Maverick Life

The Sony World Photography Awards

… And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

… And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Pepe was an illiterate person who, after the death of his wife in 2001, based his days and nights on trying to read and learn to write. She needed to express herself, to feel somehow close to her, to tell her that nothing had changed, that there are still corners in the house where her smell will remain eternal. To this day, he has written more than 500 poems that he is still reading through tears. Pepe is 87 years old and lives alone, although for health reasons, there are many days when his daughter comes to be with him and attend to their needs. Copyright: © Joaquin Luna, Spain, Open, Portraiture, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

The World Photography Organisation was established in 2007 with one goal in mind: "To raise the level of conversation around photography worldwide, through a year-round programme of exhibitions, awards and competitions". Here is a gallery of some of the most beautiful images from this year's competition.

The window to the world. This picture was taken in Hamburg at the Docklands with view towards the cranes of the cargo terminal. This location is a former vintage building revitalized and today used for offices. Due to the orange brick structure and lots of transparent glass, it is an amazing place for architectural shots. © Agota Kadar, Romania, Entry, Open, Architecture, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

Preparing to leave his home of the last 30 years for a much smaller apartment, my father had to downsize his vast collections of books, vinyl and magazines. As his dementia progresses his memory of them will fade. I wanted to celebrate him with this small selection of “his things” before they were gone. © Aimee Glucina, New Zealander, Entry, Open, Lifestyle, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

Seiser Alm is such a beautiful and peaceful, especially when you are flying your drone in the early morning, just as the first light hits the cottages, meadows, and trees. © Ales Krivec, Slovenia, Entry, Open, Landscape, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

Lions are symbols of power and strength; this photo clearly depicts this through his intense pose, his magnificent mane and the deliberate tensing of his deltoids (evidently for this photoshoot!). It is their shoulders that make a blow from a lion’s paw like one from a drop hammer. Only two things in the animal world are stronger: the whip from the tail of a whale and a kick from a giraffe. © Amish Chhagan, United Kingdom, Entry, Open, Natural World & Wildlife, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards


Copyright: © Anton Plotnikov, Russian Federation, Entry, Open, Portraiture, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

Monet at the gas station. © Artem Arutyunov, Russian Federation, Entry, Open, Street photography, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

Picture taken in the streets of Lisbon. The colors and people just lined up perfectly, so I seized the moment. This was only a few days before all the Covid-19 measures, so the distance was just a coincidence. © Bie Van Laer, Belgium, Entry, Open, Street photography, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

© Bright Andoh, Ghana, Entry, Open, Creative, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

© Da Fa, Austria, Entry, Open, Landscape, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

© Dan Gerard, United Kingdom, Entry, Open, Natural World & Wildlife, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

This photo was created during the lockdown associated with Covid-19. It shows the oppressiveness, gloominess and uncertainty that affected this phase of our life. Shadows surrounded us like thick veils that threatened to overwhelm us with imminent gestures. At the same time, the photo shows elements of hope that represent the light at the end of the tunnel for which we have all been waiting so eagerly. Light impulses awakening hope that helped us to find our way. This work shows the historically significant interplay between darkness and light, fear and hope, stumbling and staying on course, which we all experienced first hand in 2020. For this photo, I traveled through the Swiss mountains to significant locations. I created the interplay between shadow and light on the one hand through night photography and long exposure, and on the other hand by taking the right weather and lighting conditions into account. © Dominique Weiss, Germany, Entry, Open, Landscape, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

© Emil Gawkowski, Poland, Entry, Open, Architecture, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

© Gautam Jain, United States of America, Open, Architecture, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

© Graeme Haunholter, Canada, Entry, Open, Travel, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

© Hadiyanto Nyali, Indonesia, Open, Portraiture, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

While in South Georgia on a Patrol with the British Army we went to Grytviken an old whaling station in the south Atlantic, famous for Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton stories and resting place. Here is a shot of a male Emperor Penguin standing proud in front the others while in his natural habitat. © Jack Evans, United Kingdom, Open, Natural World & Wildlife, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

The thick fog had a burst of color come through as the last bit of sun set in the west. It only lasted a few moments but created a unique view of the often photographed Maine lighthouse. Copyright: © Jamie Malcolm-Brown, United States of America, Open, Landscape, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

