mittica, Italy Carolina Rapezzi, Italy
Kristof Vrancken, Belgium

PORTRAITURE:

Finalists:

Cesar Dezfuli, Spain Sasha Maslov, Ukraine Denis Rouvre, France

Shortlist:

Richard Ansett, United Kingdom Raul Ariano, Italy
Jon Enoch, UK
Adam Ferguson, Australia Adrián Markis, Argentina Magdalena Stengel, Germany Tomáš Vrana, Czech Republic

ABOUT SONY GRANT

Furthering Sony’s commitment to supporting contemporary photographers and contributing to the continued development of photographic culture worldwide, the Sony Grants program was introduced in 2016 and is organised by the World Photography Organisation. It provides winning and shortlisted photographers of the Sony World Photography Awards with additional opportunities to cultivate and establish an ongoing relationship with Sony after the Awards. The recipients are chosen by Sony from the Awards’ Professional and Student competitions.

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 a creative entertainment company with a solid foundation of technology. From game and network services to music, pictures, electronics, semiconductors and financial services - Sony's purpose is to fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology. For more information, visit 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.

Sony World Photography Awards Professional Competition Finalist announced

The World Photography Organisation is pleased to reveal the finalist and shortlisted photographers in the Professional competition for the Sony World Photography Awards 2020.

Words by

Sony World Photography Awards

The World Photography Organisation is pleased to reveal the finalist and shortlisted photographers in the Professional competition for the Sony World Photography Awards 2020.
© Jon Enoch, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Professional, Portraiture, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards. | A man poses with his scooter in Hanoi with a delivery of pet fish, taken at the start of 2019. The riders have an amazing ability to transport all wonder of goods in amazing quantities. I spent a week chasing down amazing looking riders and their cargos and convincing them to pose for the camera.

The World Photography Organisation is pleased to reveal the finalist and shortlisted photographers in the Professional competition for the Sony World Photography Awards 2020. Also included are details of new photographic projects by Sony Professional Grant 2019 recipients. Works by both Professional competition finalists and Grant recipients will go on display as part of the Sony World Photography Awards 2020 exhibition at Somerset House this April.

Now in its 13th year, the Awards’ Professional competition rewards a remarkable body of work for technical excellence and a fresh perspective on contemporary subjects. The winner of Photographer of the Year 2020 will be selected from the group of Professional finalists and announced during the Sony World Photography Awards 2020 ceremony in London on 16 April.

Over 345,000 images from 203 territories were submitted across the 2020 Awards’ four competitions andover 135,000 were entered across the Professional competition’s 10 categories – the highest number of entries to date. A new Environment category has been introduced this year in recognition of the growing importance of this topic in both fine art photography and photojournalism.

This year’s finalist projects engage with a wide array of topics, photography techniques and presentation methods, covering personal subjects and observations, inventive approaches to storytelling and shedding light on little known but critical issues.

Sony World Photography Awards 2020 finalist photographers and projects are:

© Sandra Herber, Canada, Finalist, Professional, Architecture, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards


ARCHITECTURE

Forms and textures are the focus of abstract photographs by José De Rocco (Argentina), featuring vibrant building exteriors in Formalism, as well as Jonathan Walland’s (UK) Structures; a minimalist black & white series depicting modern constructions. Sandra Herber’s (Canada) Ice Fishing, Lake Winnipeg presents whimsical images of the colourful ice fishing huts that dot the frozen surface of the lake in winter.

© Serge Varaxin, Russian Federation, Shortlist, Professional, Creative, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

CREATIVE

In Seeds of Resistance, Pablo Albarenga (Uruguay) pairs pictures of landscapes and territories in danger from mining and agribusinesses with portraits of the activists fighting to conserve them. Using shots of social media posts, chats and Skype or WhatsApp calls, Kill Me With an Overdose of Kindness by Dione Roche (Italy) examines the way in which relationships and intimacy are lived and expressed online. Witness Objects by Luke Watson (UK) comprises images of pinhole cameras made using historical objects from the Bosnian War alongside photographs taken with these makeshift cameras of meaningful locations around Sarajevo.

