irteen incredible images win the Open and You categories of the world s biggest photography competition - the 06 Sony World Photography Awards

Selected from a record-breaking 230,103 entries from over 180 countries

Best single shots from around the world across 10 Open and 3 Youth categories

Overall Open and Youth Photographer of the Year announced 21 April

Winning images to be shown at Somerset House, London 24 April - 10 May

Images available for publication at press.worldphoto.org

The quality of photography was outstanding Judging such remarkable photographs against each other was a wonderful yet almost impossible task. Hopefully you will enjoy the winners' work as much as I have. Jael Marschner, Chair, Open competition

London, 29th March: The 2016 Sony World Photography Awards, the world's biggest photography competition created by the World Photography Organisation, today announces the winners of its Open and Youth competitions.

A record-breaking 230,103 photographs from over 186 countries were entered into the awards' three competitions (Professional, Open and Youth) and the ten Open and three Youth winners were selected from a total of 103,005 entries. Each winning image was chosen as the single best shot in its category and was judged by an expert panel chaired by Jael Marschner, former picture editor Time Out London / Sunday Times Travel.

Photographers of all abilities can enter the ten Open categories and young photographers aged 12-19 may enter the three Youth categories.

The scale of competition faced by each of the 13 winners was incredible, even more so as many of the winners are simply photography enthusiasts, not professionals in the industry. The winners are from around the world and the youngest is just 12 years old.

The winners are:

OPEN COMPETITION

Architecture - Filip Wolak, Poland

Arts & Culture - Swee Choo Oh, Malaysia

Enhanced - Pedro D az Molins, Spain

Low Light - Kei Nomiyama, Japan

Nature & Wildlife - Michaela m dov , Czech Republic

Panoramic - Markus van Hauten, Germany

People - Alexandre Meneghini, Brazil

Smile - Alex Ingle, Scotland

Split Second - Chaiyot Chanyam, Thailand

Travel - Andrej Tarfila, Slovenia

YOUTH COMPETITION

Culture - Sepehr Jamshidi Fard, Iran (age 17)

Environment - Anais Stupka, Italy (age 12)

Portraits - Sam Delaware, United States (age 18)

Each category winner receives the latest digital imaging equipment from Sony and will have their images shown at the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House, London from 22nd April - 8th May and published in the 2016 edition of the Sony world Photography Awards book.

The winners will now compete to win the title of the overall Open or Youth Photographer of the Year, which will be announced at the Sony World Photography Awards gala ceremony in London on 21st April.

These overall winners will be flown to London to collect their prize and the Open Photographer of the Year will receive $5,000 (USD). The winners of the awards' Professional competition and overall Professional Photographer of the Year will also be announced on 21st April.

Chair of the Open competition, Jael Marschner comments: Photography is a binary talent. It combines conceptual art with technical skill, and with technological advances ever progressing, is accessible to everyone. As chair of the Open competition, I had the pleasure of being involved in the selection of a vast range of pictures, and the privilege of spending days looking at beautiful photographs from all over the world.

The variety of categories in the Open competition allows for an unrestricted scope of subjects, giving way to an array of photography styles and techniques, which made my job very enjoyable. The quality of photography was outstanding, and I had a harder time than I ever imagined picking my favourites.

Judging such remarkable photographs against each other was a wonderful yet almost impossible task. Hopefully you will enjoy the winners' work as much as I have.

Adding to this, Scott Gray, CEO, World Photography Organisation adds: Nurturing and supporting photographers is at the heart of the Sony World Photography Awards. Nowhere is this more clear than in the Open and Youth competitions which each focus on identifying and promoting amateur and enthusiast photographers.

For further information about the Sony World Photography Awards please contact:

Jill Cotton, PR Director / Kristine Bj rge, PR Managerpress@worldphoto.org / +44 (0) 20 7886 3043

Winning images are available to download at press.worldphoto.org

If using on social media please #SWPA and tag @WorldPhotoOrg

NOTES TO EDITORS

230,103 images were entered in total to the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards:

127,098 Professional entries; 95,541 Open entries and 7,464 Youth entries images

173,444 images were entered to the 2015 awards

Total number of entries since launch in 2007: 1,097,012

Sony World Photography Awards forthcoming announcements

21st April - Professional/Open/Student/Youth Photographers of the Year announced plus Professional category winners

About World Photography Organisation The World Photography Organisation is a home where photography is celebrated and the art of the photographer is recognised. Working with professional, enthusiast and student photographers alike, the World Photography Organisation provides a global platform across the photographic industry to not only to raise the level of conversation around the subject, but to increase awareness and appreciation of this artform. The World Photography Organisation hosts a year-round portfolio of industry and public events including: the Sony World Photography Awards, the world's largest photography competition and accompanying global exhibition and the World Photography Organisation Student Focus Programme, inspiring and working with the next generation of photographers. It also organises Photo Shanghai and Photo San Francisco, international art fairs dedicated to photograp

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