© Pablo Albarenga, Uruguay, Photographer of the Year, Professional, Creative, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

The Sony World Photography Awards 2020 may not have been able to have the usual ceremony or exhibition but that's not stopped the photography industry celebrating what's turned into one of the most popular and prestigious photography competitions currently out there. 

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The title of 'Photographer of the Year' along with a $25,000 prize has been awarded to Pablo Albarenga (Uruguay) for his series Seeds of Resistance.

Seeds of Resistance is a body of work which pairs photographs of landscapes and territories in danger from mining and agribusinesses with portraits of the activists fighting to conserve them. In 2017, at least 207 leaders and environmentalists were killed while protecting their communities from projects threatening their territories. According to a 2018 report by Global Witness, most of these cases occurred in Brazil with 57 assassinations being recorded, of which 80% were against people defending the Amazon. Albarenga’s series explores the bond between the defenders and their lands - a sacred area in which hundreds of generations of their ancestors rest. In the photographs, the main characters in the stories are seen from above, as though they are laying down their lives for their territory.

 © Tom Oldham, United Kingdom, Open Photographer of the Year, Open, Portraiture, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Also announced are the ten category winners of the Professional competition alongside 2nd and 3rd place as well as overall winners of the Open, Student and Youth competitions. 

The winners in the Professional categories are as follows:

• Architecture - Sandra Herber (Canada)
• Creative - Pablo Albarenga
• Discovery - Maria Kokunova (Russian Federation)
• Documentary - Chung Ming Ko (Hong Kong SAR)
• Environment - Robin Hinsch (Germany)
• Landscape - Ronny Behnert (Germany)
• Natural World & Wildlife - Brent Stirton (South Africa)
• Portraiture - Cesar Dezfuli (Spain)
• Sport - Ángel López Soto (Spain)
• Still Life - Alessandro Gandolfi (Italy)

Tom Oldham (UK) was named the 'Open Photographer of the Year 2020' and receives the $5,000 prize for 'Black Francis' which is a black & white portrait of Pixies frontman Charles Thompson. 

© Ioanna  Sakellaraki, Greece, Student Photographer of the Year, Student Competition, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Greek Student Ioanna Sakellaraki was chosen as 'Student Photographer of the Year 2020' for her series 'Aeiforia' and Hsien-Pang Hsieh (Taiwan Region, 19 years old) has won the 'Youth Photographer of the Year 2020' category for his image 'Hurry', featuring a street performer who is seemingly walking in a hurry but is, in fact, standing still. 

© Hsien-Pang Hsieh, Taiwan, Youth Photographer of the Year, Youth, Street photography, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

A virtual exhibition featuring the winners' work is now available on the World Photography Organisation website.