Carlos Soyos, age 34, a migrant from Guatemala City, Guatemala and his son, Enderson Soyos, age 8, takes a portrait of himself and Enderson at the El Buen Samaritano migrants shelter in Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico on April 28, 2021. They have been in Jaurez 20 days and travelled by bus. “I want to go to the USA to get medical treatment for my son. In Guatemala I couldn’t get good treatment because I didnt have the money to pay for it”, Carlos said. Enderson is autistic with West syndrome, tuberous sclerosis. They have tried to cross the border once and were caught by border patrol, finger printed, and departed to mexico. “I am going to New York to meet my wife”, Carlos said. His wife and two daughters, age 12 and 6, are already in NY. His six year old daughter has the same condition as Enderson, tuberous sclerosis. Hi wife crossed the river from Juarez into USA in 2019 with the daughters, and they are currently in immigration process. Carlos started crying and said, “I talk to my wife everyday”. She called during the interview. “Its been very difficult to be separated (from wife), we are so good together”. Photo by Carlos Soyos and Adam Ferguson for The New York Times

Sony World Photography Awards 2022 Winners

·13 min read
Brendon Petersen

The World Photography Organisation has announced the overall winners in the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards 2022. The acclaimed photographer Adam Ferguson (Australia) has won the Photographer of the Year title and accompanying $25,000 (USD) cash prize and a range of Sony digital imaging kit. Also announced are the ten category winners alongside 2nd and 3rd place of the Professional competition as well as overall winners of the Open, Student and Youth competitions.

Winners are revealed in a celebratory announcement video featuring  interviews and reactions from winning photographers, available to view via worldphoto.org/ceremony-2022

The Sony World Photography Awards 2022 exhibition opens at Somerset House, London from 13 April – 2 May 2022, featuring over 300 prints and hundreds of additional images in digital displays from winning and shortlisted photographers. Also presented are works by this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography, the renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky.

PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Migrantes is a series of black and white self-portraits of migrants in Mexico, taken as they waited to cross the border into the United States. Photographed in collaboration with the subjects, Ferguson set-up the scene for each image, mounting a medium format camera on a tripod with a cable release and then stepped back, allowing the individuals to choose the moment of capture and participate in the process of documenting their lives.

In February 2021, after a change of presidential administrations in the US, migrants from Central and South America surged on the US-Mexican border. Photographs of fraught migrants carrying their belongings, clinging to loved ones and caught in the flashes of photographers’ strobes were circulating in the media. While Ferguson noted the importance of this photojournalism, he noticed a distinct lack of photography from the Mexican side of the border, especially images that gave the migrants any measure of agency. 

With this in mind, Ferguson pitched the project to h is editor at the New York Times and secured the commission to travel to Juarez and Reynosa for 11 days over April and May, 2021. His approach to the project was inspired by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin’s Ghetto – a visual journey through 12 modern ghettos including the Rene Vallejo Psychiatric Hospital in Cuba in which the former artist duo gave patients control over the release shutter.

Accompanied by Mexican journalists Ernesto Rodríguez, Silvia Cruz, Noe Gea Medina and Laura Monica Cruz Flores, Ferguson approached migrants staying in shelters near the border, recording their often harrowing stories and working with them to stage and capture the image in a relaxed space where they would feel less self-conscious. He chose black and white film as a way of cancelling the chaotic medley of background colours and stripping the image down to its emotional value. The resulting series presents a poignant portrait of people suspended in time while in search of a more prosperous life.

Commenting on Ferguson’s winning project, Mike Trow, Chair of the 2021 Professional competition says: ‘What Adam Ferguson has done on the US / Mexico border with migrant families and individuals is deeply compassionate and moving. This set of portraits speaks volumes about how moral intentionality and respect can help avoid some of that sense of manipulation and invasion of the private which photography is often accused of. By giving his subjects the shutter release Adam hands a certain power to the sitter to make that decision on how to be perceived. These photographs are beautiful, meaningful and kind. There were other stories that we as a jury admired deeply but Adam’s series stood out because it speaks so eloquently and warmly of people under hardship but who hold on to their decency and love regardless of place and wealth.’

Commenting on his win Ferguson says: Through collaborating with migrants, this series of photographs was an attempt to make images that inspired empathy, rather than sympathy. By surrendering the control of capture and giving each migrant agency in the process of their representation, I hoped to subvert the narrative of marginalization and create a story that felt more human, relatable and honest. I’m grateful to the brave and resilient individuals who agreed to work with me, and receive this award on behalf of them also. Winning the Photographer of the Year award gives this story another life. It allows a new audience to connect with the important stories of the individuals who shared their story with me.

PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY WINNERS

Winning photographers in the Professional competition have been selected by a panel of expert judges for submitting an outstanding body of work of five to ten images, ranging from stories of political and climate crises, to personal meditations on family and loss, and creative approaches to still life and nature photography.

