The Sony World Photography Awards reveals today the 10 category winners and shortlisted photographers in the 2025 Open competition. Now in its 18th year, the Open competition celebrates the ability of an individual photograph to capture and distil a singular moment, and to evoke a broader narrative. Entrants were invited to submit their strongest single images from 2024, and the winners and shortlists represent some of the most arresting photography from the past year. ​ 

Across this year’s competitions, over 419,000 images from over 200 countries and territories were submitted to the Awards. ​ 

The Open Photographer of the Year will be announced at the Awards’ ceremony in London on 16 April and will receive a $5,000 (USD) cash prize and a range of Sony digital imaging equipment. Selected winning and shortlisted images will be shown as part of the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House from 17 April - 5 May 2025, and will then travel to other locations. 

This year’s Open category winners are: 

ARCHITECTURE 

Xuecheng Liu (China Mainland) for the photograph Center of the Cosmos, which shows New York’s iconic Times Square from above, using a very wide angle to highlight the expanse of the city. 

CREATIVE 

Jonell Francisco (Philippines) for Kem the Unstoppable, an elegantly photographed collage portrait, alluding to Renaissance traditions of portraiture. 

LANDSCAPE 

Ng Guang Ze (Singapore) for his mesmerising black-and-white shot of a stream meandering through grasslands into a lake in the distance, taken in Wenhai, Lijiang. 

LIFESTYLE 

Hajime ​ Hirano (Japan) for his meticulously composed image of a street vendor selling electronic parts in Akihabara, once Japan's largest electronics town following a period of rapid economic growth in the late 1950s. 

MOTION 

Olivier Unia (France) for Tbourida La Chute, in which the photographer captures the danger and excitement of the moment a rider is thrown from their mount during a ‘tbourida,’ a traditional Moroccan equestrian performance. 

NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE 

Estebane Rezkallah (France) for The Whale Raft, depicting a group of polar bears feasting on the carcass of a whale in east Greenland. 

OBJECT 

Sussi Charlotte Alminde (Denmark) for Octopuses in the Sky, showcasing elaborate handmade kites at the Fanø International Kite Fliers Meeting, one of the world’s largest kite flying events. 

PORTRAITURE 

Yeintze ​ Boutamba (Gabon) for Encounter, a tender portrait of two people shot in the intimacy of a bedroom. The photographer wanted to immortalise this moment for the sitters. 

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 

Khairizal Maris (Indonesia) for Celebrating Football Club Victories, which pictures the elation of fans celebrating a win by their local football club by lighting flares in Bandung, West Java. 

TRAVEL 

Matjaž Šimic (Slovenia) for Ask a Shaman, depicting a group of shamans in La Paz, Bolivia, where they play a major role in Native Bolivian traditional culture, shot against the brightly painted local architecture. ​ 

This year’s Open competition was judged by Claudia Grimaldi Marks, Senior Manager, New Creator Strategy at Getty Images. 

The overall winners in the Student, Youth, Open and Professional competitions of the Sony World Photography Awards 2025 will be announced on 16 April 2025. For more information about upcoming announcements and winners please visit worldphoto.org. 

OPEN COMPETITION CATEGORY WINNERS AND SHORTLIST 

NOTES TO EDITORS 

A selection of images is available to download on press.creoarts.com. 

SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 

Produced by Creo under its photography strand World Photography Organisation, the internationally acclaimed Sony World Photography Awards is one of the most important fixtures in the global photographic calendar. Now in its 18th year, the free-to-enter Awards are a global voice for photography and provide a vital insight into contemporary photography today. For both established and emerging artists, the Awards offer world-class opportunities for exposure of their work. The Awards additionally recognise the world’s most influential artists working in the medium through the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award; the acclaimed photographer Susan Meiselas is the 2025 recipient of this award, joining a distinguished list of iconic names including William Eggleston (2013), Mary Ellen Mark (2014), Martin Parr (2017), Graciela Iturbide (2021), Edward Burtynsky (2022) and Sebastião Salgado (2024). The Awards showcase the works of winning and shortlisted photographers at a prestigious annual exhibition at Somerset House, London. worldphoto.org/exhibition  

WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY ORGANISATION ​ 

World Photography Organisation is a leading global platform dedicated to the development and advancement of photographic culture. Its programming and competition initiatives provide valuable opportunities for artists working \in photography and help broaden the conversation around their work. The Sony World Photography Awards is World Photography Organisation’s principal programme. Established in 2007, it is one of the world’s biggest and most prestigious photography competitions; celebrating the work of leading and emerging practitioners and attracting tens of thousands of visitors annually to its exhibitions worldwide. World Photography Organisation is ​ 

the photography strand of Creo, which initiates events and programming across three sectors: photography, film and contemporary art. worldphoto.org 

CREO 

Creo initiates and organises events and programming across three key strands: photography, film and contemporary art. Established in 2007 as World Photography Organisation, Creo has since grown in scope, furthering its mission of developing meaningful opportunities for creatives and expanding the reach of its cultural activities. Today, its flagship projects include the Sony World Photography Awards, Sony Future Filmmaker Awards, PHOTOFAIRS and Photo London. Working in partnership with Angus Montgomery Arts, Creo helps deliver the group’s ventures, comprising some of the world’s leading art fairs. Taking its name from the Latin for ‘I create’, it is in this spirit that Creo sets out to empower and give agency to creative voices. creoarts.com ​ 

SONY CORPORATION 

Sony Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation and is responsible for the Entertainment, Technology & Services (ET&S) business. With the mission to “create the future of entertainment through the power of technology together with creators,” we aim to continue to deliver Kando* to people around the world. For more information, visit: sony.net 

*Kando is a Japanese word that roughly translates to the sense of awe and emotion you feel when experiencing something beautiful and amazing for the first time. 

SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2025 BOOK 

The hardback exhibition book will be available to purchase at the exhibition shop in Somerset House and is available to pre-order on shop.worldphoto.org (£24.99). ​ 

This collectible hardcover book celebrates remarkable photographs from the past ​ 

year and delves into the compelling stories, both big and small, that inspired them. ​ 

Enjoy award-winning images of all styles, genres and topics and immerse yourself in ​ 

the unique perspectives of photographers from around the world as you look through ​ 

its pages. Alongside the acclaimed images, readers will also be able to enjoy an essay dedicated to this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient Susan Meiselas.