Photos of civil wars and refugee crises share space with images of stunning landscapes and shots of wild animals and cuddly pets on the shortlist for the Sony World Photography Awards 2018.
The awards, in their 11th year, celebrate diverse styles and subjects. For the 2018 edition, the World Photography Organisation, which holds the competition, received a record 320,000 submissions from more than 200 countries. From these, 200-odd images were shortlisted.
Five photographers of Indian origin made the shortlist, and another 14 received a special mention. The themes of their works were varied, although wildlife and landscape recurred often.
Submissions for the Sony World Photography Awards are normally sorted into four groups: Professional, Open, Youth (for photographers aged 12 to 19) and Student Focus (submissions from universities). These encompass an array of categories, including architecture, travel, contemporary issues, current affairs or news, nature and wildlife, portraits, still life, culture, street photography. This year, two additional categories were introduced – creative and discovery.
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Winners in the many categories will be announced on March 20. And a month later, on April 19, four individuals will be chosen from them as the winners of the four broader competition sections. Additionally, a commended section will make a special mention of the top 50 submissions in each category of the Open competition section.
The winning images will be selected by a panel of experts from the World Photography Organisation, which promotes events for amateurs and professionals through the year. A pick of some images across categories:
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