© Hashem Shakeri, Iran, Finalist, Professional, Discovery, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards | Image Description: A portrait of Dorna and Sevda, both 12, walking around the town on a weekend. The new town of Parand is located 30 km southwest of Tehran province. There is literally no entertainment or programs for children and adolescents here. Many of them tend to become affected by depression a while after settlement.

DISCOVERY

In Invisible Wounds, Hugh Kinsella Cunningham (UK) stains his images in red to communicate the suffering and distress caused by a viral Ebola outbreak in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo while in The Cave, Maria Kokunova (Russia) uses symbolism and allegory to examine personal trauma. Cast Out of Heaven by Hashem Shakeri (Iran) looks at the lives of those forced to leave Tehran due to the economic downturn and move into inadequate state-funded housing projects.

© Youqiong Zhang, China, Finalist, Professional, Documentary, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards | In The Eastern Industrial Park, about 40 kilometers away from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, the Huajian Group has another factory here, in the factory complex, there are dozens of other companies from China.

DOCUMENTARY

Didier Bizet’s (France) series Baby Boom examines the reborn phenomena, a lifelike baby doll collected by enthusiasts and used by adoptive parents in preparation and by elderly patients in need of companionship. Poignant portraits of Hongkongers injured during the protests are the focus of Chung Ming Ko’s (Hong Kong) project Wounds of Hong Kong, whereas Zhang Youqiong’s (China) From ‘Made in China’ to ‘Made in Africa’ documents workers in the Chinese funded venture, the Ethiopian Oriental Industrial Park, a key enterprise in China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ in Africa.

© Marco Garofalo, Italy, Shortlist, Professional, Environment, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

ENVIRONMENT

Wahala by Robin Hinsch (Germany) documents the devastating effects of continued oil spillage and natural gas flaring along the Niger delta river. In Atlas from the Edge, Álvaro Laiz (Spain) explores the concept of ‘natural symmetry’ as practiced by the indigenous group, the Chukchi, whose traditional lifestyle evolved according to their mode of subsistence. In The Future of Farming, Luca Locatelli (Italy), portrays high tech agrofarming systems from around the world, a possible solution to future food shortages.

© Peixia Xie, China, Shortlist, Professional, Landscape, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards 2019 | 年10月20日至11月7日,航拍的新疆塔什库尔干塔吉克自治县吾格亚提盘山公路。 在新疆帕米尔高原,塔什库尔干塔吉克自治县县城到瓦恰乡之间有一条蜿蜒的盘山公路,最高海拔4200米,公路全长36公里,公路落差1000米。这条公路堪称为中国公路史上的一大巨献,该公路于2019年7月投入使用

LANDSCAPE

Torii by Ronny Behnert (Germany) features photographs of Buddhist and Shinto temples across Japan, while New Home by Chang Kyun Kim (Korea), comprises photographs of Japanese Internment Camps in which thousands of US citizens and residents of Japanese ancestry were imprisoned during the Second World War. Project 596 by Florian Ruiz (France) depicts the barren landscape of Lop Nor, a former salt lake in China previously used as a nuclear weapons test site.

NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE

Masahiro Hiroike (Japan) captures the enchanting lights emitted by fireflies in the forests of Tottori, Japan in Himebotaru and in Macro, Adalbert Mojrzisch (Germany) uses macro lens technique to provide a closeup view of the intricate colours and patterns of insect and amphibian eyes. Pangolins in Crisis by Brent Striton (South Africa) looks at the illegal trade and rescue efforts of pangolins, the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals.

© Denis Rouvre, France, Finalist, Professional, Portraiture, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards | Image Description: My name is Sephora, I live in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One morning, a prophet came to our house and accused me of being a witch. At Mama Olangi’s Church, I went through all kinds of exorcism rites, with the agreement of my aunt who made me fast every day from 6 am to 6 pm. She hit me, I had become the slave of the house. I was no longer even allowed to sit beside her children: she was afraid that I would "eat" them or that I would initiate them.

