Simply breathtaking: Sony World Photography Awards

Each year, Sony holds a photography competition welcoming amateurs, professionals and even young people under the age of 20 to submit their masterpieces for global judgement. The striking entries were categorised by their content, from architecture and wildlife to travel, still life and split second snaps
Youth and Open winners will be announced on March 18, while professional winners and the L’Iris D’Or/ Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year title will be revealed on April 30. The winner of the coveted L’Iris D’or prize will take home $25,000.
Astrid Merget, creative director of the World Photography Organisation, describes the entries as “an impressive collection of photographs, spanning dozens of genres, styles, locations and subject matters.” Indeed, the images cover issues like mental illness, natural disaster, domestic abuse, poverty, friendship and happiness in unlikely situations.