The 10 Jaw-Dropping Open Winners of the Sony World Photography Awards

Mar 12, 2024

‘Caiman Crunch’ by © Ian Ford, United Kingdom, Winner, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife | Sony World Photography Awards 2024

The World Photography Organization has unveiled the 10 category winners in this year’s Sony World Photography Awards Open competition, “recognizing the best single images from across the world in 2023.”

Nearly 400,000 images from over 220 countries and territories were submitted to this year’s photo contest, so these 10 winning photographers had to beat some serious competition.

Beyond the Open competition winners, the Sony World Photography Awards also names National and Regional winners, which the World Photo Organization did last month. There are also Professional category winners, which names the best photo series in the world. This winner will be named on April 18 at the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 show at Somerset House in London.

The Open segment has 10 categories: Architecture, Creative, Landscape, Lifestyle, Motion, Natural World and Wildlife, Object, Portraiture, Street Photography, and Travel.

Ian Ford won the “Natural World and Wildlife” category with the brilliant image “Caiman Crunch,” featured above. The other nine brilliant winning photographers and their pictures are showcased below.

Architecture — Ana Skobe (Slovenia)

Sony World Photography Awards 2024 Open competition category winners -- architecture, white skyscraper against blue sky — ‘Falling Out of Time’ by © Ana Skobe, Slovenia, Winner, Open Competition, Architecture | Sony World Photography Awards 2024

Creative — Rob Blanken (Netherlands)

Sony World Photography Awards 2024 Open competition category winners -- creative, rainbow colors, feathers, textured detail — ‘Untitled’ by © Rob Blanken, Netherlands, Winner, Open Competition, Creative | Sony World Photography Awards 2024

Landscape — Liam Man (United Kingdom)

Sony World Photography Awards 2024 Open competition category winners -- landscape. Snowy landscape at sunset with drones lighting mountain crags. — ‘Moonrise Sprites over Storr’ by © Liam Man, United Kingdom, Winner, Open Competition, Landscape | Sony World Photography Awards 2024

Lifestyle — Alvin Kamau (Kenya)

Sony World Photography Awards 2024 Open competition category winners -- lifestyle. Black man in a fashionable outfit against a dark brown background. — ‘Twende Ziwani (Let’s go to the Lake)’ by © Alvin Kamau, Kenya, Winner, Open Competition, Lifestyle | Sony World Photography Awards 2024

Motion — Samuel Andersen (Norway)

Sony World Photography Awards 2024 Open competition category winners -- motion, mountain biker going through mud, wide-angle — ‘Rider Getting Down and Dirty’ by © Samuel Andersen, Norway, Winner, Open Competition, Motion | Sony World Photography Awards 2024

Object — Toni Rinaldo (Indonesia)

Sony World Photography Awards 2024 Open competition category winners -- object, two chairs against a white wall. One chair is red, the other is green. Abstract patterns of shadow. — ‘Coalition’ by © Toni Rinaldo, Indonesia, Winner, Open Competition, Object | Sony World Photography Awards 2024

Portraiture — Michelle Sank (United Kingdom)

Sony World Photography Awards 2024 Open competition category winners -- portraiture, portarit of four black women at the beach in South Africa, looking at the camera. — ‘Zenande, Sinawe, Zinathi and Buhle at Sea Point Pavilion, Cape Town’ by © Michelle Sank, United Kingdom, Winner, Open Competition, Portraiture | Sony World Photography Awards 2024

Street Photography — Callie Eh (Malaysia)

Sony World Photography Awards 2024 Open competition category winners -- street photography winner, a hand pressed againt a window of a passing car. — ‘The Hand’ by © Callie Eh, Malaysia, Winner, Open Competition, Street Photography | Sony World Photography Awards 2024

Travel — Yan Li (China)

Sony World Photography Awards 2024 Open competition category winners -- travel winner. Aerial view of a coastal scene, fire on the land, boat in the water in the foreground. — ‘Between Calm and Catastrophe’ by © Yan Li, China, Winner, Open Competition, Travel | Sony World Photography Awards 2024

More From the Sony World Photography Awards 2024

As mentioned, the World Photography Organization has already announced the National and Regional winners from this year’s contest, and the 31 winning images are spectacular and well worth checking out.

Additional winners, including the Professional and Student winners, will be unveiled on April 18. The competition’s overall winner will win $25,000 plus Sony digital imaging equipment. Alongside these great prizes, the overall winner and the top three in each category will be featured in the Sony World Photography Awards exhibit and book. Shortlisted photographers will also be included in the exhibit.

The Sony World Photography Awards is one of, if not the, most prestigious photography contests in the world. Winning a prize in the competition is a significant accomplishment for any photographer.

Image credits: Sony World Photography Awards | All individual photographers are credited in the image captions