PORTRAITURE

In Passengers, Cesar Dezfuli (Spain) juxtaposes striking portraits of migrants taken in 2016 as they first arrived on European shores with more recent images that better convey their personalities and the transformation they’ve experienced. Unsung Heroes by Denis Rouvre (France) presents the portraits and harrowing tales of women who have been victims of violence and in Ukrainian Railroad Ladies, Sasha Maslov (Ukraine) portrays the women who work as train station guards and explores their social role as a symbol of continuity in a country torn by war and political upheavals.

SPORT

Wrestling has become the number one sport in Senegal and is also a means of social ascendance steeped in tradition and ritual, in Senegalese Wrestlers, Ángel Lopez Soto (Spain) explores these practices through images of young wrestles in training, whereas Dives by Andrea Staccioli (Italy) presents poetic portraits of athletes in mid-dive at the Gwangju Diving World Championships. Lucas Barioulet’s (France), The Long and Difficult Path of the Mauritanian National Women's Football Team looks at the challenges and cultural tensions faced by the female players in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

STILL LIFE

Disassembled Memory is a catalogue of photographs depicting the disassembled parts of Fangbin Chen’s (China) childhood bicycle in an attempt to recall and preserve his memories from that time, while in Plexus, Elena Helfrecht (Germany) delves into her family’s archive to examine the effects of inherited trauma and collective memory. In IMMORTALITY, INC. Alessandro Gandolfi (Italy) goes into research labs and institutions to document the processes and objects which represent modern science’s advancements in its pursuit to overcome death.

PROFESSIONAL COMPETITION 2020 FINALISTS AND SHORTLIST

ARCHITECTURE:

Finalists:

Sandra Herber, Canada José De Rocco, Argentina Jonathan Walland, England

Shortlist:

Swen Bernitz, Germany
Liang Chen, China Mainland
Jeoffrey Guillemard, France
Marcin Płonka, Poland
Fyodor Savintsev, Russian Federation Laurin Schmid, Germany
Alexander Tatarenko, Russian Federation

DOCUMENTARY:

Finalists:

Didier Bizet, France
Chung Ming Ko, Hong Kong Youqiong Zhang, China Mainland

Shortlist:

Nicholas Moir, Australia Patrick Wack, France
Eddy van Wessel, Netherlands Ian Willms, Canada

NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE:

Finalists:

Masahiro Hiroike, Japan Adalbert Mojrzisch, Germany Brent Stirton, South Africa

Shortlist:

Pierre Anquet, France Songda Cai, China Mainland Marko Dimitrijevic, Switzerland Tobias Friedrich, Germany Joan de la Malla, Spain Yevhen Samuchenko, Ukraine

STILL LIFE:

Finalists:

Alessandro Gandolfi, Italy Elena Helfrecht, Germany Fangbin Chen, China Mainland

Shortlist:

Sabina Candusso, Italy
Emilia Cocking, United Kingdom Sandrine Dippa, France
Paul Fuentes, Mexico
Molly Percy, United Kingdom Yelena Strokin, Russian Federation Cecilia Manzanares Vargas, Mexico

CREATIVE:

Finalists:

Pablo Albarenga, Uruguay Dione Roach, Italy
Luke Watson, UK

Shortlist:

Michel Le Belhomme, France Nicoletta Cerasomma, Italy Joseph Ford, United Kingdom Ritsuko Matsushita, Japan


Serge Varaxin, Russian Federation Reuben Wu, UK

ENVIRONMENT:

Finalists:

Robin Hinsch, Germany Álvaro Laiz, Spain
Luca Locatelli, Italy

Shortlist:

Jenny Evans, Australia Marco Garofalo, Italy
Eddo Hartmann, Netherlands Maximilian Mann, Germany Pierpaolo Mittica, Italy Carolina Rapezzi, Italy
Kristof Vrancken, Belgium

PORTRAITURE:

Finalists:

Cesar Dezfuli, Spain Sasha Maslov, Ukraine Denis Rouvre, France

Shortlist:

Richard Ansett, United Kingdom Raul Ariano, Italy
Jon Enoch, UK
Adam Ferguson, Australia Adrián Markis, Argentina Magdalena Stengel, Germany Tomáš Vrana, Czech Republic

ABOUT SONY GRANT

Furthering Sony’s commitment to supporting contemporary photographers and contributing to the continued development of photographic culture worldwide, the Sony Grants program was introduced in 2016 and is organised by the World Photography Organisation. It provides winning and shortlisted photographers of the Sony World Photography Awards with additional opportunities to cultivate and establish an ongoing relationship with Sony after the Awards. The recipients are chosen by Sony from the Awards’ Professional and Student competitions.

