Architecture

Territory
Territory
©Reinis Hofmanis, Latvia, Shortlist, Architecture, Professional Competition, 2013
Territory is focused on various aspects and boundaries in the urban landscape. There are boundaries in landscapes which exist between the public and the private space, there are specifics of vision and perception, and an urban landscape serves as evidence of the way in which people populate and move around in territories. Each image features a guard and his guardhouse. Guard booths are architecturally inexpressive and humble, although present in the urban landscape. Those are images that feature the moment at which the guard has spotted or is approaching the photographer. It is a brief moment in time, one that can be described as an intermediate situation before the actual event. Photos are captured in twilight conditions, when the lighting is visible. Contemporary architecture is unthinkable without the light. Light plays an important role in highlighting and hiding.

St Ludwig Saarelouis (Germany), Gottfried Boehm, 1970
St Ludwig Saarelouis (Germany), Gottfried Boehm, 1970
© Fabrice Fouillet, France, Finalist, Architecture, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
Through the series "Corpus Christi", I wished to highlight the architectural aesthetic of the new places of worship and their hymn to minimalism, which has represented a genuine creative inspiration in modern religious architecture. Being a part of a movement initiated in the 1920s and perpetuated by great architects such as Guillaume Gillet, Gottfried Boehm and Auguste Perret, most of these churches were built in the 1950-60s. They reveal a new conception of the sacred, a representation of the divine imbued with modernity, thus triggering a debate and a rejection from some architects and members of the clergy. I have chosen to capture this break with centuries of architectural tradition.

Düsseldorf 4
Düsseldorf 4
© Christof Pluemacher, Germany, Finalist, Architecture, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
The images are reflections on the observation about energy being conserved at night time in German urban spaces. Once lit monoliths, urban structure now more and more become ghostly colossus and an indicator of changing times. Light usually takes away the fears of the night and indicates the wealth and prosperity in the western world. Dark cities and dark structures were once trademark signs of impoverished countries and the communist east. With that era being a thing of the past, the new urban darkness indicates a change of times.


Arts and Culture

Cinema goers watch a Pashto film at Pamir Cinema in Kabul May 4, 2012
Cinema goers watch a Pashto film at Pamir Cinema in Kabul May 4, 2012
©Danish Siddiqui, India, Finalist, Arts and Culture, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards/Reuters
When the Taliban took over Kabul in 1996, cinemas were attacked and many films were burnt. The Taliban forbid the viewing of television and films, and cinemas were closed. Since the autocratic regime's fall 11 years ago, cinemas are coming up slowly but under the constant shadow of threat. There are only half a dozen cinemas in the whole of Kabul. Most of the theaters like Cinema Park and Ariana Cinema were destroyed during the civil war and were later shut down by the Taliban who had banned, among other things, going to the movies. Now every theater has three films shown every day with the first one starting at 10a.m. Bollywood films from India, Pashto films from Pakistan and occasionally dubbed Hollywood films are played in Kabul's theaters, but the genre of film is always the same; Afghan movie fans love action films.

©Myriam Meloni, Italy, Finalist, Arts and Culture, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
The twins Laura and Bel√n on the day of their fifteenth birthday celebration. In Latin America, the celebration of the fifteenth birthday of a teenager is very important because it marks the transition from childhood to maturity. A luxury emblem used to transport politicians and rock stars in the '80s, nowadays the limousine turned into an icon of the Argentinean popular culture. Brides in their white dresses, starlets television, fifteen years old celebrating their birthdays, and future husbands: they all share the same sensation of sitting one night on an electric blue Ford Fairlane from 1972. "The limousine" explores a limited space in which many diverse things can happen. Between drunken, striptease, tears and laughter, the limousine is transformed into the scenario of ordinary people that use the dark tinted windows to release their fantasies and their transgression, under the curiosity of passersby.

Andate in Pace (Go in Peace)
Andate in Pace (Go in Peace)
© NiccolÚ Rastrelli, Italy, Finalists, Arts and Culture,Professional Competition 2013_PR Sony World Photography Awards
These images depict the Church after Vatican Council II (1962-1965) as an architectural and human place, made up of people's flesh and bone. The camera operated by a remote control or working in time lapse remains in front of the altar for a long time. It's a sort of electronic eye, which has been given the command to record a stream of situations. This aims to objectify the situation, leading us to discover what we do not know rather than confirm what we already know. Post-conciliatory Churches structure was completely revolutionized, which forced the priest to turn towards the churchgoers (versus populum) instead of the tabernacle and the crucifix to "make the bridge" between what is spiritual and what is earthly. The new vision t is vital in our photographic project. In fact, we replace the priest's gaze with camera pointed towards the church entrance framing those present at the ceremony. Photography is then the synthesis.


