The world's best single photographs revealed by 2017 Sony World Photography Awards

15/06/2017

World's largest photography competition announces winners of its Open categories and National Awards programme

Open category winners competing to win trip to London and $5,000 (USD) cash prize

Images available for publication at press.worldphoto.org

28th March, 2017: Ten extraordinary photographs from across the globe are today revealed as the winners of the Open categories of the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards, the world's largest photography competition. The winners were selected from more than 105,000 entries to the Awards' Open competition, with the expert panel of judges looking for the best single photographs across ten categories.

The ten Open category winners are:

Architecture - Tim Cornbill (UK)

Culture - Jianguo Gong (China)

Enhanced - Lise Johansson (Denmark)

Motion - Camilo Diaz (Colombia)

Nature - Hiroshi Tanita (Japan)

Portraits - Alexander Vinogradov (Russia)

Still Life - Sergey Dibtsev (Russia)

Street Photography - Constantinos Sofikitis (Greece)

Travel - Ralph Gr f (Germany)

Wildlife - Alessandra Meniconzi (Switzerland)

Each of the ten winning photographs display huge photographic talent and creativity, from a stunning wildlife shot of flamingos in Walvis Bay, Namibia (Alessandra Meniconzi) to the ice blue and white of winter (Hiroshi Tanita) and a beautifully simple portrait (Alexander Vinogradov). Scale is used to stunning effect to capture more than 1300 people practicing Tai-Chi in China (Jianguo Gong) and architecture in Berlin (Tim Cornbill) while a crucial goal-scoring moment in an underwater rugby match is photographed by Camilo Diaz. A subtle palette of color is used in both the Enhanced (Lise Johansson) and Travel (Ralph Gr f)category winners while black and white photography is the choice for the Street Photography winner (Constantinos Sofikitis).

Each winning photographer receives a Sony 7 II with lens kit and will now compete to win the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards' Open Photographer of the Year title, a trip to the winners awards ceremony in London in April and $5,000 US dollars in cash prizes. The overall winner will be announced on the 20th April alongside the winners of the Professional competition (judged on a body of work).

Chair of the Open competition, journalist and photographer Damien Demolder, said of the winning Open images: It has been a pleasure and an inspiration to be exposed to such a volume of great work, and a privilege too that I could share in the personal moments, the joys, tears, life and losses of photographers from all around the globe who recorded their experiences through their pictures.

National Awards

The winners of the Sony World Photography Awards National Awards, a global program to find the best single photographs taken by local photographers in 65 countries, were also announced today.

Now in its fourth year, the National Awards is unique in both scope and reach and opened up to photographers from Cambodia, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates for the first time this year.

Winners and runners-ups across all 66 National Awards were announced today, and can be viewed here.

Exhibition

The winners of the Open categories and the National Awards will all be shown at the Sony World Photography Awards & Martin Parr - 2017 Exhibition at Somerset House, London which opens on the 21st April and runs until the 7th May.

The exhibition will include all the winning, shortlisted (top 10) and commended (top 50) photographs drawn from more than 227,000 entries from 183 countries to the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards. It will also feature a special dedication to British photographer Martin Parr, recipient of the Awards' Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize.

Sony World Photography Awards

Produced by the World Photography Organisation, 2017 sees the 10th anniversary of the Sony World Photography Awards and a decade-long partnership with its headline sponsor, Sony. The Awards recognise and reward the very best contemporary photography captured over the last year, and incorporate four competitions - Professional, Open, Youth and Student Focus. The overall winners of the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards will be announced on the 20th April.

Images by all Open category and National Award winners are available for publication at press.worldphoto.org

For further information please contact:

Kristine Bj rge, Press Department, World Photography Organisation

press@worldphoto.org / +44 (0) 20 7886 3049

NOTES TO EDITORS

227,596 images were entered into the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards across all competitions

Professional competition: 110,270 entries

Open competition: 105,692 entries

Youth: 11,634 entries

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 and our industry-leading partners around the world. We host a year-round portfolio of events including: the Sony World Photography Awards (the worlds largest photography competition, marking its 10th anniversary in 2017), various local meetups/talks throughout the year, and PHOTOFAIRS, International Art Fairs Dedicated to Photography, with destinations in Shanghai and San Francisco.

About Sony CorporationSony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, imaging, game, communications, key device and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and online businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading electronics and entertainment company in the world. Sony

LINK:	http://presscentre.sony.eu/pressreleases/the-worlds-best-single-photog...
	See more stories from sony

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

18/03/2026

Net Insight Names Larissa GrnerMeeus CPO

Newly named chief product officer (CPO), Larissa G rner Meeus will return to Net Insight on May 4. Larissa G rner Meeus will become CPO of Net Insight on May 4...

18/03/2026

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026 explored how the sports broadcasting i...

18/03/2026

SVG's SportsTech@NABShow Blog Goes Live as Countdown to Vegas Heats Up

The 2026 NAB Show kicks off one month from today and SVG is once again set to cover the show from every angle. SVG's SportsTech@NAB Show Blog is now live - ...

18/03/2026

The Premiere of Dead Lover Showcases Grave Robbing and Sex With a Giant Finger

(L-R) The cast and crew of Dead Lover at The Ray Theater for its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundan...

18/03/2026

Music Row Piano from Wiltone Productions

Yamaha C7 captured in Nashville Wiltone Productions have announced the release of Music Row Piano, a deeply sampled Yamaha C7 piano library that's been ...

18/03/2026

Techivation introduce T-Warmer Mk2

Bass-enhancement plug-in upgraded Along with a steady stream of new releases, Techivation have recently been revisiting some of the older plug-ins in their ...

18/03/2026

Tonal Balance Control 3 from iZotope

Mix-reference plug-in overhauled iZotope's powerful mix-referencing plug-in has just reached its third major version, and now boasts a new capture proce...

18/03/2026

Toontrack Transistor Organ EKX

Latest EZKeys 2 expansion arrives Toontrack's staggering collection of EZKeys 2 expansions has grown once again, and the latest instalment delivers a on...

18/03/2026

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture 18 March, 2026 Media releases New SBS Audio podcast For The Culture, hosted ...

18/03/2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz at NAB 2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz...

18/03/2026

LCTWS 2026

London Calling - When The Industry Convened to Help Streaming Find its MoJo In this blog, Laura Rognoni reflects on key discussions from the Connected TV World...

18/03/2026

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...

18/03/2026

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...

18/03/2026