ALAN TAYLOR
MAR 7, 2017
20 PHOTOS
IN FOCUS
The Sony World Photography Awards, an annual competition hosted by the World Photography Organisation, just announced its shortlist of winners for 2017. This year's contest attracted 227,596 entries from 183 countries. The organizers have again been kind enough to share some of their shortlisted and commended images with us, gathered below. Overall winners are scheduled to be announced on April 20. All captions below come from the photographers.
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Mathilda. Inspired by the movie Leon. Model: Anastasiya Marinina. #
© Alexander Vinogradov, Russian Federation, Shortlist, Open, Portraits, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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Diamond-Dust. This picture was taken in February in Nagano-ken at an altitude of about 1,700 meters. In Japan, February is the coldest season in a year. Diamond dust can be seen only a few times during cold season. So, it took four years to make this work since I started taking diamond dust. Orange circle is diamond dust. Diamond dust usually looks white, but it turns into orange just for the morning sunrise. I expressed the diamond dust as a silent forest fairy. #
© Masayasu Sakuma, Japan, Shortlist, Open, Nature, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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From the series Pandas Gone Wild. Is a panda cub fooled by a panda suit? That’s the hope at Hetaoping Wolong Panda Center, where captive-bred bears training for life in the wild are kept relatively sheltered from human contact, even during a rare hands-on checkup. #
© Ami Vitale, United States of America, Shortlist, Professional, Natural World, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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Jacks at Cabo Pulmo. Mexico, Baja California, Sea of Cortez. A big school of Jacks forming a ceiling found at the protected marine area of Cabo Pulmo. #
© Christian Vizl, Mexico, Shortlist, Professional, Natural World, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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NYCLightII. A Manhattan sunset. Shot from Queens across the East River. Part two in a New York Trilogy which I call "NYC Light." #
© Lars Sivars, Sweden, Commended, Open, Architecture, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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Walking on water. The Solomon Islands are special well beyond pristine reefs and world-class diving. It is one of the last frontiers where local tribes and indigenous populations are scattered throughout the archipelago, and proudly conduct a life where what is taken from Mother Nature is only that which is needed as a means of subsistence. I wanted a different shot than the usual underwater reef scene to capture the cultural essence of this incredible far-flung destination and its inhabitants. This is a place where it seems kids learn to paddle before they walk. I noticed canoes following my bubbles, a great opportunity to capture villagers, their canoe, the reef, and a stunning sunset as the backdrop. #
© Pier Mane, Italy, Commended, Open, Culture, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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Black rhinoceros at night. The waterhole at Okaukuejo in the Etosha National Park in Namibia, is visited by black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) on a regular basis. This animal stood in the water at night for quite some time before drinking. The calm water allowed for reflections. The position of the flash, some 30 meters from the camera, helped reveal the structures of the body surface. The photo was taken in April 2016. #
© Jan Ryser, Switzerland, Shortlist, Open, Wildlife, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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Algo casual 2. This image is a criticism of modern relationships and the distance between human beings in their daily interactions. #
© Carloman Macidiano Céspedes Riojas, Peru, Shortlist, Open, Portraits, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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Lady in Red. I shot this picture with my drone during a summer vacation. My wife and I spent several days in Montenegro on the Adriatic Coast, and this shot is from the cove Veslo, located at the eastern part of Luštica peninsula. This is a perfect spot where you get the feelings of coziness, privacy, and relaxation, and this is what I wanted to be reflected in my work. Unspoiled and rugged at the same time, but also a beautiful and authentic landscape is what I found here, and I hope this is what transcends through this image. Model: Nevena Mirković. #
© Placido Faranda, Italy, Shortlist, Open, Travel, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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Metropolis. A reflection of the tree on the woman's hair in Midtown. #
© Tavepong Pratoomwong, Thailand, Shortlist, Open, Street Photography, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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From a series named Los Trumpistas. "I’m a proud American, I love this country, and I think it’s time America, to wake up," said Raul Rodrigues Jr. in Apple Valley, California. We think we know the archetypal Trump voter. He is white, male, blue-collar, frustrated and angry. But is that really the case? Are these the only people that will be voting for the Republican candidate? Trump has defied all predictions and surprised the media and commentators more than once. Now it is time to meet some of his most unexpected supporters, the Latinos for Trump. #
