Sony World Photography Awards Winners Revealed

2 minute read

Iranian photojournalist Asghar Khamseh has won this year’s coveted $25,000 L’Iris d’Or Photographer of the Year award at the Sony World Photography Awards, coming ahead of 230,103 entries.

The winning work, Fire of Hatred, is a powerful portrait series of victims of acid attack, a crime associated with social stigma and blame as well as physical and psychological damage. The series, created by Tehran native Khamseh for the Mehr News Agency, highlights the increased number of attacks in Iran and the lack of medical, financial or counseling support available through government or NGO channels.

Portraits of disfigurement resulting from social violence are undoubtedly a hard-hitting subject, and one which the longstanding tradition of documentary photography does not shy away from,” says documentary jury chair Dominique Green in a statement. “The jury were united in their admiration of this work and the light it shed on the tragic practice it exposes.”

On the heels of a long shortlist revealed in February, Amélie Labourdette placed first in the Architecture category; Kirstin Schmitt for Candid; Alberto Alicata for Staged; and Francesco Amorosino for Still Life. Documentary winners include Jetmir Idrizi for Campaign; Asghar Khamseh for Contemporary Issues; Kevin Frayer for Environment and People; and Angelos Tzortzinis, TIME’s Wire Photographer of 2015, for Current Affairs. All winners of the night received the latest Sony digital imaging equipment.

All winners and shortlisted works will be exhibited at Somerset House in London from April 22 to May 8, 2016.

