Winners of the 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

Alan Taylor
April 21, 2021
30 Photos
In Focus

The top entries in the 2021 Sony World Photography Awards have been announced, and the organizers were once more kind enough to share some of the winning and shortlisted photos from the Professional, Open, Student, and Youth competitions with us, gathered here. Captions below have been provided by the photographers.

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Hvaldimir. Shortlist, Professional, Wildlife & Nature. "Series Description: This is the story of a beluga whale called Hvaldimir and a fisherman called Joar Hesten. When the fisherman and former whaler jumped into the ice-cold Arctic water and freed Hvaldimir from a harness that had been fitted to the whale, both their lives changed forever. When this white mystic creature turned up in the Arctic waters of Norway, bordering Russia, American activists turned up. Hollywood called and Saudi money was spent. The friendly beluga whale became an Instagram star. When the fuss settled, Joar returned home down south and Hvaldimir did likewise. In the summer of 2020, he turned up in the fjord neighboring Joar’s home. During that summer and autumn, the former whaler visited the whale, looking after him and discussed with annoyed fish farmers how they best could protect it." #

© Aleksander Nordahl, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Let Me Peek at That! Shortlist, Open, Street Photography. #

© Tommaso Galli, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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A Quiet Autumn Day. Shortlist, Open, Travel. "On a trip along the coastal highway in northern Norway, I found this old boathouse in Gildeskål. It was a beautiful autumn day, with great light and reflections." #

© Rune Mattsson, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Hymn of the Building Site-9. 3rd Place, Professional, Architecture & Design. "I often visit this building site in Ninghai County, Zhejiang Province, China for work reasons. Using a drone, I photographed them to show the work that takes place each day." #

© Guanghui Gu, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Birthday. Finalist, Professional, Portfolio. "Taken in and around his hometown of Ourense in the region of Galicia, photojournalist Brais Couto presents a series of poignant and dramatic scenes exploring local events and issues ranging from the effects of the pandemic to forest fires and carnival season." #

© Brais Lorenzo Couto, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Blue in Black. Shortlist, Open, Natural World & Wildlife. "A blue shark in black and white, photographed on Spain’s Cantabrian Coast." #

© Arturo de Frias, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Pubarun Basu. Youth Photographer of the Year, Youth, Composition and Design. "I created this picture with the idea of representing the feeling of being trapped in a moment, or in one's own reality. I saw the curtains as the fabrics of the space-time continuum, which those two hands fail to break out of. The shadow cast by the parallel railings onto the fabric also gives the impression of a cage, in which the entity is trapped for eternity." #

© Pubarun Basu, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Green Court. Shortlist, Open, Travel. "A basketball court amidst desert sand dunes." #

© Graeme Haunholter, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Hello World. Shortlist, Open, Natural World & Wildlife. "I photographed this ant looking through an autumn leaf in a forest near my home." #

© Alex Pansier, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Inclusive Karate School in Syria 2. Winner, Professional, Sport. "In the Syrian village of Aljiina, near the city of Aleppo, Wasim Satot has opened a karate school for children. What makes it special is that girls and boys with and without disabilities are taught together. They’re aged between six and 15 years old. With his school, Satot wants to create a sense of community and overcome any traumas of war in the minds of the children." #

© Anas Alkharboutli, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Drying Fish. Winner, Open, Travel. "A woman dries trays of fish at Long Hai fish market in the Vung Tau province of Vietnam. Thousands of trays of scad are dried on rooftops and in yards by hundreds of workers. I came to Long Hai on a photo trip and was overwhelmed by the scale of the fishing village." #

© Khanh Phan, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 1. Shortlist, Student Competition. "Mass-produced fashion forms a significant part of the waste created by consumer culture, but young people are making great efforts to encourage their contemporaries to be more mindful about waste, by promoting recycling, upcycling and reusing. My work aims to capture the ideas around this. South African fashion designer and illustrator Lara Klawikowski created a collection of garments made from recycled, upcycled and reused pieces of plastic, as well as offcuts of industrial material, inspired by flowers I photographed in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden." #