© Giulia Piermartiri & Edoardo Delille, Italy, Shortlist, Professional, Portraiture, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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White breasted marten. A white breasted stone marten leaping over some roots, picture taken in Czech Republic in beginning of 2016. #
© Johnny Krueger, Germany, Commended, Open, Wildlife, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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The Cub. My daughter at home (mid-2016), oblivious and lost in a dream moment. It’s one of the more serene images from an ongoing project where I aim to capture the fleeting micro-events that form a part of family life. #
© Tim Topple, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Open, Portraits, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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Silkie shark at Roca Partida. Ever since I was a kid, as far back as I can remember, I was attracted to the sea. I dreamed about what lay beneath the waves, and how would it look if suddenly all the water vanished, leaving all the animals and living creatures in stasis. In this way, I could walk within the ocean and see them all, suspended for a moment in time and space. To this day I carry within me that dream, and very gratefully realize it through my photography. Each image is a visualization of that sublime moment whereupon the beautiful marine life around me is frozen majestically in its natural environment. #
© Christian Vizl, Mexico, Shortlist, Professional, Natural World, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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From a series titled Caught in the Crossfire. Iraqi men from the Hawija region of Iraq wait to be questioned by Kurdish security personnel at a base near Kirkuk. Having fled areas still under the control of ISIS militants, men and boys of fighting age are vetted for any links to the group before being allowed to join their families in camps for displaced people in the Kurdish controlled region of the country. #
© Ivor Prickett, Ireland, Shortlist, Professional, Current Affairs & News, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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Beyond dreams. The plain of Castelluccio Landscape in flowering. Sibillini Mountains National Park, Italy. #
© Francesco Russo, Italy, Shortlist, Open, Nature, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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Flooding. A person is seen on the front porch of a home as it is surrounded by flood waters on in Port Vincent, Louisiana. A historic flood, caused by a massive rainstorm, hit parts of Louisiana and overwhelmed local communities, causing 13 deaths and damaging thousands of homes with flood waters. #
© Joe Raedle, United States of America, Shortlist, Professional, Current Affairs & News, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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Moody. DNF, Fujisan Marathon. #
© Ann Ric, Malaysia, Shortlist, Open, Nature, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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From a series titled Inhabitants of the Empty. Syuzanna, age 9, sits in a “shelter” made of old rusty car parts in front of the abandoned building. She lives in Gyumri, Armenia. Ten days earlier, Syuzanna's father committed suicide, people said, because of his debts. In 1988, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck northern Armenia. The quake killed at least 25,000 people in the region. Thousands more were maimed and hundreds of thousands were left homeless. Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city bore much of the damage. Large-scale war in the early 1990s, the collapse of the Soviet Union, an energy shortage, and a blockade that left landlocked Armenia with just two open borders exacerbated the region's already prevalent social and economic problems. A quarter century later, Gyumri has the country’s highest poverty rate at 47.7 percent. The city has lost nearly half of its population since 1988, due in part to the migration of the labor force. A few thousand families are still living in makeshift shelters, waiting for help. Many of them are not eligible for new housing, since they are not considered to be direct victims of the earthquake. Twenty-five years later, they are still waiting for urgently needed improvements to their dwellings. During the Soviet era, these huge twin dormitory buildings on the outskirts of Gyumri accommodated around 60 families each. Today, there are just four families living here, among decaying walls and corridors. #
© Yulia Grigoryants, Armenia, Shortlist, Professional, Daily Life, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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Green monster. May 16, 2016, a tornado warned high precipitation supercell storm is rolling over the town of Stratford, Texas. Its structures and color seem unreal and belong to the most dramatic I have ever witnessed in many years. I only had a few moments to find a decent spot to capture this amazing view. There was a bigger gap in the traffic along the highway so I had enough time to take a few photos. The image is a panorama of two images, further editing includes primarily color and local contrast enhancements, highlight recovery, foreground brightened up, and adding vignette. #
© Maximilian Conrad, Germany, Shortlist, Open, Nature, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
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https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/03/the-2017-sony-world-photography-awards/518823/
Paulo Ramalho, vereador da Câmara Municipal da Maia (CMM). Segundo o 
, a CMM acolhe a exposição "com muito orgulho", pois,