The World Photography Organisation has announced the category winners and shortlist in the Open competition of the Sony World Photography Awards 2022, for the best single shots from 2021. 

Over 170,000 images were entered to this year’s Open competition, with over 100 photographers shortlisted in addition to the 10 category winners.

Each winner receives digital imaging equipment from Sony and will go on to compete for the prestigious Open Photographer of the Year title and a $5,000 (USD) prize.

The overall winner of the Open competition will be announced on 12 April 2022.

The news of the Open category winners comes just three weeks after the Pro finalists were revealed in the Sony World Photography Awards 2022.

That followed on from the January 2022 announcement of the Sony World Photography Awards Student and Youth shortlists.

Selected work by winners and shortlisted entries in the Open competition will be exhibited as part of the Sony World Photography Awards at Somerset House, London, from 13 April to 2 May 2022.

The 10 Open category winners (and shortlists) were as follows:


Architecture

Winner – Anthony Chan (Hong Kong)

'Old Meets New' by Anthony Chan, Winner, Open competition, Architecture, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

‘Old Meets New’ by Anthony Chan, Winner, Open competition, Architecture, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Anthony Chan’s ‘Old Meets New’, is a black and white photograph that depicts the chaotic façade of a weathered industrial complex, juxtaposed with the stylish front entrance of a skyscraper. The image highlights a clash between the past and the present in Hong Kong by contrasting the co-existence of old and new developments.

Shortlisted: Bryan Field (UK), Francesca Sciambarruto (Italy), Gerhard Hucke (Germany), Giulio Casti (Italy), Günter Kleber (Germany), Junming Chen (China Mainland), Khanh Le Viet (Vietnam), Klaudia Chwastek (Poland), Klaus Lenzen (Germany), Marcus Ek (Norway), Muhammad Najib Bin Abdul Rahman (Singapore), Ute-Christa Scherhag (Germany), Wonyoung Choi (Republic of Korea) and Zeynep Demirhan (Turkey).


Creative

Winner – Isabel Salmon (UK)

Isabel Salmon's 'Untitled' won the Open competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Isabel Salmon’s ‘Untitled’ won the Open competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

In Isabel Salmon’s Untitled’, the photographer documents her mother’s experiences with chronic vertigo and dizziness. In this portrait Salmon explores the senses; shooting her Mother with her eyes closed in a stark red light, head tilted as if trying to find balance.

Shortlisted: Abbas Valadi (Islamic Republic of Iran), Caleb Nii Odartey Aryee (Ghana), Clair Robins (UK), Gemma Pepper (UK), Hanna Lisava (Germany), Jacek Orzeł (Poland), Pierre Portolano (France), Ryan Rogers (USA) Sawamaru Pokiru (Japan), Shabnam Maleki (Islamic Republic of Iran), Valentina Cipriany, Venezuela Vanessa Fairfax-Woods and Henry Woide (UK).


Landscape

Winner – Vicente Ansola (Spain)

Vicente Ansola's Exodus, Winner, Open competition, Landscape, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Vicente Ansola’s Exodus, Winner, Open competition, Landscape, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Vicente Ansola’s Exodus is an evocative image of a field of wilted sunflowers dried out by the beating sun in Castilla León. The photographer’s imagination was caught by the proud stature of the flowers, recalling for him the rural past of Spain, and the women who worked the arid fields of Castilla.

Shortlisted: Anargyros Dekavallas (Greece), Cigdem Ayyildiz (Turkey), Fernando Famiani (Italy), Hal Gage (USA), Julien Visse (France), Luis Manuel Vilariño Lopez (Spain), Manuel Schmidt (Germany), Marko From (Finland), Martin Morávek (Czech Republic), Muzaffer Murat İlhan (Turkey), Olivier Vauguin (France), Peter Leyer (Hungary), Stuart Chape (Australia) and Tim Hodges (UK).


Lifestyle

Winner – Utsab Ahamed Akash (Bangladesh)

Utsab Ahamed Akash, Winner, Open competition, Lifestyle, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Utsab Ahamed Akash, The Honey Collector, Winner, Open competition, Lifestyle, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Utsab Ahamed Akash’s The Honey Collector, captured a honey collector from below as they inspected a tray of honeycomb. A typical countryside scene in Bangladesh, honey collectors place bees’ nests near mustard fields and collect the honey in winter.

Shortlisted: Catherine Falls (UK), Daniela Jaime Díaz (Colombia), Davide Agostini (Italy), Haikun Liang (China Mainland), Hend Wahdan (Egypt), Ivo Kiapes (Slovakia), Kantaya New (Singapore), Kishor Shrestha (Nepal), Marina Lattanzi (Argentina), Osman Maasoglu (Turkey), Roni Süslü (Turkey) and Txema Lacunza Nasterra (Spain).


Motion

Winner – Raido Nurk (Estonia)

Raido Nurk's Surfing Festival, Winner, Open competition, Motion, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Raido Nurk, Surfing Festival, Winner, Open competition, Motion, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Raido Nurk’s Surfing festival is a shot of a stormy day of surfing in the Hague, the Netherlands. The stark silhouettes of surfers stand out against the grey waves and driving rain.

Shortlisted: Caroline Kearsley (UK), Chin Leong Teo (Singapore), Christine Abel (USA), Hiroki Nose (Japan), Isabela Eseverri (Venezuela), Izabela Lyson (Poland), Joachim Kiner (Germany), Oscar Seguel (Chile), Samiran Chakraborty (Bangladesh), Shiloh Garcia (Mexico), Tomohiko Funai (Japan), Yiming Yang (China Mainland) and Zhenhuan Zhou (China Mainland).


