• "Pandas Gone Wild". Seen by few, but beloved by billions, the giant panda is one of the most recognised animals on the planet. It’s hard to imagine, but these animals, who roamed the earth for eight million years, were only discovered in the last century. Unknown, and hidden from the western world for millions of years, even today they are seen by few but known by most everyone. So secretive and mysterious was its solitary life, lived in the thickest of bamboo, in the highest of mountains, in mist and rain, governed and guided by smell rather than sight, that the giant panda has eluded easy answers, even while making its way into everyone’s heart. © Ami Vitale, United States of America, 2nd Place, Professional, Natural World, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
    "Pandas Gone Wild". Seen by few, but beloved by billions, the giant panda is one of the most recognised animals on the planet. It’s hard to imagine, but these animals, who roamed the earth for eight million years, were only discovered in the last century. Unknown, and hidden from the western world for millions of years, even today they are seen by few but known by most everyone. So secretive and mysterious was its solitary life, lived in the thickest of bamboo, in the highest of mountains, in mist and rain, governed and guided by smell rather than sight, that the giant panda has eluded easy answers, even while making its way into everyone’s heart. © Ami Vitale, United States of America, 2nd Place, Professional, Natural World, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
  • Shepherd, from the series, "Whiteout". In the North of Montenegro, a shepherd is walking to his herd of sheep with a self-made broom in his hand. The broom was used to wipe off the snow lying on the back of the sheep. © Frederik Buyckx, Belgium, Photographer of the Year, Professional, Landscape, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
    Shepherd, from the series, "Whiteout". In the North of Montenegro, a shepherd is walking to his herd of sheep with a self-made broom in his hand. The broom was used to wipe off the snow lying on the back of the sheep. © Frederik Buyckx, Belgium, Photographer of the Year, Professional, Landscape, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
  • 'Superman' - Gael Monfils dives at Australian Open 2016. © Jason O'Brien, Australia, 3rd Place, Professional, Sport, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
    'Superman' - Gael Monfils dives at Australian Open 2016. © Jason O'Brien, Australia, 3rd Place, Professional, Sport, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
  • Salvador, aged 6, sits on his bed as he waits to depart for the afternoon bullfight, in Plaza Mexico, from the series, "The Little Bullfighters of Mexico". © Christina Simons, Iceland, 2nd Place, Professional, Daily Life, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
    Salvador, aged 6, sits on his bed as he waits to depart for the afternoon bullfight, in Plaza Mexico, from the series, "The Little Bullfighters of Mexico". © Christina Simons, Iceland, 2nd Place, Professional, Daily Life, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
  • Stretching - Downtown apron. A variety of urban form and minimalist architecture breaks the old structure, splitting it into triangles, squares and diamond shapes, refracting a new living style on extant spatial structures. Demonstrating a free use of the language of visual forms, it appears like a game, similar to Goldbach’s conjecture; the destruction of the ossified template of the city, a visual exploration of breaking the rules. © Dongni, China, 1st Place, Professional, Architecture, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
    Stretching - Downtown apron. A variety of urban form and minimalist architecture breaks the old structure, splitting it into triangles, squares and diamond shapes, refracting a new living style on extant spatial structures. Demonstrating a free use of the language of visual forms, it appears like a game, similar to Goldbach’s conjecture; the destruction of the ossified template of the city, a visual exploration of breaking the rules. © Dongni, China, 1st Place, Professional, Architecture, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
  • Overlap - Freeway. A variety of urban form and minimalist architecture breaks the old structure, splitting it into triangles, squares and diamond shapes, refracting a new living style on extant spatial structures. Demonstrating a free use of the language of visual forms, it appears like a game, similar to Goldbach’s conjecture; the destruction of the ossified template of the city, a visual exploration of breaking the rules. © Dongni, China, 1st Place, Professional, Architecture, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
    Overlap - Freeway. A variety of urban form and minimalist architecture breaks the old structure, splitting it into triangles, squares and diamond shapes, refracting a new living style on extant spatial structures. Demonstrating a free use of the language of visual forms, it appears like a game, similar to Goldbach’s conjecture; the destruction of the ossified template of the city, a visual exploration of breaking the rules. © Dongni, China, 1st Place, Professional, Architecture, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
  • Li Hang could not help eating delicious food, from the series, "I want to have a ordinary life". October 16th, 2016, Changchun city, Jilin province, China. The classic symptom of Prader-Willi is eating ceaselessly, even when hunger has been sated. Li Hang could not help eating delicious food whenever he saw it, making mealtimes upsetting occasions. His eyes revealed both passion and helplessness. © Li Song, China, 2nd Place, Professional, Contemporary Issues, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