Campaign

© Christian Aslund, Sweden, Finalist, Campaign, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
Advertisement campaign for the sneaker brand 'Jim Rickey'. Shot on location in Hong Kong.

Four More Years: The 2013 Barack Obama Campaign
Four More Years: The 2013 Barack Obama Campaign
©Scout Tufankjian, United States, Shortlist, Campaign, Professional Competition, 2013
Each of these images were taken throughout the last four months of Barack Obama's presidential campaign and were used by the campaign in television advertising, the web, social media, and print literature. Images include moments backstage with the President and the First Lady, a visit with an irrepressible pizza shop owner, a small boy taking advantage of the President's visit in order to kiss his classmate, the President with musicians Bruce Springsteen, Jay-Z, and Beyonce, as well as a young woman in the crowd, and the President on the occasion of his last ever campaign event.

Surfer's Against Sewage - What If The Next Wave Never Comes
Surfer's Against Sewage - What If The Next Wave Never Comes
© Spencer Murphy, United Kingdom, Finalist, Campaign, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
The Protect Our Waves (POW) campaign specifically promotes the protection of coastal regions, recognising the environmental, social, cultural and economic benefits of surfing resources, and represents the surfing community to government, developers and other coastal stakeholders. The campaign aims to protect surf spots from unacceptable levels of environmental impact, degradation of surfing wave quality and to advance recreational water users right of access.


Conceptual

Dance my water
Dance my water
©Edurne Aguinaga, Spain, Finalist, Conceptual, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
Lie Down is a surrealist collection of pictures that create the feeling of being upright on a vertical surface. The objects on each image talk to the viewer and tell them about a distort reality from a subjective point of view by playing with installations under natural light and reflections. Each urban skyscapeù represents a different scenario, from a observation to contemporary issues to a close look into the artist's experiences. The pictures from the Lie Down collection are analog shots composed on the camera and consist of a highly manipulated reality rather than combination printing or digital airbrushing.

Soviet photo
Soviet photo
© Roman Pyatkovka, Ukraine, Finalist, Conceptual, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
Soviet photo - is the whole epoch, which is gone irrevocably. On one hand these images are from the odious magazine "Soviet Photo", filled with communist propaganda. On the other hand these are the pictures of underground photographers of those times, which could be imprisoned for their imagery. To merge these images in one today means reconsider that time. The time of ephemeral ideals and bitter disappointments. We need to rethink it in order to understand what to do now.

© Florian Ruiz, France, Finalist Conceptual, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
Fukushima - invisible pain within the natural environment. I have captured the invisible pain of radiation. With an ear to the rhythm of the seasons of traditional Japanese engravings and inspired by their refined style, I hoped to capture the fleeting moments, the movements of climatic phenomena, and the ever-shifting perceptions of nature, where radiation accumulates the most. I used a pinhole camera with long exposure times to create a record of the presence of radioactive danger. Each photo is an accumulation of visual fragments taken in the same location but from different angles, always accompanied by the radiation level to which my film was exposed. The process reinvents the landscape, leading to a sort of malaise linked to the quivering of the invisible. I also sought to challenge photography's ability to render an image of what is invisible to the eye.


Contemporary Issues

Niger Delta: The Water of My Land
Niger Delta: The Water of My Land
©Samuel James, USA, Finalist, Contemporary Issues, Professional Competition 2013-PR
Fires from hundreds of illicit fuel refineries burn every night throughout the Niger Delta. Concealed deep within mangrove swamps and raffia forests, men work by flashlight, manually tossing stolen crude oil into burning pits to keep the refining process going. Flames explode momentarily then recede into darkness. Set against the mass disparities of Nigeriaís oil industry, the Niger Delta has witnessed an ongoing conflict between armed groups seeking access to the countryís oil wealth and the Nigerian security forces. Despite a 2009 amnesty which saw several thousand militant fighters submit weapons in exchange for cash, little effort has been made to address the pollution, corruption, and political sponsorship of armed groups, which drive the underlying violence and endemic poverty in what is Africaís largest oil producing region and fifth largest supplier of crude to the United States.