© Claudia Mauderer, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Consumer Goods Circulation. Shortlist, Professional, Environment. "The world's population is expected to increase by 2 billion in the next 30 years, according to a United Nations report. We would need the equivalent of almost three planets to provide the natural resources required to sustain our lifestyles in their current state. The impact of consumerism on our environment is reflected in every aspect of our daily lives. This series explores the amazing capabilities humans have for production, circulation, and consumption." #

© Wentao Li, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Road Construction. Shortlist, Open, Portraiture. "A portrait of labor." #

© Shirsendu Banerjee, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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After the Battle. Finalist, Professional, Wildlife & Nature. "One of a series of images taken using wide angle lenses and wireless triggers. With these iconic wild animals, being in close proximity is too dangerous, so you need to be inventive and innovative. This unique perspective is complemented by an aerial image of a hippo pod, as well as underwater images inches away from wild crocodiles. I have aimed for a unique perspective showing the raw beauty and power of the wild; hopefully, through more empathy with nature, we will learn to preserve it." #

© Graeme Purdy, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Russia’s Face Slapping Championship 3. Shortlist, Professional, Sport. "The main goal of face-slapping contests is to get rid of stress and test one’s stamina. Even though there is an evident element of violence and repugnance in this sport, contestants are fully aware of what happens when they choose to participate." #

© Anton Dotsenko, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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A City Under Dust Clouds 5. Finalist, Professional, Environment. "Ahvaz, Iran, has been consistently ranked as one of the world's worst cities for air pollution according to the World Health Organization, topping the list on numerous occasions in the past decade. Industrial sources, chief among them the refineries and other components of the vast petrochemical industry in Khuzestan Province, as well as massive dust storms, are the main contributors to air pollution. The poor air quality has a significant impact on the lives of the residents of Ahvaz. Each year, thousands seek medical treatment for respiratory conditions. The air pollution has also increased emigration out of the city, limited investments and tourism, damaged infrastructure, and added to the already high electricity and water consumption of the city." #

© Mohammad Madadi, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Redyk. Shortlist, Open, Street Photography. "Redyk is a traditional annual march of shepherds with their sheep. Each summer, the sheep are taken high up into the mountains to graze for a few months; in October, they return to the villages for winter—an event that is much celebrated. Shepherds lead the flock through the villages, while locals welcome them with music and cheering. Despite the traffic problems it causes, everybody is happy to see them." #

© Bartlomiej Jurecki, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Free Falling. Shortlist, Open, Motion. "A group of friends cool off by leaping from the seawall into the ocean at Bantayan Beach, Dumaguete City, Philippines. I regularly pass by this spot on the lookout for a good shot, as it’s a popular hangout for these active and fearless local kids." #

© Hersley-Ven Casero, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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10, Katrina. 2nd Place, Professional, Documentary Projects. "Thatcher’s Children investigates the chronic intergenerational nature of poverty, exploring the effects of successive governments’ social policies as experienced by three generations of one family in the north of England. I first met the Williams family in Blackpool in 1992: two parents and six children living in a hostel for homeless families. They were trapped in a cycle of unemployment and poverty. I had long wondered what became of the family; I finally traced them in 2016 and have been working with them ever since. The six children now have almost 30 children between them, almost all living in similar conditions to those in which I found them in 1992. Now, however, they are trapped by zero-hours contracts and ‘in-work poverty’. I see their experience as being illustrative of what happened to a society that was left behind by the social policies implemented in the 1980s and ’90s." #