    Li Hang could not help eating delicious food, from the series, "I want to have a ordinary life". October 16th, 2016, Changchun city, Jilin province, China. The classic symptom of Prader-Willi is eating ceaselessly, even when hunger has been sated. Li Hang could not help eating delicious food whenever he saw it, making mealtimes upsetting occasions. His eyes revealed both passion and helplessness. © Li Song, China, 2nd Place, Professional, Contemporary Issues, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
  • Following the Rain, from the series, "African Wildlife at Night".
    Following the Rain, from the series, "African Wildlife at Night".
  • Mathilda. My art work is a portrait of a young girl called Nastya, who modeled for me in Moscow studio at summer 2016 after I got inspired by a famous French movie "Leon" with a cast of Natalie Portman and Jean Reno. This is the reason why my portrait is called: "Mathilda", which was photographed as a cosplay of Portman's role in this movie. © Alexander Vinogradov, Russian Federation, Open Photographer of the Year, Open, Portraits (Open), 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
    Mathilda. My art work is a portrait of a young girl called Nastya, who modeled for me in Moscow studio at summer 2016 after I got inspired by a famous French movie "Leon" with a cast of Natalie Portman and Jean Reno. This is the reason why my portrait is called: "Mathilda", which was photographed as a cosplay of Portman's role in this movie. © Alexander Vinogradov, Russian Federation, Open Photographer of the Year, Open, Portraits (Open), 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
  • From the series, "The Longings of the Others". Kajol with her 6-month-old baby, Mehedi, and a customer on her bed. Two weeks after birth of Mehedi, she was forced to have sex again with customers. Because of the baby, her business is not good. © Sandra Hoyn, Germany, 1st Place, Professional, Daily Life, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
    From the series, "The Longings of the Others". Kajol with her 6-month-old baby, Mehedi, and a customer on her bed. Two weeks after birth of Mehedi, she was forced to have sex again with customers. Because of the baby, her business is not good. © Sandra Hoyn, Germany, 1st Place, Professional, Daily Life, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
  • Jacks at Cabo Pulmo, from the series, "Silent Kingdom". Mexico, Baja California, Sea of Cortez. A big school of Jacks forming a ceiling found at the protected marine area of Cabo Pulmo. © Christian Vizl, Mexico, 3rd Place, Professional, Natural World, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
    Jacks at Cabo Pulmo, from the series, "Silent Kingdom". Mexico, Baja California, Sea of Cortez. A big school of Jacks forming a ceiling found at the protected marine area of Cabo Pulmo. © Christian Vizl, Mexico, 3rd Place, Professional, Natural World, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
  • The twins' gymnastics dream. This series was taken in a sports school in Jining, in Shandong province, China. Liu Bingqing and Liu Yujie are twin sisters, who have liked gymnastics since their childhood. They have studied, trained and grown up here. © Yuan Peng, China, 1st Place, Professional, Sport, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
    The twins' gymnastics dream. This series was taken in a sports school in Jining, in Shandong province, China. Liu Bingqing and Liu Yujie are twin sisters, who have liked gymnastics since their childhood. They have studied, trained and grown up here. © Yuan Peng, China, 1st Place, Professional, Sport, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
  • "We are taking no prisoners". Sirte, Libya, July 14, 2016: Fighters of the Libyan forces affiliated with the Tripoli government walk around the gigantic chandelier of the conference room in the Ouagadougou conference centre. © Alessio Romenzi, Italy, 1st Place, Professional, Current Affairs & News, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
    "We are taking no prisoners". Sirte, Libya, July 14, 2016: Fighters of the Libyan forces affiliated with the Tripoli government walk around the gigantic chandelier of the conference room in the Ouagadougou conference centre. © Alessio Romenzi, Italy, 1st Place, Professional, Current Affairs & News, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
  • From the series, "Light. Shadows. Perfect woman." Arranging the delicate balance of the correlation of the dark and the light the author discovers the obvious monumentality and duality of the images of the perfect woman. Within the space of the picture, the light becomes flat and the dark becomes deeper, highlighting all conventions and details. With this approach, the geometry of light becomes not only a sculptural language but also correlates with the meaning of the subject. The concept of “the perfect” in the photographs is contradictory in nature; on the one hand, it is monumental and complete, and on the other hand it is naked and vulnerable. These opposing concepts are at the heart of the works. © George Mayer, Russian Federation, 1st Place, Professional, Portraiture (professional), 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
    From the series, "Light. Shadows. Perfect woman." Arranging the delicate balance of the correlation of the dark and the light the author discovers the obvious monumentality and duality of the images of the perfect woman. Within the space of the picture, the light becomes flat and the dark becomes deeper, highlighting all conventions and details. With this approach, the geometry of light becomes not only a sculptural language but also correlates with the meaning of the subject. The concept of “the perfect” in the photographs is contradictory in nature; on the one hand, it is monumental and complete, and on the other hand it is naked and vulnerable. These opposing concepts are at the heart of the works. © George Mayer, Russian Federation, 1st Place, Professional, Portraiture (professional), 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
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Winners of the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards revealed

