38 Powerful Pictures From The Sony World Photography Awards

    The 2014 Sony World Photography Awards have announced this year's shortlist, revealing some incredible pictures from around the world.

    Matthew Tucker
    by Matthew Tucker

    BuzzFeed Picture Editor, UK

    The Open competition saw 65,512 entries this year, from across 166 countries. The competition is designed so as to provide committed amateur and enthusiast photographers the opportunity to have their work awarded and exhibited internationally.

    1. 'The Mongol'.

    Simon Morris/Sony World Photography Awards

    2. 'Taiwan'.

    Yao Wang Chong/Sony World Photography Awards

    3. 'Muddy smile'.

    Alpay Erdem/Sony World Photography Awards

    "A muddy face from the mud bath going into the lake."

    4. 'Yellow Fellow'.

    Anurag Kumar/Sony World Photography Awards

    "Holi is one of the major festival of India and is the most vibrant of all. The joys of Holi knows no bound. The festival is celebrated across the four corners of India or rather across the globe. The festival is filled with so much fun and frolic that the very mention of the word 'Holi' draws smile and enthusiasm amongst the people. Holi also celebrates the arrival of Spring, a season of joy and hope."

    5. 'Zeybeks'.

    Hasan Baglar/Sony World Photography Awards

    6. 'Untitled'.

    Guillermo Barquero/Sony World Photography Awards

    "Miners of Gold Fields Abangares gold mine of Guanacaste in Costa Rica."

    7. 'Homebound'.

    Ata Mohammad Adnan/Sony World Photography Awards

    "Homeless children in Chittagong, Bangladesh."

    8. 'What are you staring at !?'.

    Chin Boon Leng/Sony World Photography Awards

    9. 'Beer festival in Munich'.

    li hao/Sony World Photography Awards

    10. 'Be Cheerful Even in the Darkest of Times'.

    Samantha Fortenberry/Sony World Photography Awards

    "In your youth, nothing can stop you from enjoying time with your friends, especially not a simple matter of rain during summer fun. You may grow up and forget the names, but you'll always remember the moments, the time on the dock with your friends during a surprise shower."

    11. 'Young men from the Kara Tribe, Omo, Ethiopia'.

    Louise Porter/Sony World Photography Awards

    "Painting the body is one of the great pleasure of this tribe ... thrilled to get this color in an infrared photo. I have not seen anything like this and was actually surprised with the results. The expanse of land where this tribe lives is amazing. Several times a day they travel down to the Omo River below to bring it up water. They like how they look but they needed the gun to finish it off just like most guys their age in the Valley."

    12. 'The Calm Before The Storm'.

    Sean Batten/Sony World Photography Awards

    13. 'Vakil Bath'.

    Mohammad Reza Domiri Ganji/Sony World Photography Awards

    "Panoramic photo made of four fisheye shots. Vakil bath is a very popular historical site located in Shiraz, Iran."

    14. 'Ples u tami II'.

    Vuk Adzic/Sony World Photography Awards

    "The Guča trumpet festival." [a brass band festival in the town of Guča, near the city of Čačak, in the Dragačevo region of western Serbia.]

    15. 'Samsara~'

    Wolfgang Weinhardt/Sony World Photography Awards

    "This year I had the pleasure to join the pilgrims and devotees of the Maha Kumbh Mela - the largest spiritual gathering on the planet, held every 12 years."

    Bringing together the very best international contemporary photography, the shortlist offers a unique insight into 2013 through the eyes of some of the world's best emerging and established photography talents.

    16. 'Aerial Series'.

    Emmanuel Coupe-Kalomiris/Sony World Photography Awards

    "All images were taken in the southern and central parts of Iceland. These areas were carefully scouted and selected for their particular qualities such as formations and color pallet."

    17. 'Mod Couples'.

    Carlotta Cardana/Sony World Photography Awards

    "These images are from a personal project on couples who belong to the mod scene, a subculture that originated in Britain in the late fifties and became very popular during the sixties. It is quite difficult to pin down what lies at the heart of this movement as it has evolved in many different ways during the years, but all mods share a passion for everything related to the fifties and the sixties, especially the clothes and the music."

    18. 'Mother and Son'.

    Denis Dailleux/Sony World Photography Awards

    "A Christ‐like image, a bare‐chested son rests near his mother. Why does this image of the mother‐son relationship move us so? Because the son, by his nudity, looks as fragile as he was on the day of his birth? Because the mother seems fulfilled by the presence of son, who completes her?"

    19. 'What is missing'.

    Esposito Salvatore/Sony World Photography Awards

    "My story is concentrated specifically on the Forcella neighborhood, Naplese central district in the historic city center, and it also focuses of the criminal power of the Camorra since the late 70s."

    20. 'City landscapes from Shanghai city'.

    Arjen Schmitz/Sony World Photography Awards

    21. 'Rakher Upobash'.

    Suvra Kanti Das/Sony World Photography Awards

    "An old Hindu woman sits with lights (Prodip) and prays to God in front of Shri Shri Lokanath Brahmachar Ashram temple during the Rakher Upobash at Barodi, Narayangonj."

    22. 'Sparkle Baby'.

    Chloe Bartram/Sony World Photography Awards

    "'Sparkle, baby' explores girl culture in Australia within the phenomena of beauty pageants, particularly those directed at the young."

    23. 'Big Cat, Little Cat.'

    George Logan/Sony World Photography Awards

    "'Big Cat, Little Cat' is an advertising campaign for Whiskas cat food."

    24. 'Deep Night'.

    Vinicio Drappo/Sony World Photography Awards

    25. 'Neighbours'.

    Herman Van Den Boom/Sony World Photography Awards

    "Neigbours is a series of typical Belgian double houses. Every single building is an expression of individuality. These various and often contradictory partnerships are remarkable. When people with so often opposite taste and style manage to live."

    26. 'Wax System'.

    Fabrizio Cestari/Sony World Photography Awards

    27. 'Cost of slavery'.

    K. M. Asad/Sony World Photography Awards

    "'This building will stand a hundred years,' owner boasted just a day before collapse. The next morning, it came down. Reports state that 1130 workers died and nearly 2500 were rescued alive after the eight‐story building Rana Plaza that housed mostly garment factories collapsed on 24 April 2013."

    28. 'The Depth of Winter'.

    Kacper Kowalski/Sony World Photography Awards

    "I take to the skies above Poland to gain a vantage point over a country gripped by harsh winter. Temperatures can drop to ‐ 30 C degrees and stay below zero for months."

    29. 'Timeless'.

    Kai-Uwe Gundlach/Sony World Photography Awards

    30. 'The Fighter, The Father'.

    Nikolai Linares/Sony World Photography Awards

    "The Fighter, The Father is the story of Jorge Herrera's life. Fleeing as 9 year old from an abusive father and a Chilean dictatorship, a troublemaker in his youth in Tingbjerg, Copenhagen, smoking hash, violent behavior and being sent to jail. Memory loss and injuries on the hard‐trained body are starting to show after a hard life. At the age of 35 years Jorge Herrera has started to recreate his own life."

    31. 'Survivors'.

    Ken Hermann/Sony World Photography Awards

    "Every year people in Bangladesh are disfigured beyond recognition by acid attacks."

    32. 'No Moore'.

    Melissa Golden/Sony World Photography Awards

    "For 39 minutes on May 20, 2013, a massive EF5 tornado with winds reaching 210 mph cut a 17‐mile long path that was 1.3 miles wide at its peak. Moore, OK bore the brunt of the damage and of the 24 casualties, seven were children at Plaza Towers Elementary School, which had no storm shelter. Destiny Pierman, 13 collects belongings from the damaged bedroom of her home in Moore, OK."

    33. 'Through a Window'.

    Salvatore Calafato/Sony World Photography Awards

    34. 'Indonesia Padang City Tour cattle activity'.

    YongSheng Zheng/Sony World Photography Awards

    "This traditional cattle race, which the locals call PacuJawi, takes place in the city of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia."

    35. 'Historic Present'.

    Sungseok AHN/Sony World Photography Awards

    "Sungseok Ahn's Historic Present questions the memory of past from the fast changing scenery of today. By overlapping a historical location with an old image of that exact place, he questions the way we treat our history and explores the dynamics."

    36. 'Italy'.

    Sharon Derhy/Sony World Photography Awards

    "The series "Italy" was taken at the breath taking views of Biella area, where the photographer's camera is penetrating undirected intimates moments."

    37. 'Bears and Birds.'

    Wilfred Berthelsen/Sony World Photography Awards

    38. 'Wet dog.'

    Sophie Gamand/Sony World Photography Awards

    "Wet Dog is a series of portraits of dogs caught mid‐bath. The dogs are photographed at a vulnerable moment, half a second before they shake the water off their fur. Sophie's pictures capture their character and, in some cases, recognizable emotions (like annoyance, misery or vengefulness)."