2018 Sony World Photography Awards: Open winners announced

The World Photography Awards is now in its 11th year, with the aim of the awards being to recognize the very best contemporary photography captured over the last year.

Sponsored by Sony, the awards incorporate four competitions – Professional (10 categories, judged on a body of work), Open (10 categories, rewarding the most outstanding images), Youth (for all photographers aged 12-19, a single image responding to one brief) and Student Focus (for those studying photography) – with the overall winners of the 2018 contest announced on April 19.

In the build-up to that date, the winners of the Open categories have been announced, with several non-professional photographers among the winners.

  • Architecture: Andreas Pohl, The Man and the Mysterious Tower
  • Culture: Panos Skordas, Young Minotaur
  • Enhanced: Klaus Lenzen,  Every Breath you Take
  • Landscape & Nature: Veselin Atanasov, Early Autumn
  • Motion: Fajar Kristianto, The Highest Platform
  • Portraiture: Nick Dolding, Emile
  • Still Life: Richard Frishman, Sunday Buffet at Jerry Mikeska's BBQ; Columbus, Texas 2017 
  • Street Photography: Manuel Armenis, Old Friends
  • Travel: Mikkel Beiter, Shapes of Lofoten
  • Wildlife: Justuna Zduńczyk, An Unexpected Meeting

Each category winner will receive a some tasty Sony camera kit, and will compete to win the title of Sony World Photography Awards’ Open Photographer of the Year.

The overall winner will pick up $5,000, and earn a trip to the awards ceremony in London in April. You can see more images, and learn more about the competition at the World Photography Organisation website.

Exhibition

The winners of the Open categories will be among the photos on show at the Sony World Photography Awards 2018 Exhibition, held at Somerset House, London. 

The show opens on April 20 and runs until the May 6, with the exhibition showcasing all the winning, shortlisted (top 10) and commended (top 50) images drawn from a record-breaking 320,000 entries that have been entered from more than 200 countries. 

Phil Hall

Phil Hall is an experienced writer and editor having worked on some of the largest photography magazines in the UK, and now edit the photography channel of TechRadar, the UK's biggest tech website and one of the largest in the world. He has also worked on numerous commercial projects, including working with manufacturers like Nikon and Fujifilm on bespoke printed and online camera guides, as well as writing technique blogs and copy for the John Lewis Technology guide.