Bilder erzählen Geschichten

Image Name: No friends on powder days Photographer Name: Julian Walkner Year: 2017 Image Description: It was taken in the backcountry of Stubai Glacier after a fresh snow dump in May 2016. It shows local freerider Matthias Zauner in front of the Fernerkogel. Important is the synergy of thirds, diagonals and the untouched nature in combination with skillful off-slope action. Das Foto wurde am Stubaier Gletscher nach einem starken Schneefall im Mai 2016 aufgenommen. Es zeigt den Tiroler Freerider Matthias Zauner vor der einzigartigen Kulisse des Fernerkogels. Dabei essentiell ist die Bildaufteilung, die Diagonalen und natürlich die unberührte Natur in Kombination mit hochklassiger Freerideaction. Copyright: © Julian Walkner, Austria, 1st Place, National Awards, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards

Sony Fotowettbewerb 2017

Image Name: Submerged field Photographer Name: Camilo Diaz Year: 2017 Image Description: Every day this team works together toward a collective goal. In this shot the Colombian national underwater rugby team is immersed in white, grey, and black, fighting together for the ultimate position. Ana Maria and her team are constantly fighting, pushing their lungs to the limit and transforming their everyday lack of resources into an idea of opportunity. The strength of their reputation had resulted in an invitation to participate in the European Junior Championship as a guest team. It is in this scenario that the South American team is named Youth World Champions in Norway. The volume of water suggests a calm while the surface gives constant chaos. Copyright: © Camilo Diaz, Colombia, 1st Place, Open, Motion, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Name: Overlap - Freeway Photographer Name: Dongni - Year: 2017 Image Description: Overlap - Freeway Series Name: space&city Series Description: Rules ordering a regular intensive repetition sum up the feeling of the modern city. A variety of urban form and minimalist architecture breaks the old structure, splitting it into triangles, squares and diamond shapes, refracting a new living style on extant spatial structures. Demonstrating a free use of the language of visual forms, it appears like a game, similar to Goldbach’s conjecture; the destruction of the ossified template of the city, a visual exploration of breaking the rules. In a spatial context, when we ignore the aesthetics of the city, ignore the rules and celebrate the deconstruction and reconstruction of the urban space, the space itself gives us more control and adds more joy to the city. Copyright: © Dongni -, China, Shortlist, Professional, Architecture, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Name: From the series: "Light. Shadows. Perfect woman" Photographer Name: George Mayer Year: 2017 Image Description: Like in works of Modernism the shadow in the exhibited portraits is symbolic itself. Occupying nearly the whole picture it holds some mystery, and occasional points of light give us a chance to guess it. It may be said that along with the woman’s body there is another inanimate character in the photograph. It is the shadow. The human figure is likened to the light fighting with the dark. In this struggle harmony is born. Series Name: Light. Shadows. Perfect woman Series Description: Arranging the delicate balance of the correlation of the dark and the light the author discovers the obvious monumentality and duality of the images of the perfect woman. Within the space of the picture, the light becomes flat and the dark becomes deeper, highlighting all conventions and details. With this approach, the geometry of light becomes not only a sculptural language but also correlates with the meaning of the subject. The concept of “the perfect” in the photographs is contradictory in nature; on the one hand, it is monumental and complete, and on the other hand it is naked and vulnerable. These opposing concepts are at the heart of the works. Copyright: © George Mayer, Russian Federation, Shortlist, Professional, Portraiture (professional), 2017 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Name: Left-behind children (3) Photographer Name: Ren shi Chen Year: 2017 Image Description: GouLingYu, Gansu province, She wrote down: I was born six months, Mother ran away from home. Series Name: Left-behind children Series Description: Gansu province, 2016. More than sixty-one million children in rural China have been ‘left-behind’, by parents who have gone to the cities to work. 80% of left-behind children who are bullied don’t know who to tell, whilst 90% of those who experience difficulty do not tell their parents. China’s courts report that crimes committed by minors have been rising by an average of 13% per year, of which 70% are committed by left-behind children. Given that crime rates suddenly increase in number and violence in communities where just 5% of the children in the community have been ‘left-behind’, paying close attention to the healthy development of these children is essential. Copyright: © Ren shi Chen, China, Shortlist, Professional, Portraiture (professional), 2017 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Name: Stretching - Downtown apron Photographer Name: Dongni - Year: 2017 Image Description: Stretching - Downtown apron Series Name: space&city Series Description: Rules ordering a regular intensive repetition sum up the feeling of the modern city. A variety of urban form and minimalist architecture breaks the old structure, splitting it into triangles, squares and diamond shapes, refracting a new living style on extant spatial structures. Demonstrating a free use of the language of visual forms, it appears like a game, similar to Goldbach’s conjecture; the destruction of the ossified template of the city, a visual exploration of breaking the rules. In a spatial context, when we ignore the aesthetics of the city, ignore the rules and celebrate the deconstruction and reconstruction of the urban space, the space itself gives us more control and adds more joy to the city. Copyright: © Dongni -, China, Shortlist, Professional, Architecture, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Name: #06 The Lover Photographer Name: Christoffer Askman Year: 2017 Image Description: The Lover. Everyday objects photographed in the harsh sun. Series Name: The Cave Series Description: In his Cave Allegory, Plato wrote that “Chained to the wall of the cave, we only see the shadows”, a way of questioning the perception of reality. But perceiving the true form of reality must never destroy our ability to imagine, fantasise and even create images. These photographs are everyday objects photographed in the harsh sun. Copyright: © Christoffer Askman, Denmark, Shortlist, Professional, Still Life (professional), 2017 Sony World Photography Awards From The Cave

