2013 Sony World Photography Awards Open, Youth and 3D winners announced

The World Photography Organisation today reveals the winners for the Open, Youth and 3D categories of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards. With photographers from as far apart as Chile to Vietnam, the winning images capture in a single shot a huge variety of subjects from the moment before a couple get married to the Mangystau night sky in Kazakhstan and the ‘Fung Shun’ fire dragon dance in Southern China, plus much more.

Open category winners
Judged on a single image taken by an amateur photographer, the winning Open category photographers were selected from nearly 55,000 entries. The winners are:

· Architecture - Martina Biccheri, Italy
· Arts and Culture - Gilbert Yu, Hong Kong
· Enhanced - Hoang Hiep Nguyen, Vietnam
· Low Light - Elmar Akhmetov, Kazakhstan
· Nature & Wildlife - Krasimir Matarov, Bulgaria
· Panoramic - Yeow Kwang Yeo, Singapore
· People - Hisatomi Tadahiko, Japan
· Smile – Mac Kwan (关明晖), China
· Split Second - Matías Gálvez, Chile
· Travel - Manny Fajutag, Philippines

The ten Open category winners will now compete for the Sony World Photography Awards Open Photographer of the Year title. The overall winner will be revealed at a gala ceremony on 25 April and this photographer will receive $5,000 (USD).

All category winners receive a Sony A77 and will have their images exhibited at Somerset House, London, from 26 April – 12 May as part of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition. The photographs will also be published in the 2013 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards book.

Damien Demolder, Presiding Chair of Jury for the Open competition and Editor of Amateur Photographer magazine (UK), comments: “Amateurs constantly amaze me, not only with their determination, their passion and their internal drive, but also with the astonishing quality they are capable of achieving. They can be extraordinarily creative, and more than capable of working to their own brief to turn a wonderful idea or moment into a beautiful photograph. In so many ways there are heftier chunks of real life and soul in amateur images than there are in the professional categories – because amateurs do it for the love of taking pictures. And the shortlist and winners for this year's Open competition demonstrates that perfectly.”

Youth Competition
Open to photographers aged 19 and under, the Youth competition looks to uncover the next generation of photography talent. The category winners are:
· Culture - Alecsandra Dragoi, Romania
· Environment - Xu Wei Shou, Taiwan
· Portraits- Berta Vicente, Spain

One Overall Youth Photographer of the Year will be selected from the three photographers above and will be announced at the Sony World Photography Awards gala ceremony on 25 April.

3D Competition
This category is won by Slovenian photographer Matjaž Tančič.

A leading 3D fashion photographer who divides his time between Beijing and Ljubljana, Matjaž is a graduate of the London College of Fashion whose work has been exhibited and featured in publications around the world. His image, TIME KEEPER is inspired by the set-up of Hui-style living rooms in the old village houses of Yixian, China.

Professional category winners and the coveted L’Iris D’Or/ Sony World Photography Awards Professional Photographer of the Year title will be announced at a gala ceremony in London on 25 April. The L’Iris D’Or winner will receive $25,000 (USD).