Rachel Lowry is a writer and contributor for TIME LightBox. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Professional Campaign First Place. TransBrasil. Transgender people in Brazil who express their gender identities in many different ways. Some use their dress, behavior and mannerisms to live as the gender that feels right for them. Others take hormones and may have surgery to change their body, and some identify just as transgender.
Professional Campaign First Place. TransBrasil. Transgender people in Brazil who express their gender identities in many different ways. Some use their dress, behavior and mannerisms to live as the gender that feels right for them. Others take hormones and may have surgery to change their body, and some identify just as transgender.Jetmir Idrizi—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Campaign First Place. TransBrasil. Transgender people in Brazil who express their gender identities in many different ways. Some use their dress, behavior and mannerisms to live as the gender that feels right for them. Others take hormones and may have surgery to change their body, and some identify just as transgender.
Professional Campaign First Place. TransBrasil. Transgender people in Brazil who express their gender identities in many different ways. Some use their dress, behavior and mannerisms to live as the gender that feels right for them. Others take hormones and may have surgery to change their body, and some identify just as transgender.Jetmir Idrizi—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Staged First Place. Iconic B. A Barbie used as a symbol of contemporary Western culture to trace the history of image iconic photography.
Professional Staged First Place. Iconic B. A Barbie used as a symbol of contemporary Western culture to trace the history of image iconic photography.Alberto Alicata—2016 Sony World Photography Awards/Sie Photography
Professional Staged First Place. Iconic B. A Barbie used as a symbol of contemporary Western culture to trace the history of image iconic photography.
Professional Staged First Place. Iconic B. A Barbie used as a symbol of contemporary Western culture to trace the history of image iconic photography.Alberto Alicata—2016 Sony World Photography Awards/Sie Photography
Professional Still Life First Place. Migrant Tomatoes. Tomatoes grown in the fields of the South of the Country, that will be cooked and canned into tomato sauce by Italian families.
Professional Still Life First Place. Migrant Tomatoes. Tomatoes grown in the fields of the South of the Country, that will be cooked and canned into tomato sauce by Italian families. Francesco Amorosino—2016 Sony World Photography Awards/Luz Photo Agency
Professional Still Life First Place. Migrant Tomatoes. Tomatoes grown in the fields of the South of the Country, that will be cooked and canned into tomato sauce by Italian families.
Professional Still Life First Place. Migrant Tomatoes. Tomatoes grown in the fields of the South of the Country, that will be cooked and canned into tomato sauce by Italian families. Francesco Amorosino—2016 Sony World Photography Awards/Luz Photo Agency
Professional Sport First Place. Second Best. Portraits of the silver medal winners just after loosing their final at the Zealand boxing Championships held in Copenhagen in March.
Professional Sport First Place. Second Best. Portraits of the silver medal winners just after loosing their final at the Zealand boxing Championships held in Copenhagen in March.Nikolai Linares—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Sport First Place. Second Best. Portraits of the silver medal winners just after loosing their final at the Zealand boxing Championships held in Copenhagen in March.
Professional Sport First Place. Second Best. Portraits of the silver medal winners just after loosing their final at the Zealand boxing Championships held in Copenhagen in March.Nikolai Linares—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Contemporary Issues First Place. Fire of Hatred. Mohsen Mortazavi, 34, an acid victim who had been knifed and attacked with three liters acid on his first day of work in 2012.
Professional Contemporary Issues First Place. Fire of Hatred. Mohsen Mortazavi, 34, an acid victim who had been knifed and attacked with three liters acid on his first day of work in 2012. Asghar Khamseh—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Contemporary Issues First Place. Fire of Hatred. Shirin Mohamadi, an 18-year-old Tehran resident who had been attacked with acid for saying no to her suitor on the first day of New Year 2012.
Professional Contemporary Issues First Place. Fire of Hatred. Shirin Mohamadi, an 18-year-old Tehran resident who had been attacked with acid for saying no to her suitor on the first day of New Year 2012. Asghar Khamseh—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Environment First Place. Nomadic Life Threatened on the Tibetan Plateau. A young Tibetan Buddhist novice monk stands with his yak herd at the family's nomadic summer grazing area on July 23, 2015 on the Tibetan Plateau in Yushu County, Qinghai, China.Kevin Frayer—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Environment First Place. Nomadic Life Threatened on the Tibetan Plateau. Tibetan nomads put up a string of Buddhist prayer flags near a government resettlement community on July 24, 2015 on the Tibetan Plateau in Madou County, Qinghai, China.
Professional Environment First Place. Nomadic Life Threatened on the Tibetan Plateau. Tibetan nomads put up a string of Buddhist prayer flags near a government resettlement community on July 24, 2015 on the Tibetan Plateau in Madou County, Qinghai, China. Kevin Frayer—2016 Sony World Photography Awards/Getty Images
Professional People First Place. Eagle Hunters of Western China. Spectators react as they watch a Chinese Kazakh eagle hunter, not seen, release his bird during a local competition on January 30, 2015 in the mountains of Qinghe County, Xinjiang, northwestern China.
Professional People First Place. Eagle Hunters of Western China. Spectators react as they watch a Chinese Kazakh eagle hunter, not seen, release his bird during a local competition on January 30, 2015 in the mountains of Qinghe County, Xinjiang, northwestern China. Kevin Frayer—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional People First Place. Eagle Hunters of Western China. Chinese Kazakh eagle hunters ride with their eagles during the competition.