By Marc Gafen | 24 April 2017

The grand prize winners have recently been announced for the world’s largest photography competition – the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards. This year, 227,596 images from 183 countries were received. Of these, 110,270 were for the professional competition, 105,692 for the Open competition, and 11,634 for the Youth competition.

Shepherd, from the series,
Shepherd, from the series, "Whiteout". In the North of Montenegro, a shepherd is walking to his herd of sheep with a self-made broom in his hand. The broom was used to wipe off the snow lying on the back of the sheep. © Frederik Buyckx, Belgium, Photographer of the Year, Professional, Landscape, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.

Belgian photographer, Frederik Buyckx was named Photographer of the Year, winning the $25,000 prize for best photography series. The best single shot awarded to Russian photographer, Alexander Vinogradov. All winning photographers were flown to the London awards ceremony and received the latest Sony digital imaging equipment as their prize.

The winning series, Whiteout, was taken in the Balkans, Scandinavia, and Central Asia, in remote areas where people often live in isolation and in close contact with nature. “There is a peculiar transformation of nature when winter comes, when snow and ice start to dominate the landscape and when humans and animals have to deal with the extreme weather,” Buyckx explains. “The series investigates this struggle against disappearance.”

Mathilda. My art work is a portrait of a young girl called Nastya, who modeled for me in Moscow studio at summer 2016 after I got inspired by a famous French movie
Mathilda. My art work is a portrait of a young girl called Nastya, who modeled for me in Moscow studio at summer 2016 after I got inspired by a famous French movie "Leon" with a cast of Natalie Portman and Jean Reno. This is the reason why my portrait is called: "Mathilda", which was photographed as a cosplay of Portman's role in this movie.
© Alexander Vinogradov, Russian Federation, Open Photographer of the Year, Open, Portraits (Open), 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.

Born in Antwerp in 1984, Frederik Buyckx is a freelance photographer for the Belgian newspaper, De Standaard. Buyckx’s images have been published and exhibited internationally and most recently he was shortlisted for the ZEISS Photography Award.

Professional category winners

The category winners are listed below. Each presented a series of 5 – 10 images.

  • Architecture - Dongni (China)
  • Conceptual - Sabine Cattaneo (Switerland)
  • Contemporary Issues - Tasneem Alsultan (Saudi Arabia)
  • Current Affairs & News - Alessio Romenzi (Italy)
  • Daily Life - Sandra Hoyn (Germany)
  • Landscape - Frederik Buyckx (Belgium)
  • Natural World - Will Burrard-Lucas (UK)
  • Portraiture - George Mayer (Russia)
  • Sport - Yuan Peng (China)
  • Still Life - Henry Agudelo (Colombia)

 Click here to view galleries of all winning photographers, plus those in 2nd and 3rd place.

Overlap - Freeway. A variety of urban form and minimalist architecture breaks the old structure, splitting it into triangles, squares and diamond shapes, refracting a new living style on extant spatial structures. Demonstrating a free use of the language of visual forms, it appears like a game, similar to Goldbach’s conjecture; the destruction of the ossified template of the city, a visual exploration of breaking the rules. © Dongni, China, 1st Place, Professional, Architecture, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.
Overlap - Freeway. A variety of urban form and minimalist architecture breaks the old structure, splitting it into triangles, squares and diamond shapes, refracting a new living style on extant spatial structures. Demonstrating a free use of the language of visual forms, it appears like a game, similar to Goldbach’s conjecture; the destruction of the ossified template of the city, a visual exploration of breaking the rules. © Dongni, China, 1st Place, Professional, Architecture, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.