On the Shore of a Vanishing Island
On the Shore of a Vanishing Island
© Daesung Lee, Korea, Finalist, Contemporary Issues,Professional Competition 2013 Sony World Photography Awards/SIPA Press
Ghoramara Island is located in West Bengal. Due to the dramatic increase in sea level, resulting from global warming since the 1960ís, the shores of this island are being perpetually washed away. As a result two-thirds of the population have moved away from the island. Many of the people still living on the island are farmers and fishermen who depend on the islandís resources for their livelihoods. The Indian government has already formulated a plan to evacuate villagers to island Sagar, but this evacuation plan doesnít ensure any financial support or compensation for the people. I could see the traces of a heritage vanished by rising tides. Exposed roots of plants destroyed by the erosion serve to illustrate the absence of foundation in the lives of these people. I situated villagers on the shore and took portraits of them in juxtaposition with the beauty of the vanishing island. One day this island on which they were born will only exist in their memories.

 Prisons of South America
Prisons of South America
© Valerio Bispuri, Italy, finalist Contemporary Issues Professional Competition 2013 Sony World Photography Awards/Echo Press Agency
I spent 10 years travelling for South-America jails. A different and complex world in which violence and abuse are part of convicts life. I saw how the convicts try to find a space similar to that one they had outside jails. They try to preserve their dignity. The necessity to recreate their space is the only way to defend them. They hardly try to maintain their habits in a human boundary condition and overcrowding status. Violence and power management inside the jails are direct consequences of these conditions. I went around for 74 male and female jails in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia e Venezuela. I got in contact with prisoners and guards, with fear and anger, with hope and diffidence. Some convicts considered me a distraction, others looked at me with envy, others again with contempt because they thought that I was there only for taking pictures to sell of their confined life.


Current Affairs

Aleppo; Descending to Hell
Aleppo; Descending to Hell
© Manuel Brabo, Spain, Finalist, Current Affairs, Professional Competition 2013 Sony World Photography Awards/ Associated Press
Aleppo, the largest city into Syria, has been (and still is) the scenario of the most fierce battle in Syrian civil war. Armed with light weapons the Free Syrian Army tries to defend the areas under its control while Syrian Army, well trained and heavily armed is targeting civilian population with fight jets, artillery and ground forces. Thousands of civilians had already left their houses and dozens are killed by random shelling and sniper fire every day. Winter is coming and the situation its becoming harder and painfully for the inhabitants of the poorest districts of the city, absolutely destroyed by the cruelty of dictator Bassar Al Assad.

Personality and society. Reality vs illusions.
Personality and society. Reality vs illusions.
© Ilya Pitalev_Russia_finalist_Current Affairs_Professional Competition_2013 Sony World Photography Awards/RIA Novosti
In 2012, the people of North Korea celebrated the centennial birthday of the founder of their state, Kim Il Sung. Kim Jong Il, who had continued the policy of his father for many years, passed away in 2011. Because of the policies of Kim Jong Il, North Korea remained the most closed country for many years. There has never been any complete and reliable information about developments in North Korea. Kim Jong Un, the grandson of Kim Il Sung, now rules the country. According to the opinion of the readers of "Time"ù magazine he received a title "Person of the Year 2012"ù. Will the new ruler break the nearly 100-year-long silence? Will the third monument appear on the central square of Pyongyang?

The Crescent. Rochester USA 2012
The Crescent. Rochester USA 2012
©Paolo Pellegrin, Italy, Finalist, Current Affairs, Professional Competiiton 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
A man is arrested by the Rochester police after having assaulted his father with a samurai sword. The Crescent is home to 27 percent of the city's residents and 80 percent of the city's homicides. The reasons behind the burst of violence include the lagging upstate economy, a steady migration of residents to the suburbs and a growing number of abandoned houses prone to become centers of drug sales and use. Rochester also has a school system that performs poorly. People inside the crescent experience those problems in greater concentration. ''It's an area of great poverty and high consumption rate of drugs which fuels an incredibly high number of homicides,'' said the Rochester police chief. Rochester, NY. USA 2012


Fashion and Beauty

Parisian Twenties 10
Parisian Twenties 10
© Thierry BouÎt, France, Finalist, Fashion & Beauty, Professional Competition 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
Portraits of generation 20's living in Paris. These privileged kids enjoy a carefree existence.