© Craig Easton, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Pink Rower. 3rd Place, Professional, Wildlife & Nature. "‘I have imagined the ocean as a superorganism, with the world's seas as its organs, and its creatures as the tissues that interconnect everything. Sinking further down on to it, there is nothing … but sea drops.’ This figurative concept opens Sea Drops, a photo essay aimed to explore the effervescence of life inside drops of sea water. By using lab micropipettes, and a self-designed micro studio setup, the project captures the beauty and manners of live plankton, which are in the range of 200 to 1,500 microns, inside specially lit drops of water." #

© Angel Fitor, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Sanele and Sisi. Student Photographer of the Year, Student Competition. "I was born on a farm in South Africa, and grew up with cattle, horses, donkeys and chickens, many of which I still own and love to this day. Farming is an intense occupation that requires passion and unwavering dedication. I set out to photograph young people who choose this life because, like me, they believe they have a responsibility. This sits heavily on all of our shoulders. South Africa is an unpredictable land with severe droughts, safety concerns and debates around land ownership. Despite these challenges, young farmers are working toward a fairer and more equitable future of sustainable food security. They are my peers, my friends and my family, and this is our time to feed the nation." #

© Coenraad Heinz Torlage, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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The Blue Window. Category Winner, Open, Architecture. "The stairs at the Hyatt hotel in Düsseldorf, Germany." #

© Klaus Lenzen, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Espoir. Shortlist, Open, Creative. "Made at the Château du Vieux Mareuil in France, this image is part of a series called ‘Calypso’." #

© Maximilien Diaz, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Silent Neighborhoods 004. Winner, Professional, Landscape. "Everything in life is made up of impressions from the past and whatever befalls us today. The fabric which took one form yesterday takes on a new form now. All creatures still fight for their survival. Nature is the battlefield. The forces of the world are as they have ever been; the waves of the sea, storms, the earth itself. But ultimately it is humanity, marching everywhere, claiming everything, proving to the world that it will endure. We strove to live, to take and to control, before even knowing what to call ourselves. We think we will last forever so we hunt, build, wear clothes and consume, changing our ideas and our tools over the years but never changing our ways. We chased after more and more and something was always left behind. Homes were abandoned, chairs left empty and clothes unworn, even the buttons of a shirt were lost. We have raced to eternity, knowing life is fleeting, leaving the lights on behind us as if to say that once upon a time we were alive. Here are the silent neighborhoods: those places free of the presence of humanity." #

© Majid Hojjati, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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The Goalkeeper. Shortlist, Open, Lifestyle. "Alexandros Paschalakis, goalkeeper with Thessaloniki’s PAOK FC, takes off his jersey after an accident during a match with Panathinaikos in Athens." #

© Michail Karagiannis, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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Fassade. Shortlist, Professional, Architecture & Design. "The images shown here are facades; it’s uncertain what purpose they serve. Are they a film set or a training camp for special forces? Perhaps they are ruins that have been secured. In the end, the purpose doesn't matter, because the architecture has become an art space. Light and shadow shape this space and generate the stage. The pictures try to expand the boundaries of photography and dispense pure representation." #

© Peter Franck, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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The Guy Behind. Shortlist, Professional, Portfolio. "These images are a collection of contrasting moments. Images staged during the COVID-19 pandemic, a portrait on assignment of a bird trafficker, a strange scene in the streets of Samarkand where naïve Christmas imagery and the bravado of soldiers mingle. These images are a diary of the past few months and are linked only by my gaze." #

© Marylise Vigneau, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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I Wanna Be Messi 05. Shortlist, Professional, Sport. "Football is not a privilege, it is a right. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is a universal language for millions of people around the world, regardless of their nationality, language or religion. In Togo, at the Don Orione Centre, children with disabilities are given specialized assistance to improve their quality of life. They all are Messi. Football brings peace for their souls and freedom for their minds. It's more than just a game." #

© Antonio Aragon Renuncio, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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The Horse Next Door. Shortlist, Open, Street Photography. "A curious horse looks out of its stable window, while a little bird flies away, scared by the prying eye." #

© Francesco Lopazio, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

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