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 a creative entertainment company with a solid foundation of technology. From game and network services to music, pictures, electronics, semiconductors and financial services - Sony's purpose is to fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology. For more information, visit 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.

Sony World Photography Awards Professional Competition Finalist announced

The World Photography Organisation is pleased to reveal the finalist and shortlisted photographers in the Professional competition for the Sony World Photography Awards 2020.

Words by

Sony World Photography Awards

Sony World Photography Awards Professional Competition Finalist announced
© Jon Enoch, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Professional, Portraiture, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards. | A man poses with his scooter in Hanoi with a delivery of pet fish, taken at the start of 2019. The riders have an amazing ability to transport all wonder of goods in amazing quantities. I spent a week chasing down amazing looking riders and their cargos and convincing them to pose for the camera.

The World Photography Organisation is pleased to reveal the finalist and shortlisted photographers in the Professional competition for the Sony World Photography Awards 2020. Also included are details of new photographic projects by Sony Professional Grant 2019 recipients. Works by both Professional competition finalists and Grant recipients will go on display as part of the Sony World Photography Awards 2020 exhibition at Somerset House this April.

Now in its 13th year, the Awards’ Professional competition rewards a remarkable body of work for technical excellence and a fresh perspective on contemporary subjects. The winner of Photographer of the Year 2020 will be selected from the group of Professional finalists and announced during the Sony World Photography Awards 2020 ceremony in London on 16 April.

Over 345,000 images from 203 territories were submitted across the 2020 Awards’ four competitions andover 135,000 were entered across the Professional competition’s 10 categories – the highest number of entries to date. A new Environment category has been introduced this year in recognition of the growing importance of this topic in both fine art photography and photojournalism.

This year’s finalist projects engage with a wide array of topics, photography techniques and presentation methods, covering personal subjects and observations, inventive approaches to storytelling and shedding light on little known but critical issues.

Sony World Photography Awards 2020 finalist photographers and projects are:

© Sandra Herber, Canada, Finalist, Professional, Architecture, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards


ARCHITECTURE

Forms and textures are the focus of abstract photographs by José De Rocco (Argentina), featuring vibrant building exteriors in Formalism, as well as Jonathan Walland’s (UK) Structures; a minimalist black & white series depicting modern constructions. Sandra Herber’s (Canada) Ice Fishing, Lake Winnipeg presents whimsical images of the colourful ice fishing huts that dot the frozen surface of the lake in winter.

© Serge Varaxin, Russian Federation, Shortlist, Professional, Creative, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

CREATIVE

In Seeds of Resistance, Pablo Albarenga (Uruguay) pairs pictures of landscapes and territories in danger from mining and agribusinesses with portraits of the activists fighting to conserve them. Using shots of social media posts, chats and Skype or WhatsApp calls, Kill Me With an Overdose of Kindness by Dione Roche (Italy) examines the way in which relationships and intimacy are lived and expressed online. Witness Objects by Luke Watson (UK) comprises images of pinhole cameras made using historical objects from the Bosnian War alongside photographs taken with these makeshift cameras of meaningful locations around Sarajevo.

© Hashem Shakeri, Iran, Finalist, Professional, Discovery, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards | Image Description: A portrait of Dorna and Sevda, both 12, walking around the town on a weekend. The new town of Parand is located 30 km southwest of Tehran province. There is literally no entertainment or programs for children and adolescents here. Many of them tend to become affected by depression a while after settlement.

DISCOVERY

In Invisible Wounds, Hugh Kinsella Cunningham (UK) stains his images in red to communicate the suffering and distress caused by a viral Ebola outbreak in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo while in The Cave, Maria Kokunova (Russia) uses symbolism and allegory to examine personal trauma. Cast Out of Heaven by Hashem Shakeri (Iran) looks at the lives of those forced to leave Tehran due to the economic downturn and move into inadequate state-funded housing projects.

