Best photos of the year revealed: Take a glimpse at the winning shots

Sony’s iconic World Photography Awards have just taken place at a prestigious ceremony in London with prizes being handed out across 10 different categories.

This year’s winners included images shot all across the globe with photographs ranging from stories of war and reconciliation, to the empowerment of women through education, and original approaches to the genres of still life and sport.

During the global event, Sony also revealed its Photographer of the Year with this coveted prize handed out to acclaimed photographer Edgar Martins.

His series Our War, which was selected from the 10 category winners, is a homage to Martins’ friend, photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who was killed during the Libyan Civil War in 2011.

“It is a huge honour to be recognised and although I am philosophical about awards and the subjective nature of someone’s choice, knowing that there were over 180,000 entries to this year’s Professional competition, is very humbling,” Martins said after picking up the top prize.

“In this case, it is also quite an emotional experience because I get to honour my friend on a world stage and bring attention to the family’s plight to find his remains. There’s no award that has the reach of the Sony World Photography Awards.”

Other winners included Al Bello for his series “Female Pro Baseball Player Succeeds in All Male Pro League” and Corey Arnold for his series “Cities Gone Wild”.

Another important prize announced on the night was this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography. In 2023 it has been awarded to the celebrated photographer Rinko Kawauchi. She has achieved international renown for her intimate and luminous images, capturing moments of everyday life.

You can see some of the images below but the full range of photos can be seen at Somerset House, London from 14 April – 1 May 2023.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
WINNER: Fan Li (China Mainland) for his series Cement Factory

CREATIVE
WINNER: Lee-Ann Olwage (South Africa) for her series The Right to Play

DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS
WINNER: Hugh Kinsella Cunningham (United Kingdom) for his series The Women’s Peace Movement in Congo

ENVIRONMENT
WINNER: Marisol Mendez (Bolivia) & Federico Kaplan (Argentina) for their series Miruku

LANDSCAPE
WINNER: Kacper Kowalski (Poland) for his series Event Horizon

PORTFOLIO
WINNER: James Deavin (United Kingdom) for his submission Portfolio

PORTRAITURE
WINNER: Edgar Martins (Portugal) for his series Our War

SPORT
WINNER: Al Bello (United States) for his series Female Pro Baseball Player Succeeds in All Male Pro League

STILL LIFE
WINNER: Kechun Zhang (China Mainland) for his series The Sky Garden

WILDLIFE & NATURE
WINNER: Corey Arnold (United States) for his series Cities Gone Wild