Natural World & Wildlife

Winner – Scott Wilson (UK)

Scott Wilson, Anger Management, Winner, Open competition, Natural World & Wildlife, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Scott Wilson, Anger Management, Winner, Open competition, Natural World & Wildlife, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Scott Wilson’s Anger Management is a dramatic black and white photograph of a wild mustang stallion, bowing its head as it kicks up a dust storm in northwest Colorado, USA.

Shortlisted: Albert Beukhof (Netherlands), Amish Chhagan (Zambia), Antonio Coelho (Portugal), Brice Tribollet (Switzerland), Dinorah Graue (Mexico), Ewa Jermakowicz (Poland), James Crombie (Ireland), Jessica Mohn (Germany), Liqiang Ma (China Mainland), Martyn Harris (UK), Memo Gómez (Colombia), Raquel Inés Correa Chiesa (Spain), Thomas Barry (Ireland) and Tiho Trichkov (USA).


Object

Winner – Leonardo Reyes-González (Mexico)

Leonardo Reyes-González's Segundo Uso, Winner, Open competition, Object, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Leonardo Reyes-González’s Segundo Uso II, Winner, Open competition, Object, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Leonardo Reyes-González’s Segundo Uso (Second Use) II is a still-life of discarded objects. Assembled together against a blue wall, a balanced broken hat stand and a three-legged chair take on a new elegance.

Shortlisted: Aleksandra Garbarczyk (Poland), Andre Boto (Portugal), Holger Bücker (Germany), Jonas Strandberg (Sweden), Klaus Lenzen (Germany), Marina Tsaregorodtseva (UK), Martin Rawle (UK), Maryia Sapego (Belarus), Masumi Shiohara (Japan) and Paolo Paccagnella (Italy).


Portraiture

Winner – Simone Corallini (Italy)

Simone Corallini's The Endless Summer - Surf Trip, Winner, Open competition, Portraiture, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Simone Corallini’s The Endless Summer – Surf Trip, Winner, Open competition, Portraiture, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Simone Corallini’s The Endless Summer – Surf Trip is a black and white portrait of 16-year-old surfer Simone Gentile. Corallini captured Simone fresh from the sea, with beads of water running down his cheeks.

Shortlisted: Davide Limonta (Italy), Elaine Klein (Israel), Francesco Fantini (Italy), Maria Gutu (Moldova), Matthew Brown (South Africa), Olga Urbanek (Poland), Owen Harvey (UK) Siavosh Ejlali (Islamic Republic of Iran), Simon Murphy (UK), Tom Barnes (UK) and Wagner Pena (Brazil).


Street

Winner – Etienne Souchon (France)

Etienne Souchon's Havana Running Away, Winner, Open competition, Street Photography, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Etienne Souchon’s Havana Running Away, Winner, Open competition, Street Photography, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Etienne Souchon’s Havana Running Away is a photograph showing a split-second moment as a child runs across a street in Havana, Cuba, turning to look behind him at a car blocking the road. The black and white format, crumbling building facades and vintage car give the image the appearance of a classic street scene

Shortlisted: Assaf Sharon (Israel), Beatrice Collado Orive (Spain), Davide Bonaldo (Italy), Elias Sarquis (Argentina), Emre Çakmak (Turkey), Jonathan White (UK), Juan Cruz Olivieri (Argentina), Li Ting (Taiwan), Ludovic Le Guyader (France), Miguel Angel Mínguez Corella (Spain), Nina TBerg (Germany), Seyed Ali (Islamic Republic of Iran) and Shun Wang (China Mainland).


Travel

Winner – Nguyen Phuc Thanh (Vietnam)

Thanh Nguyen Phuc's Bike with Flowers, Winner, Open competition, Travel, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Thanh Nguyen Phuc’s Bike with Flowers, Winner, Open competition, Travel, Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Nguyen Phuc Thanh’s Bike with Flowers is an image that depicts a traditional flower street seller cycling  in Hanoi, Vietnam. The bike has been shot just as it passes a wall bursting with flower decorations, giving the appearance that they are spilling from the rider’s baskets

Shortlisted: Alessandro Accordini (Italy), Ashok Gidwani (India), Claudia Magnani (Italy), Darshan Ganapathy (India), Eduard Gutescu (Romania), François Philippe (France), Hong Nguyen (Vietnam), Huu Binh Nguyen (Vietnam), Ioan Maga (Romania), Milad Nalbandiyan (Islamic Republic of Iran), Saravut Whanset (Thailand), Sujon Adikary (Bangladesh), Yang Shu (China Mainland) and Yawar Abbas (Pakistan).


Winners announcements

The overall winners in the Student, Youth, Open and Professional competition of the Sony World Photography Awards 2022 will be announced on 12 April 2022.

The awards also recognise the world’s most influential artists working in the medium through the Outstanding Contribution to Photography accolade – Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky is the 2022 recipient of this award.

Previous recipients of the ‘Outstanding Contribution’ award have included Martin Parr, William Eggleston, Candida Hofer, Nadav Kander, Gerhard Steidl and Graciela Iturbide.

For more details see: World Photography Organisation


Related articles:

Pro finalists revealed in Sony World Photography Awards 2022

Sony World Photography Awards reveals Student and Youth shortlists