Open Competition 2021 Category Winners and Shortlists Announced

(MANILA, PHILIPPINES, April 2021) – 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 of 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 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 Iakovos Thoedoros, Greece
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, Zimbabwe King Mtambisi,, South Africa Rhianna Payne, United Kingdom Jose Pessoa Neto, Portugal Elif Öztürk, Turkey Mireia Vilaplana, Spain 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 Lopazio, Italy 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