© Klaus Thymann, Denmark, Finalist, Fashion & Beauty, Professional Competition 2013 Sony World Photography Awards/ Adamsky
The story was photographed in the remote east coast of Iceland, on and around the glacier lake of Vatnajokull named Jokulsarlon. Under temperamental weather and light conditions Klaus Thymann let fashion and nature merge together in a bright and beautiful way.

© Alice Pavesi, Italy, Finalist, Fashion & Beauty, Professional Competition 2013 Sony World Photography Awards/ LUZ Photo
Expectation is what inspired this work of fashion. The idea I began from is that every day, all of us are expecting different things in different ways to a greater or lesser extent. We are expecting the bus, a baby, the end of the day, a smile, promotion at work, our turn at the doctor's, the rain to stop falling, the love of our life. With these fashion photos I wanted to re-create stories of expectation which, even if suspended in time and space, belong to our daily lives.


Landscape

Hong Kong
Hong Kong
© Arjen Schmitz, Netherlands, Finalist, Landscape, Professional Competition 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

Sunset Clouds #1 (From the Portfolio "A Portrait of the Matterhorn")
Sunset Clouds #1 (From the Portfolio "A Portrait of the Matterhorn")
© Nenad Saljic, Croatia, Finalist, Landscape, Professional Competition 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
When I was young, I had long fantasized about climbing the Matterhorn but I never really had the chance. The Matterhorn was the last great Alpine peak to be conquered and its first ascent in 1865 marked the end of the golden age of alpinism. Its North Face, which is on all images, is among the "Three Great Problems" in the Alps and was not climbed until 1931. I have been around Zermatt countless times, the village nestled at the foot of the Matterhorn, looking toward the mountains and trying to capture the exquisiteness of this magical peak and its endless state of change; to compress the passing of time, the beauty of the wind and the clouds dancing around the mountain. This portfolio is a kind of memento to all climbers who dared to go there and for those who never returned.

Millenniums of Millions Gods - Cremation Waking Up
Millenniums of Millions Gods - Cremation Waking Up
© Regis Boileau, France, Finalist, Landscape, Professional Competition 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
These are the series on the landscapes, made by millenniums of men and monsoons. Hundreds of generations were born and died here while hundreds of tropical rains gnawed the stones and the shapes. Benares is one of the holiest cities in India, a place seen as the house of the God Shiva. Nothing has deeply changed, ever. The houses made mountains as strong as the peaks of the nearby Himalayas. And if some walls fall down, if some bricks crumble in your hands, if the woods rot, - all of them just make a new stratum on which the city is being built again. The particular tones and colours of these series come from the fact that they were made in a dense fog. For some photoes, I've seen nothing. They were white. But the processing allowed discovering of some shapes and colours, both diluted and spoiled. The mood depicted was close to what I felt: an eternal land, damaged with each second.


Lifestyle

Mirella
Mirella
© Fausto Podavini, Italy, Finalist, Lifestyle, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
Mirella 71 years old. She spent 43 years of her life with the only person loved, 43 years of sharing, difficulties, laughs and beautiful moments; a family, a house, values handed down. Since few years her days are cyclic, monotonous cause her husband's illness, anyway she tries to looks forward with devotion, strength and love; as long as there is life there is hope, even if memories are slowly wasted day by day relentlessly. Mirella is the love story of a woman for her husband, a woman suddenly forced to face on her own the biggest difficulty experienced, made by hopes and unbelief, pain and resignation, sorrow and powerlessness.

Life goes on - Afghanistan
Life goes on - Afghanistan
©Kuni Takahashi, Japan, Finalist, Lifestyle, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
Over the past three decades, Afghanistan has been a battleground for strategic wars by larger external powers and internal conflicts between ethnic groups. Despite fragile security and the constant threat of violence with NATO and U.S. troops scheduled to withdraw in 2014, life in the country goes on and Afghans try to make the most of it.

Summer Family
Summer Family
© Alice Caputo, Italy, Finalist,Lifestyle, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards


Nature & Wildlife

White-handed Tree Frog
White-handed Tree Frog
© Hudson Garcia, Brazil, Finalist, Nature & Wildlife, Sony World Photography Awards
Series made with two species of tree frogs in southern Brazil. These amazing animals jump to escape predators and catch their prey.

