‘Childhood’. Children weave in and out of scores of giant cones or topas, as they roll a wagon around a rice processing plant. The cart is used by workers to carry rice and put it down for drying, but after they have finished with it, the children use it as a toy to play with. More than 30 children turned this rice mill in Bahmanbaria, Bangladesh, into an obstacle course. © Azim Khan Ronnie, Bangladesh, Winner, Open Competition, Lifestyle, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘It’s a Man’s Hajj’. Pilgrims – most of whom are male – on Mount Rahma, for the peak of the biggest Hajj pilgrimage since the Covid-19 pandemic. © Mohamad Ali Harisi, Lebanon, Shortlist, Open Competition, Lifestyle, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘An Undesirable Encounter’. A fisherman carrying a dead shark, which was caught unintentionally. © Sabbir Hossen, Bangladesh, Shortlist, Open Competition, Lifestyle, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Tattoo’. This was a very interesting scene between two artists, which I photographed at a tattoo fair in Austria in spring 2022. The halo behind the tattooist makes the scene more attractive. © Markus Pasa, Austria, Shortlist, Open Competition, Lifestyle, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘The Queen of Appleby’. Martina and her horse Apache are one of the most familiar sights at Appleby Horse Fair. The event in northern England is one of the largest annual gatherings of Travellers in Europe. Horses are ridden and washed in the river, which is quite a spectacle. © Ruth Chamberlain, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Open Competition, Lifestyle, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Sunbathing in February’. Three men preparing for summer in Naples, Italy. © Raffaella De Luise, Italy, Shortlist, Open Competition, Lifestyle, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Seaside Yoga’. Photograph taken on 22 September 2022 in Cangnan, Zhejiang province. © Zuojian Wang, China Mainland, Shortlist, Open Competition, Lifestyle, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

Playtime in an Amish schoolyard. This photograph was taken from a moving car in October 2022. © Jean Veron, France, Shortlist, Open Competition, Lifestyle, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Sunday Morning’. Whenever I’m travelling, I always keep my camera within reach. This turned out to be very useful on my way to Watamu, Kenya, as I had the opportunity to photograph this family man taking his children to the market on his motorbike. © Francesco Bambi, Italy, Shortlist, Open Competition, Lifestyle, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Just for Today’. In a private and peaceful cottage in Muskoka, Ontario, this couple recreates the memory of the first time they met – in a hot tub. Love comes from within: to love yourself, to love others and to love the skin you’re in. The human body comes in all shapes and sizes and we should celebrate the unique marks and curves on our body as it is a part of who we are. © Ninoshka Pais, Canada, Shortlist, Open Competition, Lifestyle, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Cowgirl and Goat’. For my Small-Town Celebrations series I have been photographing small-town celebrations throughout the Pacific Northwest, a distinctive part of the North American continent. This photograph was taken on 4 July 2022 in Sedro-Woolley, WA, as a patriotic young cowgirl struggled with a goat in a bonnet. Shooting with an off-camera flash helped me to isolate my subjects from the stormy sky in the distance. © Kathryn Mussallem, Canada, Shortlist, Open Competition, Lifestyle, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Pretty in Pink’. This very shy subject – a Bargibanti Pygmy Seahorse – was photographed in the Indo-Pacific in Tulamben, Bali. © Charly Clérisse, France, Shortlist, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘The River Crossing’. Wildebeest crossing the crocodile-infested Mara River, July 2022. © Arnfinn Johansen, Norway, Shortlist, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Frozen Feet’. A chinstrap penguin on an iceberg. © Alex Pansier, Netherlands, Shortlist, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Proud’. A goat stands proud, enjoying the last rays of light in front of the majestic Aiguille du Grépon peak in France. © Patrick Ems, Switzerland, Shortlist, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

Morning vision. © Tibor Prisznyák, Hungary, Shortlist, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Home Alone’. A brown comber (Serranus hepatus) hiding inside a discarded rubbish bin on the sea bottom. The bin is completely covered with yellow and red crinoids – beautiful decorations for the wall of this house. © Pietro Formis, Italy, Shortlist, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Pandora’. These wildflowers are a species of Paepalanthus that grow in the highlands of Veadeiros, Brazil, and are my favourite plant to photograph. I took this photograph at night, using a lantern to illuminate the firework-like flowers, with the arch of the Milky Way above. It took several attempts, as I needed to capture the flowers without any wind to avoid motion blur during the long exposure. © Marcio Esteves Cabral, Brazil, Shortlist, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Eye on the Prize’. A barn owl (Tyto alba) selects and captures its prey. © Vince Burton, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Kingdom of the Parakeet’. The photograph was taken in the Gumai Bill area of Rangunia, Chittagong. The crops produced here can provide three days of food for the people of Bangladesh. When the paddy is ripe, thousands of parrots come down from the hills. Parrots usually prefer undisturbed areas, which is why this area could be called a ‘parrot sanctuary’. © Subrata Dey, Bangladesh, Shortlist, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Mighty Pair’. I think that a good picture does not need colour, it just needs to capture the desired moment in time. While I was shooting Crested Caracaras in flight in South Texas, I noticed these two, which were perched in a very similar way. They were staring in the same direction and not moving, almost as if they were posing for me. I was amazed by their powerful personalities. © Dinorah Graue Obscura, Mexico, Winner, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Stoat’s game’. Scientists have often witnessed stoats engaging in displays like this, but opinions are divided about what motivates the leaps and twists. Sometimes, the dances are performed in front of a rabbit or large bird in an apparent attempt to confuse or distract potential prey, but on other occasions – as here – there is no prey animal in sight. A third hypothesis is that it is an involuntary response to a parasitic infection. © Jose Manuel Grandio, Spain, Shortlist, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘My precious’. This Mantis shrimp embraces and protects its treasure: thousands of eggs. It takes a few minutes to obtain this visual contact with both eyes, considering they can be moved independently in all directions. Spot lighting was achieved using a snoot, a device that narrows the beam of the flash down to a small point. Harlequin mantis shrimp (Odontodactylus scyllarus) with eggs, photographed underwater in the Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. © Andrea Michelutti, Italy, Shortlist, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Puffin at Sunset’. I was photographing the sunset near a small village on the Faroe Islands. With the sun at my back I was hoping to capture a nice golden glow on the village beneath me. While I was waiting, a pair of puffins joined me, and as it started to rain I lay down and photographed this one in the spectacular light. © James Hunter, United States, Shortlist, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards

‘Climate Change’. In the area surrounding Nordenskjøld Land National Park in Svalbard (Spitsbergen), a lone polar bear is exposed on rocks where a decade ago there was a glacier. Despite relatively healthy numbers in the Svalbard region of the Arctic, polar bears face many issues, including increased human/wildlife conflict, warmer summers and receding glaciers. © Mark Fitzsimmons, Australia, Shortlist, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2023 Sony World Photography Awards DM/ ML