Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — An aerial photo of a volcano, a scene of a destroyed building in Ukraine, and a “portrait” of a dog became among the best photos taken in the world last year, according to the judges of the Sony World Photography Awards.
On Tuesday, the World Photography Organization revealed the shortlisted works, as well as the finalists in the 10 professional categories of the prestigious annual competition, which include portraiture, sports, landscapes and environment.
Photographer Cesar Dzvoli documented lava flows from a volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma in the Canary Islands.
Credit: Cesar Dezfuli/Sony World Photography Awards 2023
The winners will be announced on April 13th. More than 415,000 images participated in this year’s competitions, with more than 180,000 of them qualified for the professional categories.
The work of German photographer Julia Christ was shortlisted in the Wildlife & Nature category.
Credit: Julia Christe/Sony World Photography Awards 2023
The organizers said that the year 2023 witnessed the largest number of entries in the history of the competition, aged 16 years.
Three finalists and between 5 and 7 photographers were shortlisted in each category.
This shot by photographer Sasha Maslov was shortlisted for the competition.
Credit: Sasha Maslov/Sony World Photography Awards 2023
The selected images have come from photographers from more than 30 countries, and in areas including abandoned cement factories in China and a fish market in Somalia.
A scene from a fish market in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, documented by photographer Tariq Zaidi.
Credit: Tariq Zaidi/Sony World Photography Awards 2023
A jury made up of curators, museum personnel and photo editors based its decisions on the contestants’ artistic skill and whether they demonstrated an “original approach to storytelling,” according to a press release.
of the banner images shortlisted.
Credit: Zhu Zhu/Sony World Photography Awards 2023
The head of the jury, Mike True, described this year’s contestants as challenging.
A girls’ soccer team poses for photographer Ibrahim Norouzi in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Credit: Ebrahim Noroozi/Sony World Photography Awards 2023
He added that the contestants explored “deep and ongoing discussions about narrative truth, and the enjoyment of control in art,” as well as “broader environmental, political, and societal perspectives.”
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