© Youqiong Zhang, China, Finalist, Professional, Documentary, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards | In The Eastern Industrial Park, about 40 kilometers away from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, the Huajian Group has another factory here, in the factory complex, there are dozens of other companies from China.

DOCUMENTARY

Didier Bizet’s (France) series Baby Boom examines the reborn phenomena, a lifelike baby doll collected by enthusiasts and used by adoptive parents in preparation and by elderly patients in need of companionship. Poignant portraits of Hongkongers injured during the protests are the focus of Chung Ming Ko’s (Hong Kong) project Wounds of Hong Kong, whereas Zhang Youqiong’s (China) From ‘Made in China’ to ‘Made in Africa’ documents workers in the Chinese funded venture, the Ethiopian Oriental Industrial Park, a key enterprise in China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ in Africa.

© Marco Garofalo, Italy, Shortlist, Professional, Environment, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

ENVIRONMENT

Wahala by Robin Hinsch (Germany) documents the devastating effects of continued oil spillage and natural gas flaring along the Niger delta river. In Atlas from the Edge, Álvaro Laiz (Spain) explores the concept of ‘natural symmetry’ as practiced by the indigenous group, the Chukchi, whose traditional lifestyle evolved according to their mode of subsistence. In The Future of Farming, Luca Locatelli (Italy), portrays high tech agrofarming systems from around the world, a possible solution to future food shortages.

© Peixia Xie, China, Shortlist, Professional, Landscape, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards 2019 | 年10月20日至11月7日,航拍的新疆塔什库尔干塔吉克自治县吾格亚提盘山公路。 在新疆帕米尔高原,塔什库尔干塔吉克自治县县城到瓦恰乡之间有一条蜿蜒的盘山公路,最高海拔4200米,公路全长36公里,公路落差1000米。这条公路堪称为中国公路史上的一大巨献,该公路于2019年7月投入使用

LANDSCAPE

Torii by Ronny Behnert (Germany) features photographs of Buddhist and Shinto temples across Japan, while New Home by Chang Kyun Kim (Korea), comprises photographs of Japanese Internment Camps in which thousands of US citizens and residents of Japanese ancestry were imprisoned during the Second World War. Project 596 by Florian Ruiz (France) depicts the barren landscape of Lop Nor, a former salt lake in China previously used as a nuclear weapons test site.

NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE

Masahiro Hiroike (Japan) captures the enchanting lights emitted by fireflies in the forests of Tottori, Japan in Himebotaru and in Macro, Adalbert Mojrzisch (Germany) uses macro lens technique to provide a closeup view of the intricate colours and patterns of insect and amphibian eyes. Pangolins in Crisis by Brent Striton (South Africa) looks at the illegal trade and rescue efforts of pangolins, the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals.

© Denis Rouvre, France, Finalist, Professional, Portraiture, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards | Image Description: My name is Sephora, I live in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One morning, a prophet came to our house and accused me of being a witch. At Mama Olangi’s Church, I went through all kinds of exorcism rites, with the agreement of my aunt who made me fast every day from 6 am to 6 pm. She hit me, I had become the slave of the house. I was no longer even allowed to sit beside her children: she was afraid that I would "eat" them or that I would initiate them.

PORTRAITURE

In Passengers, Cesar Dezfuli (Spain) juxtaposes striking portraits of migrants taken in 2016 as they first arrived on European shores with more recent images that better convey their personalities and the transformation they’ve experienced. Unsung Heroes by Denis Rouvre (France) presents the portraits and harrowing tales of women who have been victims of violence and in Ukrainian Railroad Ladies, Sasha Maslov (Ukraine) portrays the women who work as train station guards and explores their social role as a symbol of continuity in a country torn by war and political upheavals.

