If the World Press Photo Contest winners left you lusting for even more gorgeous photography, then you’re in luck. The Sony World Photography Awards just announced its shortlist on Tuesday. And the photos are all equally stunning.
You might notice that the style of photography is different from the winners of the World Press Photo Contest—that’s because it’s a different brand of contest altogether. The Sony World Photography awards aims to “recognize and reward the best contemporary photography in the world,” not just photography relating to visual journalism. With categories that include students and youth, it’s the world’s biggest photography competition — last year drew in over 173,000 entries from photographers in 171 countries. Stiff competition for some incredible prizes: a $30,000 cash prize, the latest in Sony digital imaging equipment, and “untold reward and recognition to those involved.”
Sounds good. But the best part, for us, is that the competition offers a reminder that there’s a big, beautiful, brawling, weird, wild world out there and we should all take the time to explore it!
Anyway, enough talk. Here are the highlights of this year’s shortlist:
