The Sony World Photography Awards 2024 has announced its category winners and shortlist, showcasing the best single images from around the world captured during the last year. With over 395,000 submissions from 220 countries and territories, the competition aims to highlight established and emerging photographers from around the world. The Open Competition is divided into 10 category sections, covering a diverse range of themes, from Architecture and Landscape to Portraiture, Lifestyle, and Wildlife photography.
For the Architecture category, ArchDaily collaborator Ana Skobe has been declared the winner with a photograph titled “Falling Out of Time.” Bathed in the soft hues of evening light, a sleek geometric structure rises from the coastal landscape, its clean lines contrasting with the natural elements surrounding it. Positioned at the base of the lighthouse, a solitary figure gives a sense of scale to the composition, as it contemplates the vastness of the ocean.
Read on to discover the Open Competition 2024 shortlisted photographs, along with descriptions provided by the photographers.
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Color, Composition, and Scale: Analyzing Brutalist PhotographyCopenHill by Mark Benham, UK
CopenHill, also known as Amager Bakke, is a new breed of waste-to-energy plant, which is topped with a ski slope. It embodies the notion of hedonistic sustainability while aligning with Copenhagen’s goal of becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral city by 2025.
Traffic Circle by Lim Chien Ting, Malaysia
The design of the Pearl Ring Roundabout in Shanghai, Lujiazui, Pudong, harmonizes seamlessly with the detailed patterns of its surroundings.
Untitled by Marcelo Cugliari, Argentina
Hermitage of Our Lady of Carmen Obra Don Orione in the province of Mendoza, Argentina
Mount Fanjing by Sophia Li, USA
Temples sit on top of the New Golden Summit, a lonely spire in the Wulung Mountains in Guizhou province, southeast China.
Industrial Funghi by Markus Naarttijärvi, Sweden
The recently constructed expansion of the SCA Obbola paper mill outside Umeå, Sweden. This building houses one of the largest paper machines in the world.
Unfinished by Anna Rossetti, Italy
Many of Cairo’s buildings are unfinished because their owners have to pay higher taxes when they are complete. This makes me think of Penelope’s weaving in Homer’s Odyssey, constantly in progress, and this is not the only point of contact between the city and Greece: Cairo owes its name to Kairòs, a Greek word meaning ‘at the right time’.
Red Buddha Kingdom by Yang Shu, China Mainland
The Seda Wuming Buddhist Academy consists of thousands of red Tibetan-style bungalows that stretch for several kilometers and surround several magnificent temples to form a spectacular small mountain city. The vast scale often leaves first-time visitors stunned and it is difficult to truly capture its visual impact in a photograph.
Blue Sky, Yellow Water, Raw Concrete by Chau Lun Shum, Hong Kong
Afternoon sunlight in the Awaji Yumebutai complex in Awaji, Japan. I liked the way the column divided the staircase and the pond into different shapes.
Hemispheric by Eng Tong Tan, Malaysia
The Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences) in Valencia, Spain.
New Pharaoh by Hadriel Torres, Italy
Dubai’s architecture is one of its stand-out features and has helped make the emirate internationally recognizable. This photograph showcases a striking pyramid-shaped building set against a serene pink backdrop, symbolizing modern architectural innovation in a world of boundless creativity.
Building Blocks by Siu Hang Andrew Tsang, UK
When the previous night’s weather forecast pointed to a foggy morning, I woke hours before sunrise to travel to Tai Mo Shan, the highest point in Hong Kong. The sprawling metropolis was covered in a layer of fog below me, creating surreal silhouettes of the skyscrapers, which looked like toys.
Zhencheng Building by Sheng Wang, China Mainland
In the streets and alleys of Quanzhou, the hometown of Overseas Chinese in Southern Fujian province, there is a Western-style building that combines traditional red brick and white walls with the characteristics of Nanyang architecture. With the help of the local government, this building has been protected from the surrounding development and will be relocated as a whole.
Madrid by Huanzhen Yang, China Mainland
The Spanish city of Madrid, seen from the sky. The orderly lines of Plaza Mayor appear like rules in the midst of chaos.
Grow Upwards by Xiangsheng Zhang, China Mainland
If the green screen is like a large meadow then the distant urban buildings are like trees, growing constantly upwards.
