Open category winners and shortlist: first look

The penultimate reveal before the overall announcement is here! The Open competition within the Sony World Photography Awards rewards striking single shots - ones that stop you mid-scroll and tell a story in one sharp frame.

We’re thrilled to reveal the category winners and shortlist of this year’s Open competition, chosen from over 419,000 images from over 200 countries and territories submitted to the 2025 Sony World Photography Awards.

Explore the category winners below:

ARCHITECTURE
Xuecheng Liu (China Mainland)

Center of the Cosmos shows New York’s iconic Times Square from above, using a very wide angle to highlight the expanse of the city.

© Xuecheng Liu, China Mainland, Winner, Open Competition, Architecture, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

CREATIVE 
Jonell Francisco (Philippines)

Kem the Unstoppable is an elegantly photographed collage portrait, alluding to Renaissance traditions of portraiture.

© Jonell Francisco, Philippines, Winner, Open Competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
 

LANDSCAPE
Ng Guang Ze, Singapore

A mesmerising black-and-white shot of a stream meandering through grasslands into a lake in the distance, taken in Wenhai, Lijiang.

© Ng Guang Ze, Singapore, Winner, Open Competition, Landscape, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

LIFESTYLE
Hajime Hirano (Japan)

A meticulously composed image of a street vendor selling electronic parts in Akihabara, once Japan's largest electronics town following a period of rapid economic growth in the late 1950s.

© Hajime Hirano, Japan, Winner, Open Competition, Lifestyle, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

MOTION
Olivier Unia (France)

In Tbourida La Chute, in which the photographer captures the danger and excitement of the moment a rider is thrown from their mount during a ‘tbourida,’ a traditional Moroccan equestrian performance.

© Olivier Unia, France, Winner, Open Competition, Motion, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

 

NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE
Estebane Rezkallah (France)

The Whale Raft depicts a group of polar bears feasting on the carcass of a whale in east Greenland.

© Estebane Rezkallah, France, Winner, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

OBJECT
Sussi Charlotte Alminde (Denmark)

Octopuses in the Sky, showcasing elaborate handmade kites at the Fanø International Kite Fliers Meeting, one of the world’s largest kite flying events.

© Sussi Charlotte Alminde, Denmark, Winner, Open Competition, Object, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

 

PORTRAITURE
Yeintze Boutamba (Gabon)

Encounter is a tender portrait of two people shot in the intimacy of a bedroom. The photographer wanted to immortalise this moment for the sitters.

© Yeintze Boutamba, Gabon, Winner, Open Competition, Portraiture, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
 

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
Khairizal Maris (Indonesia)

Celebrating Football Club Victories pictures the elation of fans celebrating a win by their local football club by lighting flares in Bandung, West Java.

© Khairizal Maris, Indonesia, Winner, Open Competition, Street Photography, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

TRAVEL
Matjaž Šimic (Slovenia)

Ask a Shaman depicts a group of shamans in La Paz, Bolivia, where they play a major role in Native Bolivian traditional culture, shot against the brightly
painted local architecture.

© Matjaž Šimic, Slovenia, Winner, Open Competition, Travel, Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Click here to view the full results including the shortlists.

The overall winners of the Sony World Photography Awards 2025 exhibition will be exhibited at Somerset House, London from 17 April to 5 May.
 

BOOK EXHIBITION TICKETS