DOUME VILLAGE, CLOSE TO LASTOURSVILLE, GABON, 29 JUNE 2021: Expert bushmeat hunter Nkani Mbou Mboudin is seen with an antelope he just shot hunting in the forest around his village. This village survives on fishing and bushmeat. Gabon has a sustainable bushmeat culture, largely because of its small population and large protected habitats. (photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images for FAO, CIFOR, CIRAD, WCS)
LEFONDO VILLAGE, BOENDE DISTRICT, TSHUPA PROVINCE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, 25 APRIL, 2021: Bushmeat hunter Arthur Bengo, 28, sits for a portrait in the early morning outside his village of Lefondo, about 30kms outside of Boende town. The scars on Arthurs face are what remains from an attack of monkeypox, a virulent zoonotic disease carried in certain monkeys and rodents that can be devastating when passed to humans. Arthur says he shot a monkey and noticed that it did not seem to be doing well. He ate a third of the primate and took the other two thirds back to his family. By the time he arrived he was not feeling well and advised his family to throw away the remains of the monkey. The next day Arthur started to see the tell-tale lessions that accompany Monkeypox appear on his body. He developed a high temperature, became very sensitive to noise and could not sleep for more than two months. The only relief he could get from the lessions was cool water and that was always very temporary. Arthur was fortunate that he recognized the signs of monkeypox and went to the nearest health center where he was immediately given penicillin. It took Arthur three months to recover but his scars are still evident. A number of people in his village die of monkeypox every year, it is particularly dangerous to young children who often do not survive. The more remote the village, the less the chances for people who contract Monkeypox. This can be very challenging in areas where food is scarce and eduction low. (Photo by Brent Stirton/National Geographic Magazine.)
John Banks at his home in Greenville that was destroyed by the Dixie Fire, California’s largest ever wildfire. John is president of the local Rotary Club and has been active in raising and distributing funds to help the many people who lost their homes in this disaster. October 26/2021
Father Ioannis Siaflekis at the historic 18th century Agion Taxiarchon Church in Kokinomilia Village. This destruction was the result of the massive fires that devastated huge parts of Evia Island after Greece experienced an unprecedented heatwave in the summer of 2021. August 30/2021
組まるさn
Carlos Soyos, age 34, a migrant from Guatemala City, Guatemala and his son, Enderson Soyos, age 8, takes a portrait of himself and Enderson at the El Buen Samaritano migrants shelter in Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico on April 28, 2021. They have been in Jaurez 20 days and travelled by bus. “I want to go to the USA to get medical treatment for my son. In Guatemala I couldn’t get good treatment because I didnt have the money to pay for it”, Carlos said. Enderson is autistic with West syndrome, tuberous sclerosis. They have tried to cross the border once and were caught by border patrol, finger printed, and departed to mexico. “I am going to New York to meet my wife”, Carlos said. His wife and two daughters, age 12 and 6, are already in NY. His six year old daughter has the same condition as Enderson, tuberous sclerosis. Hi wife crossed the river from Juarez into USA in 2019 with the daughters, and they are currently in immigration process. Carlos started crying and said, “I talk to my wife everyday”. She called during the interview. “Its been very difficult to be separated (from wife), we are so good together”. Photo by Carlos Soyos and Adam Ferguson for The New York Times
AF_Migrants_20_01 001

All category winners receive a Sony digital imaging kit. This year’s winners are:

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

WINNER: Domagoj Burilović (Croatia) for his series Dorf

Finalists: 2nd place Javier Arcenillas (Spain); 3rd place Yun Chi Chen (Taiwan)

CREATIVE

WINNER: Alnis Stakle (Latvia) for his series Mellow Apocalypse

Finalists: 2nd place Raphael Neal (United Kingdom); 3rd place Sarah Grethe (Germany)

DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS

WINNER: Jan Grarup (Denmark) for his series The Children of the Financial Collapse in Venezuela

Finalists: 2nd place Fabian Ritter (Germany); 3rd place Win McNamee (United States)

ENVIRONMENT

WINNER: Shunta Kimura (Japan) for his series Living in the Transition

Finalists: 2nd place Gideon Mendel (South Africa); 3rd place Giacomo d’Orlando (Italy)

LANDSCAPE

WINNER: Lorenzo Poli (Italy) for his series Life on Earth

Finalists: 2nd place Andrius Repšys (Lithuania); 3rd place Gareth Iwan Jones (United Kingdom)

PORTFOLIO

WINNER: Hugh Fox (United Kingdom) for his submission Portfolio  

Finalists: 2nd place Julian Anderson (United Kingdom); 3rd place Anna Neubauer (Austria)

PORTRAITURE

WINNER: Adam Ferguson (Australia) for his series Migrantes 

Finalists: 2nd place George Tatakis (Greece); 3rd place Brent Stirton (South Africa)

SPORT

WINNER: Ricardo Teles (Brazil) for his series Kuarup

Finalists: 2nd place Adam Petty (Australia); 3rd place Roman Vondrouš (Czech Republic)

STILL LIFE

WINNER: Haruna Ogata (Japan) & Jean-Etienne Portail (France) for their series Constellation

Finalists: 2nd place Cletus Nelson Nwadike (Sweden); 3rd place Alessandro Gandolfi (Italy)

WILDLIFE & NATURE

WINNER: Milan Radisics (Hungary) for his series The Fox’s Tale

Finalists: 2nd place Federico Borella (Italy); 3rd place Oana Baković (Romania)

See also

To find out more about this year’s winning and finalist projects please visit our online winners galleries or download the Sony World Photography Awards 2022 book.

OPEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

The Open competition celebrates the power of single images. Winning photographs are selected for their ability to communicate a remarkable visual narrative combined with technical excellence. Chosen from ten Open category winners, Scott Wilson (United Kingdom) is Open Photographer of the Year 2022 and the recipient of the $5,000 (USD) cash prize, Sony digital imaging equipment and global exposure.

Wilson won for his powerful photograph Anger Management entered in the Natural World & Wildlife category. The black and white image depicts a dirt-caked wild mustang kicking up a dust storm in northwestern Colorado. The picture was taken shortly after the stallion plunged himself into a mud pool – protection from summer bugs – and while pounding the ground to let competing males know he was ready to fight for his spot at a nearby watering hole.

Speaking of his win Wilson says: ‘It’s an absolute honour to see Anger Management win Open Photographer of the Year 2022 in the Sony World Photography Awards. Viewing mustang behaviour in the wild is a raw and dynamic wildlife experience.  The image tension is symbolic of the conservation challenges facing wild horses in the American West, where these treasured animals are being rounded up in record numbers and removed from public lands. By the end of 2022, there will be more wild horses in captivity than running free.’

STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Ezra Bohm (Netherlands) of the Nederlandse Acedemie voor Beeldcreatie has been awarded Student Photographer of the Year 2022, winning €30,000 worth of Sony photography equipment for his institution. Bohm was chosen for his series The Identity of Holland, createdin response to the brief Connections which challenged students to present a story that highlights how they, or someone they have documented, interact with the world. For his winning series Bohm photographed the residents of close-knit communities in the Netherlands who maintain a traditional way of life, highlighting their extraordinarily detailed customary dress and their connection to Dutch cultural history.

Commenting on his win Bohm says: “Winning this prize confirms to me the importance of photographing the unexpected, to tell stories that come from my heart and soul. By following your ambition, everything you do becomes more meaningful, and probably also more successful.”

YOUTH PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Selected from six category winners, Tri Nguyen (Vietnam, 18 years-old) has won Youth Photographer of the Year 2022 for his image Under The Moonlight. The photograph depicts a young man basking in artificial moonlight standing against a derelict background. The moonlight symbolises a spotlight shining on the young man, and his longing to accept his flaws. The photo is part of a series that investigates self-reflection and a yearning to break the mould and celebrate one’s imperfections. 

For his win Nguyen receives Sony’s digital imaging kit and global exposure. Commenting on his win Nguyen says: “As a budding and motivated artist, I am extremely excited and proud to have been chosen as the Youth Photographer of the Year 2022. I humbly accept this Award and will use this momentum to further my photography.”

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO PHOTOGRAPHY

This year’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography has been awarded to the renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. Widely regarded as one of the world’s most accomplished contemporary photographers, Burtynsky is best known for his sweeping images of industrial landscapes and the wider environmental crisis. In striking depictions of vast human-altered landscapes Burtynsky lays bare the awesome scale of infrastructure and destruction; presenting vistas of scarred mountain ranges, desiccated bodies of water, and sprawling urbanism distilled into painterly abstractions of colour and form.

Over a dozen large-scale photographs are presented as part of the Sony World Photography Awards 2022 exhibition. The selection, made by the artist, highlights key bodies of work over his 40 year career. These include Anthropocene (2018), Salt Pans (2016), Water (2013), Oil (2009) and Railcuts (1985). Additionally, presented in the UK for the first time will be images from Burtynsky’s forthcoming series Africa (2022), a look at the African landscape and areas transformed by resource extraction.

SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2022 EXHIBITION

The Sony World Photography Awards 2022 exhibition opens at Somerset House, London from 13 April – 2 May 2022. In addition to the work of this year’s overall and category winners the exhibition features solo presentations by the 2020 Photographer of the Year winner Pablo Albarenga (Uruguay), and 2021 winner Craig Easton (United Kingdom).

Albarenga presents a selection of images from his winning series Seeds of Resistance, 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. Easton exhibits a dozen black and white portraits from his series Bank Top, depicting residents of the tight knit neighbourhood of Bank Top in Blackburn. The project examines the representation and misrepresentation of communities in northern England, exploring the stories and experiences of local inhabitants through images and accompanying texts by project collaborator, writer and academic, Abdul Aziz Hafiz.


The Sony World Photography Awards 2022 virtual exhibition is available to view at: www.worldphoto.org/virtualexhibition2022

Read more: Sony announces new FE PZ 16-35mm F4 G lens

Featured image: Supplied

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