It’s the best time of the year for people that are fans of Sony, photography or awards. You might have guessed it by my inconspicuous headline, but the Sony World Photography Award shortlist has been released and it has some amazing pictures on it. Don’t worry, there’s some borderline weird and creepy shit too. It’s got something for everyone.
This contest is apparently the best thing since sliced bread for photographers. It’s attracted over 227,000 entries from 183 countries, and the winners will be chosen on April 20th. Let’s take a look at some amazing pictures from the shortlist, but be aware that this list is far from exhaustive.
This one is called “Diamond-dust”, for fairly obvious reasons. It was taken by Japanese photographer Masayasu Sakuma. The picture was taken in Nagano-ken at an altitude of 1700 meters.
This work from Swedish photographer Lars Sivars is called “NYCLightII”. It’s the second part of his “NYC Light” trilogy. Why the trilogy gets spaces but the individual works don’t, I honestly couldn’t tell you. But enjoy this picture of a Manhattan sunset nonetheless.
This enchanting picture was taken in Italy by Francesco Russo. It’s called “Beyond Dreams” and perfectly captures the beauty of the Sibillini Mountains National Park when it’s in full bloom with flowers.
Called “Moody”, this picture was taken by Malaysian photographer Ann Ric. Doesn’t that mountain just look majestic and threatening at the same time?
While this one could’ve easily been called “Damn nature, you’re scary!”, German photographer Maximilian Conrad went for “Green Monster”. This picture was taken in the one place you can pretty much expect to be able to take a picture of a tornado: the wonderful state of Texas. More specifically in Stratford, Texas.
While this picture might look like a creepy person with a panda fetish (we all know a guy like that), it’s actually someone giving a panda a checkup in the Hetaoping Wolong Panda Center, where the bears are raised sheltered from human contact. And somehow these people think a five dollar panda suit will get rid of the human smell. This picture was taken by Ami Vitale from the United States of America, and it is part of the “Pandas Gone Wild” series.
Taken on the ever so beautiful Adriatic Coast of Montenegro, this picture perfectly reflects a sense of peace and privacy. Photographer Placido Faranda from Italy took the picture with a drone, since he’s not two hundred feet tall.
This picture, called “White Breasted Marten”, of a white breasted marten, depicts a white breasted marten jumping over some roots. Sadly, it’s not jumping over another white breasted marten. The picture was taken by Johnny Krueger (no relation to Freddy) from Germany, and named by a wildlife encyclopedia.
