Some of the world’s top photographers—the crème de la crème—have received accolades from the Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA), which recently announced the national winners of its global competition. Many of those winners have already proudly added the distinction to their Instagram pages, professional photographers’ websites, or CVs.
A whopping 415,000 images were submitted to SWPA 2023 and those were whittled down by about half for the Open Competition. Entries came in from 200 countries and regions across the globe—from Austria to Vietnam, from the U.A.E. to the U.S.A.
Devoted to fostering local talent on a global scale, SWPA announced their National Award winners on Feb. 7. These represent the highest achievements in photographic excellence from across 55 countries. All of the National Award winners will receive Sony digital imaging equipment and will be included in the SWPA exhibition and in their book.
Courtesy of Samia Berbiche, France, National Awards Winner, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Demonstrating mastery in their craft, the national winners as a whole, all vying in a single competition, display a stunning breadth of creativity—the full spectrum of cultural and artistic diversity. In the present selection, hand-picked by The Epoch Times for our readers’ perusal, you will embark on a world journey:
Daunting traditional riders are depicted in all their glory by U.A.E.-based photographer Oday Shanshal;
A sublime night celebration explodes with color during a fair in Latin America, seen through the lens of Mexican photographer Pável Vélez;
From the air, an ocean rendezvouses between a sun-kissed snorkeler and sea turtle is captured by Vietnamese photographer Thiện Nguyễn Ngọc;
In a chic, denim-concept portrait by Kuwait-based photographer Adil Javed, a little sass is served over the phone;
Courtesy of Oday Shanshal, United Arab Emirates National Award Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Roberto Pavić, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia & Herzegovina Regional Award Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Rajeev Abeysekara, Sri Lanka, National Award Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Adding a little mischief, a sneaky owl’s gleaming golden eyes peer into the camera of Protap Shekhor Mohanto from Bangladesh;
Tenderly, a youth bears his freckles without shame in American Angela Perez’s portrait;
Meanwhile, an acrobat on horseback dazzles in a black-and-white cultural exposé by Abdulla Al-Mushaifri from Qatar;
There are also active volcanoes, a Slovenian ski jumper, a Taiwanese rope skipper, and, of course, cats! And yet we have hardly scratched the surface; we invite you to savor them all with your own eyes.
Next on the competition’s timeline, the overall winners of the Student, Youth, Open, and Professional competitions will be announced on April 13. They will go on display as part of the exhibition at Somerset House in London.
Now, without further adieu, here is a selection of the winning photos:
Courtesy of Abdelrahman Gabr, Egypt, National Award Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Kazutoshi Ono, Japan, National Awards 2nd Place, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Pável Vélez, Latin America, National Awards 1st Place, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Adil Javed, Kuwait, National Awards Winner, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Abdulla AL-Mushaifri, Qatar, National Award Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Andrej Tarfila, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia & Herzegovina Regional Award Shortlist/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Leo Huang, Taiwan, National Awards Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Erhan Coral, Turkey, National Award Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Filip Hrebenda, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania & Moldova Regional Awards Shortlist/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Huazheng Hong, Singapore, National Award Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Kevin Moncayo, Latin America, National Awards 2nd Place/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Hajime Hirano, Japan, National Awards 1st Place/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Takahiro Toh, Japan, National Awards 3rd Place/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Mansoor Mohsen, Saudi Arabia, National Awards Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Chan Sithy Heng, Cambodia, National Awards Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Protap Shekhor Mohanto, Bangladesh, National Award Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Kyujin Jeong, Korea, Korea, National Award 2nd Place/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Mawaruddin Mawaruddin, Indonesia, National Award Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Niks Freimanis, Latvia, Estonia & Lithuania Regional Awards Shortlist/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Si Thu Ye Myint, Myanmar, National Awards Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Thiện Nguyễn Ngọc, Vietnam, National Award Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Uku Sööt, Latvia, Estonia & Lithuania Regional Awards Shortlist/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Vlatko Rafeski, Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria & North Macedonia Regional Awards Shortlist/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Dávid Balogh, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania & Moldova Regional Awards Shortlist/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Fabian Jung, Austria, National Awards Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Elena Georgiou, Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria & North Macedonia Regional Awards Shortlist/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
(Courtesy of Hernan Jaramillo, Colombia, Latin America, National Awards Shortlist/2023 Sony World Photography Awards),
Courtesy of Manuel Rodríguez, Costa Rica, Latin America, National Awards Shortlist/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Oscar Seguel Mangiola, Chile, Latin America, National Awards Shortlist/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Nukabari Opuama, Nigeria, National Awards Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Angela Perez, United States, National Awards Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Eng Tong Tan, Malaysia, National Awards Winner/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Andres Novales, Guatemala, Latin America, National Awards Shortlist/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Gyu Seob Shim, Korea, Republic Of, National Awards 1st Place/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Courtesy of Reynaldo San Martín, Bolivia, Latin America, National Awards Shortlist/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Michael Wing is a writer and editor based in Calgary, Canada, where he was born and educated in the arts. He writes mainly on culture, human interest, and trending news.
