Sony World Photography Awards 2021 Open Competition Finalists & Shortlist Announced

The World Photography Organization is delighted to announce this year’s category winners and shortlist in the Open competition of the Sony World Photography Awards 2021, recognizing the best single images from 2020. 

Over 100 photographers were shortlisted in the 2021 competition alongside ten category winners. Each winner receives the latest digital imaging equipment from Sony to develop their vision and will go on to compete for the prestigious Open Photographer of the Year title and a $5,000 (USD) reward. 

The overall Open winner will be announced on the 15th April. Winning and shortlisted work will be presented in the form of a virtual exhibition available to view via the World Photography Organisation website from the 15th April.

The ten category winners are:

ARCHITECTURE

Klaus Lenzen (Germany) for The Blue Window, depicting a ramp of stairs at the Hyatt hotel in Düsseldorf ascending towards a window from which a view of clear blue skies is reflected. Seemingly floating in space, the stairs and window are framed in dark shadows that highlight the design while also adding an element of surrealism. 

CREATIVE 

Tamary Kudita (Zimbabwe) for African Victorian, a portrait of a young black woman dressed in Victorian dress and holding traditional Shona cooking utensils. The image probes at stereotypical contextualizing of the black female body and offers an alternative visual language through which a multifaceted African identity is presented.

LANDSCAPE

Juan López Ruiz (Spain) for Electric Storm on Lavender, a dramatic photograph capturing the moment lighting strikes a flowering field of lavender with a solitary tree at its center, set against a dusky evening sky. Taken in the province of Guadalajara, Spain.

LIFESTYLE 

Mariano Belmar Torrecilla (Spain) for Dias de playa, a softly focused picture of two women enjoying a morning walk on the beach in Alicante, Spain.

MOTION 

Marijo Maduna (Croatia) for Girl Power, a black & white photograph recording the moment when a woman dives off a cliff on the island of Lokrum near Dubrovnik, Croatia, while her friends stand-by and watch.

NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE

Cristo Pihlamäe (Estonia) for Little Kiss, an amusing picture of a hare looking out into the field with its tongue sticking out.

OBJECT
Kata Zih (Hungary) for Memento, depicting a tailor’s mannequin in an empty room. For Zih, the stillness of the scene evokes a feeling of solitude and stirs up memories of lockdown.

PORTRAITURE

Lyudmila Sabanina (Russian Federation) for Son, featuring a young child sitting on a table while gazing into space, lost in contemplation. The photograph shows another side to childhood, one of calmness and reflection.

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

F. Dilek Uyar (Turkey) for Disinfection, a cinematic image documenting an employee of the Health Affairs unit of Ankara Municipality in protective gear walking along the train platform while spraying it with disinfectant.

TRAVEL

Khanh Phan (Vietnam) for Drying Fish, a photograph of a lone woman surrounded by hundreds of trays of drying fish in the Long Hai fish market in Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Vietnam. Taken from above the pattern, of the fish in trays resembles a large piece of fabric with the woman seemingly weaving it all together.

This year’s Open competition was judged by Gastón Deleau, Director, FOLA, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

The overall winners of the Open, Professional, Student and Youth competition of the Sony World Photography Awards 2021 will be announced on the 15 April 2021 via the World Photography Organization’s digital and video platforms. For more information about winners and shortlists please visit www.worldlphoto.org

OPEN COMPETITION 2021 FINALISTS AND SHORTLIST

ARCHITECTURE

Category Winner: 

Klaus Lenzen, Germany

Shortlist:

Farshid Ahmadpour, Islamic Republic of Iran

Abdulla Al-Mushaifri, Oman 

Steffen Ebert, Germany

Simone Hutsch, Germany

Vytenis Jankūnas, United States

Klaus Lenzen, Germany

Kunkun Liu, China Mainland

Aleksandr Lefler, Russian Federation

Jordan McChesney, Canada

Vitaly Medvedev, Russian Federation

Da Miane, Georgia

Jose Pessoa Neto, Portugal

Holger Ostwald, Germany

Ashwani Sarda, India

CREATIVE

Category Winner: 

Tamary Kudita, Zimbabwe

Shortlist:

Edita Bízová, Czech Republic

Tatenda Chidora, Zimbabwe

Maximilien Diaz, France

Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian Federation

Ali Jamshidi,, Islamic Republic of Iran

Joosep Kivimäe, Estonia

Angiolo Manetti, Italy

Jarod Mauws, Belgium

Alireza Movahedi, Islamic Republic of Iran

Hoije Nuuter, Estonia

Nara O’Neil, Australia

Jing Shen, China Mainland

Georgе Shpuntov, Russian Federation

Kylli Sparre, Estonia

LANDSCAPE

Category Winner: 

