Sony World Photography Awards: Stunning Images from the Awards Shortlist

Ng Chai Hock: "Monks look up at a magnificent night sky filled with thousands of lanterns during the Yi Peng lantern festival. This was the moment I'd been waiting for and it passed very quickly due to strong wind. A very heavy downpour occurred right after we left."
Ng Chai Hock: "Monks look up at a magnificent night sky filled with thousands of lanterns during the Yi Peng lantern festival. This was the moment I'd been waiting for and it passed very quickly due to strong wind. A very heavy downpour occurred right after we left."Ng Chai Hock
By TIME Photo

Photographers from more than 170 countries contributed to the 6th annual Sony World Photography Awards, whose winner is announced Feb. 5. Here are some of the shortlisted finalists.

Maciej Makowski: "I was hanging around in the suburbs of Jaipur, India when I noticed a cloud of birds in the air. I just instinctively released the shutter."Maciej Makowski
A tribute to an old-fashioned 2-D platform video game, shot on location in Hong Kong. Images were shot from skyscrapers toward the ground, using a telephoto lens to make the image as flat as possible.
A tribute to an old-fashioned 2-D platform video game, shot on location in Hong Kong. Images were shot from skyscrapers toward the ground, using a telephoto lens to make the image as flat as possible.Christian Aslund
Photojournalist Brooks Kraft followed Barack Obama during his last campaign producing an intimate look at the President fighting for re-election. Brooks Kraft covered President Obama extensively for TIME throughout the campaign.
Photojournalist Brooks Kraft followed Barack Obama during his last campaign producing an intimate look at the President fighting for re-election. Brooks Kraft covered President Obama extensively for TIME throughout the campaign.Brooks Kraft
A man is arrested by the Rochester, N.Y. police after having assaulted his father with a samurai sword. The "crescent," a group of crime-ridden neighborhoods on Rochester's north side, is home to 27 percent of the city's residents and 80 percent of its homicides.
A man is arrested by the Rochester, N.Y. police after having assaulted his father with a samurai sword. The "crescent," a group of crime-ridden neighborhoods on Rochester's north side, is home to 27 percent of the city's residents and 80 percent of its homicides. The crescent is home to 27 percent of the city's residents and 80 percent of the city's homicides. The reasons behind the burst of violence include the lagging upstate economy, a steady migration of residents to the suburbs and a growing number of abandoned houses prone to become centers of drug sales and use. Rochester also has a school system that performs poorly. People inside the crescent experience those problems in greater concentration. ''It's an area of great poverty and high consumption rate of drugs which fuels an incredibly high number of homicides,'' said the Rochester police chief. Rochester, NY. USA 2012Paolo Pellegrin—Magnum Photos
Fausto Podavini: "People with dementia, their families and friends are affected on personal, emotional, financial and social levels. Lack of awareness is a global problem. A proper understanding of the societal costs of dementia, and how these impact upon families, health and social care services and governments may help to address this problem."
Fausto Podavini: "People with dementia, their families and friends are affected on personal, emotional, financial and social levels. Lack of awareness is a global problem. A proper understanding of the societal costs of dementia, and how these impact upon families, health and social care services and governments may help to address this problem."Fausto Podavini
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in Davenport, IA, 8/15/12.
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in Davenport, Iowa on Aug. 15, 2012. Scout Tufankjian
A photo illustration by Australian photographer Danny Cohen.
A photo illustration by Australian photographer Danny Cohen.Danny Cohen
An employee of Cinema Pamir sells refreshments during the movie interval in Kabul
A vendor sells refreshments during intermission at Cinema Pamir in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 3, 2012. Once the playgrounds of the cultural elite, Kabul's cinemas are dilapidated and reflect an industry on the brink of collapse from conflict and financial neglect.Danish Siddiqui—Reuters
Hoang Hiep Nguyen: "The last pollen spore prepares to leave a dandelion, as a ladybird tries to hold on because it doesn't want to be alone."
Hoang Hiep Nguyen: "The last pollen spore prepares to leave a dandelion, as a ladybird tries to hold on because it doesn't want to be alone."Hoang Hiep Nguyen
Anurag Kumar: "Holi — the festival of colors — is undoubtedly the most fun-filled and boisterous of Hindu festivals. It's an occasion that brings in unadulterated joy and mirth, fun and play, music and dance, and, of course, lots of bright colors!"
Anurag Kumar: "Holi — the festival of colors — is undoubtedly the most fun-filled and boisterous of Hindu festivals. It's an occasion that brings in unadulterated joy and mirth, fun and play, music and dance, and, of course, lots of bright colors!"Anurag Kumar
Nathan Wills: "My partner was getting her flippers on and I was already prepared and ready to get in, so I swam out to see if I could get this shot. I could have never imagined in a million years I would see a turtle just cruising by at the moment I stuck my head under. How blessed."
Nathan Wills: "My partner was getting her flippers on and I was already prepared and ready to get in, so I swam out to see if I could get this shot. I could have never imagined in a million years I would see a turtle just cruising by at the moment I stuck my head under. How blessed."Nathan Wills
The twins Laura and Belén on the day of their birthday celebration.In Latin America, the celebration of the fifteenth birthday of a teenager is very important because it marks the transition from childhood to maturity. Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2011.A luxury emblem used to transport politicians and rock stars in the '80s, nowadays the limousine turned into an icon of the Argentinean popular culture. Brides in their white dresses, starlets television, fifteen years old celebrating their birthdays, and future husbands: they all share the same sensation of sitting one night on an electric blue Ford Fairlane from 1972."Limousine porteña," explores a limited space in which many diverse things can happen. Between drunken, striptease, tears and laughter, the limousine is transformed into the scenario of ordinary people that use the dark tinted windows to release their fantasies and their transgression, under the curiosity of passersby. Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2011.
Twins Laura and Belén mark their Quinceañera — a celebration of their 15th birthday — in the back of an electric-blue 1972 Ford Fairlane limousine in Buenos Aires.Myriam Meloni
Niger Delta
A child waits to unload drums of diesel at a jetty in the Niger Delta where illicitly refined fuel is sold on the black market to local filling stations. In many communities throughout the Delta, the entire local economy revolves around the illicit diesel trade, and young children often work at the docks rather than going to school.Samuel James
Ng Chai Hock: "Monks look up at a magnificent night sky filled with thousands of lanterns during the Yi Peng lantern festival. This was the moment I'd been waiting for and it passed very quickly due to strong wind. A very heavy downpour occurred right after we left."
Ng Chai Hock: "Monks look up at a magnificent night sky filled with thousands of lanterns during the Yi Peng lantern festival. This was the moment I'd been waiting for and it passed very quickly due to strong wind. A very heavy downpour occurred right after we left."Ng Chai Hock

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