Professional People First Place. Eagle Hunters of Western China. Chinese Kazakh eagle hunters ride with their eagles during the competition.Kevin Frayer—2016 Sony World Photography Awards/Getty Images
Professional Landscape First Place. Land of Nothingness. A rhino walks across the Namibia Desert, one of the least densely populated places on earth.
Professional Landscape First Place. Land of Nothingness. A rhino walks across the Namibia Desert, one of the least densely populated places on earth. Maroesjka Lavigne—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Landscape First Place. Land of Nothingness. An animal walks across the Namibia Desert, one of the least densely populated places on earth.
Professional Landscape First Place. Land of Nothingness. An animal walks across the Namibia Desert, one of the least densely populated places on earth. Maroesjka Lavigne—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Architecture First Place. Empire of Dust. An unfinished structure located below the visible landscape in the south of Italy.
Professional Architecture First Place. Empire of Dust. An unfinished structure located below the visible landscape in the south of Italy. Amélie Labourdette—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Architecture First Place. Empire of Dust. An unfinished structure located below the visible landscape in the south of Italy.
Professional Architecture First Place. Empire of Dust. An unfinished structure located below the visible landscape in the south of Italy.Amélie Labourdette—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Daily Life First Place. x. Miners working in the coal mine for owner Kevin Calloway, 64, in 8 hour shifts in West Virginia.
Professional Daily Life First Place. x. Miners working in the coal mine for owner Kevin Calloway, 64, in 8 hour shifts in West Virginia. Espen Rasmussen—2016 Sony World Photography Awards/VG/Panos Pictures
Professional Daily Life First Place. x. Chelse, 21, together with her boyfriend, Eric, and Alvin in her mother's trailer close to Beckley, West Virginia. They smoke OxyContin painkiller's before going out for a party on Halloween. With more than 500 people dying of overdose every year, West Virginia is the number one pill state in the U.S.
Professional Daily Life First Place. x. Chelse, 21, together with her boyfriend, Eric, and Alvin in her mother's trailer close to Beckley, West Virginia. They smoke OxyContin painkiller's before going out for a party on Halloween. Espen Rasmussen—2016 Sony World Photography Awards/VG/Panos Pictures
Professional Candid First Place. Waiting for the Candymen. "Swoon or Scoliosis" in a series that explores the idea of waiting in Cuba.
Professional Candid First Place. Waiting for the Candymen. "Swoon or Scoliosis" in a series that explores the idea of waiting in Cuba. Kirstin Schmitt—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Candid First Place. Waiting for the Candymen. "Milagro" in a series that explores the idea of waiting in Cuba.
Professional Candid First Place. Waiting for the Candymen. "Milagro" in a series that explores the idea of waiting in Cuba. Kirstin Schmitt—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Current Affairs First Place. In Search of the European Dream. Doctors and paramedics try to revive a baby after boat with refugees and migrants sunk while attempting to reach the Greek island of Lesbos from Turkey, on Oct. 28, 2015.
Professional Current Affairs First Place. In Search of the European Dream. Doctors and paramedics try to recover a baby after a boat with refugees and migrants sunk while attempting to reach the Greek island of Lesbos from Turkey, on October 28, 2015. Angelos Tzortzinis—2016 Sony World Photography Awards/AFP
Professional Current Affairs First Place. In Search of the European Dream. Afghan migrants arrive on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, May 27, 2015.
Professional Current Affairs First Place. In Search of the European Dream. An Afghan refugee carries his child as he arrives along with other refugees on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, on May 27, 2015. Angelos Tzortzinis—2016 Sony World Photography Awards/AFP
Professional Portraiture First Place. Ebola Survivors. Fatmata Kamara, 25, with her son Koday, 1. She contracted ebola together with her son. They both survived the infection and live in Waterloo, a village developed from a refugee camp,
Professional Portraiture First Place. Ebola Survivors. Fatmata Kamara, 25, with her son Koday, 1. She contracted ebola together with her son. They both survived the infection and live in Waterloo, a village developed from a refugee camp, Marcello Bonfanti—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Portraiture First Place. Ebola Survivors. Monjama Moussa, 25, married mother of 4 children, from Goderich, who contracted ebola from a supplier of her coal shop.
Professional Portraiture First Place. Ebola Survivors. Monjama Moussa, 25, married mother of 4 children, from Goderich, who contracted ebola from a supplier of her coal shop. Marcello Bonfanti—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Conceptual First Place. Greetings from Mars. Two astronauts take a selfie in the Wild West. The project was shot in the Grand Canyon, Canyonland and Death Valley, among other places.
Professional Conceptual First Place. Greetings from Mars. Two astronauts take a selfie in the Wild West. The project was shot in the Grand Canyon, Canyonland and Death Valley, among other places.Julien Mauve—2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Professional Conceptual First Place. Greetings from Mars. Two astronauts imitate a stereotypical tourist pose in the Wild West. The project was shot in the Grand Canyon, Canyonland and Death Valley, among other places.
Professional Conceptual First Place. Greetings from Mars. Two astronauts imitate a stereotypical tourist pose in the Wild West. The project was shot in the Grand Canyon, Canyonland and Death Valley, among other places.Julien Mauve—2016 Sony World Photography Awards

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