The Sony World Photography Awards has announced the ten category winners and shortlisted photographers in the 2025 Open Competition. Four Dutch photographers—Svetlana Jovanovic, Max van Son, Pati John, and Britt Knierim—earned places on the various shortlists.
The Open Competition recognizes an individual photograph’s ability to capture a unique moment and evoke a broader story. Entrants were invited to submit their strongest single images from 2024, and the winners and shortlisted photographers represent some of the most compelling work of the past year.
More than 419,000 images from over 200 countries and territories were submitted to the Sony World Photography Awards that year.
Britt Knierim earned a place in the Travel category with the photograph A train in Sri Lanka. Max van Son was selected in the Architecture category for a photograph of part of the entrance hall at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The image highlights the harmonious interplay of lines, shapes, and light within the monumental space, while emphasizing the small scale of the person below. Pati John was also selected in the Architecture category.
Svetlana Jovanovic was shortlisted in the Portrait category with an image from the photographer’s ongoing project, Otherness, which explores the bond between identical twins. Robin and Lisa are identical twins from the Netherlands, and the photograph was taken among the beach and dunes of The Hague.
The Open Photographer of the Year was announced at the awards ceremony in London on April 16, 2025, and received a $5,000 (USD) cash prize and a selection of Sony Digital Imaging equipment.
Selected winning and shortlisted images were exhibited at Somerset House as part of the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition from April 17 through May 5, 2025, before traveling to other venues.
More finalists and information are available at worldphoto.org.