SPORT

Wrestling has become the number one sport in Senegal and is also a means of social ascendance steeped in tradition and ritual, in Senegalese Wrestlers, Ángel Lopez Soto (Spain) explores these practices through images of young wrestles in training, whereas Dives by Andrea Staccioli (Italy) presents poetic portraits of athletes in mid-dive at the Gwangju Diving World Championships. Lucas Barioulet’s (France), The Long and Difficult Path of the Mauritanian National Women's Football Team looks at the challenges and cultural tensions faced by the female players in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

STILL LIFE

Disassembled Memory is a catalogue of photographs depicting the disassembled parts of Fangbin Chen’s (China) childhood bicycle in an attempt to recall and preserve his memories from that time, while in Plexus, Elena Helfrecht (Germany) delves into her family’s archive to examine the effects of inherited trauma and collective memory. In IMMORTALITY, INC. Alessandro Gandolfi (Italy) goes into research labs and institutions to document the processes and objects which represent modern science’s advancements in its pursuit to overcome death.

PROFESSIONAL COMPETITION 2020 FINALISTS AND SHORTLIST

ARCHITECTURE:

Finalists:

Sandra Herber, Canada José De Rocco, Argentina Jonathan Walland, England

Shortlist:

Swen Bernitz, Germany
Liang Chen, China Mainland
Jeoffrey Guillemard, France
Marcin Płonka, Poland
Fyodor Savintsev, Russian Federation Laurin Schmid, Germany
Alexander Tatarenko, Russian Federation

DOCUMENTARY:

Finalists:

Didier Bizet, France
Chung Ming Ko, Hong Kong Youqiong Zhang, China Mainland

Shortlist:

Nicholas Moir, Australia Patrick Wack, France
Eddy van Wessel, Netherlands Ian Willms, Canada

NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE:

Finalists:

Masahiro Hiroike, Japan Adalbert Mojrzisch, Germany Brent Stirton, South Africa

Shortlist:

Pierre Anquet, France Songda Cai, China Mainland Marko Dimitrijevic, Switzerland Tobias Friedrich, Germany Joan de la Malla, Spain Yevhen Samuchenko, Ukraine

STILL LIFE:

Finalists:

Alessandro Gandolfi, Italy Elena Helfrecht, Germany Fangbin Chen, China Mainland

Shortlist:

Sabina Candusso, Italy
Emilia Cocking, United Kingdom Sandrine Dippa, France
Paul Fuentes, Mexico
Molly Percy, United Kingdom Yelena Strokin, Russian Federation Cecilia Manzanares Vargas, Mexico

CREATIVE:

Finalists:

Pablo Albarenga, Uruguay Dione Roach, Italy
Luke Watson, UK

Shortlist:

Michel Le Belhomme, France Nicoletta Cerasomma, Italy Joseph Ford, United Kingdom Ritsuko Matsushita, Japan


Serge Varaxin, Russian Federation Reuben Wu, UK

ENVIRONMENT:

Finalists:

Robin Hinsch, Germany Álvaro Laiz, Spain
Luca Locatelli, Italy

Shortlist:

Jenny Evans, Australia Marco Garofalo, Italy
Eddo Hartmann, Netherlands Maximilian Mann, Germany Pierpaolo Mittica, Italy Carolina Rapezzi, Italy
Kristof Vrancken, Belgium

PORTRAITURE:

Finalists:

Cesar Dezfuli, Spain Sasha Maslov, Ukraine Denis Rouvre, France

Shortlist:

Richard Ansett, United Kingdom Raul Ariano, Italy
Jon Enoch, UK
Adam Ferguson, Australia Adrián Markis, Argentina Magdalena Stengel, Germany Tomáš Vrana, Czech Republic

ABOUT SONY GRANT

Furthering Sony’s commitment to supporting contemporary photographers and contributing to the continued development of photographic culture worldwide, the Sony Grants program was introduced in 2016 and is organised by the World Photography Organisation. It provides winning and shortlisted photographers of the Sony World Photography Awards with additional opportunities to cultivate and establish an ongoing relationship with Sony after the Awards. The recipients are chosen by Sony from the Awards’ Professional and Student competitions.

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 a creative entertainment company with a solid foundation of technology. From game and network services to music, pictures, electronics, semiconductors and financial services - Sony's purpose is to fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology. For more information, visit sony.net

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