Photo credit: Copyright Gareth Lowndes, New Zealand (entry, Travel category, Open competition, 2015 Sony World Photography Awards)
Amateur photographers will vie for the Open title, while professionals will compete for the L’Iris d’Or/Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year, to be announced on 23 April.
The best photographs from the Sony World Photography Awards will go on display at Somerset House in London and be published in an accompanying book.
Judges include Joanna Milter, deputy photo editor at New York Times Magazine (USA).
Wildlife Photographer of the Year set to launch
As one competition closes, another one opens, in the form of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards, which will begin accepting entries for eight weeks from 5 January.
‘Like all judges, I’m hoping and expecting to see amazing images, the likes of which I’ve not seen before,’ said underwater photographer Dr Alex Mustard.
‘My best advice for impressing the panel is to make sure your basics are exemplary and then dare to be different.’
Sir David Attenborough, who has presented the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards on numerous occasions, said: ‘Great pictures of nature have one thing in common – they are unforgettable.
‘They can also be a profound source of beauty, wonder and joy.’
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year will feature 21 categories for adults and young photographers, including WILD-I, which seeks ‘natural world stories’ captured on mobile devices by young citizen reporters.
The current exhibition of 2014 Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners runs at the Natural History Museum until 30 August 2015.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year is co-owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide.
For details of the Sony World Photography Awards visit www.worldphoto.org
Photo credit: Etienne Francey/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Photo credit: Sandra Bartocha/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