Lotus
Lotus
©Satoru Kondo_Japan Finalist, Pro competition Nature and Wildlife 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
A flower is not a flower. Its like a woman. Flower's life is transient, but beautiful.

Lookbook
Lookbook
© Ernest Goh_Singapore_finalist_Nature and Wildlife_Professional competition_ 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
Ornamental chicken breeding clubs have emerged in Indonesia, Thailand, North America and even European countries such as the UK and France. Malaysia is however the epicenter of this cultural phenomenon. These chickens are prized for their build, size, behavior and showmanship by their owners and competitions or beauty contests as they are often described are held almost every week in at least one village in Malaysia. Judges sit around a square table inspecting each chicken for a few minutes trying to determine a champion specimen in its own weight class based on its stance, temperament and physical assets like wings, tails and comb. It is no surprise that chickens owners often regard their pets as warriors or soldiers ready for battle. This image of strength and grace imposed onto the chickens by their owners and judges of the competitions are what intrigues me.


People

Felix Baumgartner: Faster than the Speed of Sound
Felix Baumgartner: Faster than the Speed of Sound
© Balazs Gardi, Hungary, Finalist,People, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
On October 14, 2012 Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner broke the world record for balloon and free-fall height and became the first person to break the sound barrier without propulsion. After jumping from a helium balloon over 39 kilometers into the stratosphere his free fall reached a speed of 1,342 kilometers per hour.

Machine Gun Americana
Machine Gun Americana
Pete Muller, United States, Finalist, People, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
On the edge of Oklahomaís Ozarks, where prairies ascend to rolling hills, an outgrowth of American tradition thunders in the air. Under a summer sun, gun enthusiasts peer down the sights of devastating weapons at the annual Oklahoma Full Auto Shoot and Trade Show (OFASTS), one of the countryís largest fully automatic machine gun expos. In the valley below, explosive-laden cars, airplanes, and old appliances lie in wait; incendiary prizes for the sharp or lucky. Husbands and wives, often with children in tow, make a weekend of firing a vast array of fully automatic weapons, riding in tanks, and flying in military helicopters. My journey to the OFASTS was born of a growing fascination with the similarities between global gun cultures.


Sports

Fish out of Water
Fish out of Water
© Ryan Pierse, Australia, Finalist, Sport, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards/ Getty Images
The Australian Mens Olympic water polo team are photographed in an empty Bondi Icebergs pool at Bondi Beach on May 31, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. The Aussie Sharks as they are known were finalsing their preparations for the 2012 London Olympic Games when I asked them to pose in an famous ocean pool...with the twist of it being empty. The images have a timeless Australian feel to them. These are iconic Australian athletes shot in various places in an iconic Australian sporting venue.

Olympic Journey 2012
Olympic Journey 2012
© Adam Pretty, Australia, Finalist, Sport, Professional Competition,2013 Sony World Photography Awards/Getty Images
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 25: Melissa Wu of Australia practices during a diving training session ahead of the London Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre in Olympic Park on July 25, 2012 in London, England.

Naadam festival in Mongolia
Naadam festival in Mongolia
© Isabela Pacini, Germany, Finalist, Sport, Professional Competition 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
The Naadam Festival is the traditional Mongolian Olympic games with three sports: wrestling, archery and horse racing


Travel

Cities from a taxi
Cities from a taxi
©Daniel Duart, Spain, Finalist, Travel, Professional Competition 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
MOROCCO, Marrakesh- A little girls walks home after school in this muslim city- Seen from the inside of a taxi for the reportage Cities from a Taxi, Tourism

Journey to Jerusalem of Africa-Lalibela, Ethiopia
Journey to Jerusalem of Africa-Lalibela, Ethiopia
©Gali Tibbon, Israel, Finalist, Travel, Professional Competition 2013
Every year, just before Christmas day (Julian calendar) thousands of pious Christian orthodox worshippers make pilgrimage to Lalibela, a small town in Ethiopia highlands, known as Jerusalem of Africa or Black Jerusalem. Lalibela is famous for its 13th century monolithic churches, carved out of the living rock and one of the world's great wonders.

Dubai Aerials
Dubai Aerials
©Johannes Heuckeroth,Germany, Finalist, Travel, Professional Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
Aerial views on the surreal world of the desertcity Dubai.