Juan López Ruiz, Spain

Shortlist:

Luca Donegani, Italy

Kevin Frank, Switzerland

Jinjing Lyu, China Mainland

Joaquin Marco, Spain

Andrea Ortiz Diaz, Colombia

Mehdi Parsaeian Islamic Republic of Iran

Lorenzo Poli, Italy

Scott Portelli, Australia

James Rushforth, United Kingdom

Hans Kristian Strand, Norway

Markus Wiedmann, Germany

Parker Yost, United States

LIFESTYLE

Category Winner:

Mariano Belmar, Spain

Shortlist: 

Antonino Barone, Italy

Isabela Teresa Basilio Neri, Brazil

Gemma Brunton, United Kingdom

Holger Bücker, Germany

Stefano Butturini, Italy

Aimee Glucina, New Zealand

Michail Karagiannis, Greece 

Hamed Rahmati, Islamic Republic of Iran

Alexey Tsiler, Russian Federation

Brad Walls, Australia

MOTION

Category Winner:

Marijo Maduna, Croatia

Shortlist:

Sandi Bertoncelj, Slovenia

Hersley-Ven Casero, The Philippines

Serkan Çolak, Turkey

Tadiwanashe Murowe, Zimbabwe

Mary Nhoileen Maypa, The Philippines

Ruud Peters, The Netherlands

Daniel Portch, United Kingdom 

Zdeněk Vošický, Czech Republic

Brad Walls, Australia

Xianshe Ye, China Mainland

NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE

Category Winner: 

Cristo Pihlamäe, Estonia

Shortlist:

Thoedoros Apeiranthitis, Greece

Hin Man Au, Hong Kong

Amish Chhagan, Zambia

Yuta Doto, Japan

Arturo de Frias, Spain

Tatyana Nemova, Russian Federation

Alex Pansier, The Netherlands

Alexandre Pietra, Switzerland

Mati Puum, Estonia

Inger Rønnenfelt, Denmark

Koki Shinoda, Japan

Andrew Suryono, Indonesia

PORTRAITURE

Category Winner:

Lyudmila Sabanina, Russian Federation 

Shortlist:

Frederic Aranda, United Kingdom

Shirsendu Banerjee, India

Paul Benns, United Kingdom

Bella von Einsiedel, Germany

Reinis Fjodorovs, Latvia

Sabbir Hossen, Bangladesh

Zeng Jinwen, China Mainland

Heun Jung Kim, South Korea

Justin Keene, United Kingdom

King Mtambisi,, South Africa

Rhianna Payne, United Kingdom

Jose Pessoa Neto, Portugal

Elif Öztürk, Turkey

Mireia Vilaplana, United Arab Emirates

OBJECT

Category Winner: 

Kata Zih, Hungary

Shortlist:

Steve Chandler, United Kingdom

Christian Holz, Argentina

Uwe Langmann, Germany

Klaus Lenzen, Germany

Agata Mroczek, Poland

Paolo Paccagnella, Italy

Stefan Pankow, United Kingdom

Ann Petruckevitch, United Kingdom

Manuel Schmidt, Germany

Masumi Shiohara, Japan

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

Category Winner: 

F.Dilek Uyar, Turkey

Shortlist:

Dina Alfasi, Israel

Dimpy Bhalotia, India

David Keith Brown, United States

Gary Cummins, Ireland

Ramunas Danisevicius, Lithuania

Basu Deb, India

Tommaso Galli, Italy

Vytenis Jankūnas, United States

Ares Jonekson, Indonesia

Bartlomiej Jurecki, Poland

Tomasz Kowalski, Poland

Francesco Saverio Lopazio, Italy

Zhang Weijian, China Mainland

Soemyint Winn, Myanmar

TRAVEL

Category Winner:

Khanh Phan, Vietnam

Shortlist:

Marios Forsos, Greece

Alexis Guevara, Mexico

Graeme Haunholter, Canada

Martina Lo Casto, Italy

Rune Mattsson, Norway

Hiroki Nose, Japan

Yukihito Ono, Japan

Franz Sußbauer, Germany

F.Dilek Uyar, Turkey

Min Min Zaw, Myanmar

IMAGES AVAILABLE AT WORLDPHOTO.ORG/PRESS