© Jean Cois, France, Open, Portraiture, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

A farmer had a nap among flowers in a park. Copyright: © Jiangli Lou, China, Open, Street photography, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

The woman is drying the last trays of fish, the details of the fish and the trays like the woman is weaving a large cloth. Long Hai fish market, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Vietnam is the place to buy and sell seafood, especially dried scad, with the scientific name of decapterus. Thousands of fry trays are dried on rooftops and yards by hundreds of workers. The weather here is very sunny with high temperatures and the workers work with great intensity. I came to Long Hai on a photo trip and was really overwhelmed by the scale of the fishing village. Fish are bought in bulk in large ships on the sea, steamed and put into wooden trays to dry. Fish usually dry after 1 day in the sun. The fish are then transported around the country for sale. It is a Vietnamese favorite and some low quality fish will be processed into fodder. Copyright: © Khanh Phan, Vietnam, Open, Travel, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

Storms with intense force brew in the Southern Ocean, whipping up gigantic swells that have have battered the towering cliffs at Shipsterns for millennia. The fractured rock walls have slowly succumbed to the wind and waves, and piece by piece created one of the most dangerous waves in the world. This part of the world is raw, rugged and cold and help is a long way away. Mikey Brennan has tackled this wave for a long time, but his respect for the power and the place is still at the forefront of his mind when he bottom turns into one of these beasts. Copyright: © Lance Morgan, Australia, Open, Lifestyle, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

Between ancient temples and holy shrines, the cattle made its way through the old town of Bagan, Myanmar, to their water spot. I was lucky enough to run into them to get this shot. Copyright: © Luca Pot d’Or, Germany, Open, Natural World & Wildlife, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

This is a picture of 42-montaged images, in date order, from the beginning of lockdown, of food that couldn’t be sold from a Sheffield green grocers. Beanies Wholefoods and donated all their out of date or graded as 2nd class produce, to two local Sheffield charities – The Archer Project and The Food Hall. I picked up the boxes of fruit and veg two or three times a week and after taking a photograph of the days’ donation, deliver it to either one of the charities. They have each been supplying roughly 200 free nutritious cooked meals per day since day one of the lockdown to vulnerable people, including those living on the street, unable to cope due to age or underlying health issues including mental health or families struggling to pay their bills, as all other cooked food outlets in the city had closed. Copyright: © Mark Harvey, United Kingdom, Open, Creative, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

The photo was taken through a bus window. It was heavily raining and thundering. My bus was stuck in a traffic jam. It was almost dark even in a day time due to the storm. The trees were dancing with wind. Through the bus window, the branches of the trees looked like the veins of a human body. Copyright: © Md. Rakibul Hasan Rifat, Bangladesh, Open, Natural World & Wildlife, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

A woman carrying an umbrella in Lalibela, Ethiopia. Copyright: © Pierre Bureau, France, Open, Street photography, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

Taken in Rome, while walking past a building I saw these two old men, walk dressed in dark clothes walk into a run down tired looking building. Both setting and the characters conveyed a similar tone. Copyright: © Riccardo Scott, New Zealander, Open, Street photography, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

During the lockdown from covid19, I was walking with my niece in an open companion, suddenly she slips into a bush and camouflages herself, as if to protect herself. So, I take the photograph. Copyright: © Rosaria Sabrina Pantano, Italy, Open, Creative, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

The full moon rising over the California Tower in Balboa Park, San Diego, California.
Copyright: © Stephen Bay, United States of America, Open, Architecture, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

A rare bloom of bioluminescent algae illuminates the waves by Scripps Pier in La Jolla, California. Taken the night of May 5, 2020. Copyright: © Stephen Bay, United States of America, Open, Landscape, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

The rolling fog lifting to reveal the beautiful cliffs near Deer Park in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Copyright: © Tariqur Shaha, United Kingdom, Open, Landscape, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

Storm in the field. Copyright: © Vajta László, Hungary, Open, Landscape, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

Vestrahorn is a beautiful mountain that is just by the sea. The scenery that blends with it makes it pretty cool. Copyright: © Viktor Einar Vilhelmsson, Iceland, Open, Landscape, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

Abstract textures created by Time. Copyright: © Vladimir Pomozov, Russian Federation, Open, Street photography, 2021 Sony World Photography Awards

Gallery

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