Society constrains the definition of a divorcee. What you can or can't do, remains under the control of others. As an independent single mother, I've made peace with the sacrifices i've had to make, but also managed to find happiness on my own. Nassiba, fashion designer. Jeddah Image Name: Nasiba Photographer Name: Tasneem Alsultan Year: 2017 Image Description: “Society constrains the divorcee. What you can or can't do, remains under the control of others. As an independent single mother, I've made peace with the sacrifices I've had to make, but also managed to find happiness on my own”. Nassiba, fashion designer. Jeddah Series Name: Saudi Tales of Love Series Description: Whilst Saudi Arabia is an international symbol of Islam, many Saudis would agree that there’s a strong disconnect between the Qur’an and local traditions. I wanted to answer questions shared by many, such as ‘do we need marriage to signify that we have love?’ and ‘do you need a husband to have a meaningful life?’ I started the project thinking I only had my personal story to share. I was married at the age of 17 but living separately as a single parent for the final six years of an unhappy 10-year marriage. Many family members commented on how foolish I was to ask for a divorce. Only later did I realise that there were many Saudi women who had had similar experiences, more than I had expected of typical Saudi housewives. With each story, I found more women sharing complex marriage theories and experiences. I followed the stories of widows, happily married women, and divorced women. I explored the concept of love, photographing my young daughter and grandmother. Utilising imagery (with permission) from weddings I had photographed, I connected the conceptual construction and expectations of marriage through the often elaborate wedding ceremony imagery and rituals. I realised that all of the women I photographed had in common their success in overcoming the many hurdles put in place by society and the state. Copyright: © Tasneem Alsultan, Saudi Arabia, Shortlist, Professional, Contemporary Issues, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Name: Jacks at Cabo Pulmo Photographer Name: Christian Vizl Year: 2017 Image Description: Mexico, Baja California, Sea of Cortez. A big school of Jacks forming a ceiling found at the protected marine area of Cabo Pulmo. Series Name: Silent Kingdom Series Description: Since childhood, I have been attracted to the sea. I used to dream about what lay beneath the waves, and how it would look if all the water suddenly vanished, leaving the animals and living creatures frozen in place, letting me walk around them while they stay suspended in time and space. I carry that dream within me to this day, and my intention is to capture the essence of being immersed in the experience and presence of the animal or habitat I am photographing and to share their splendour, beauty and true nature. Today, the world’s oceans are in grave danger. Overfishing, pollution, climate change, acidification and more threaten the fundamental nature of the ocean, and its animals are being pushed to the edge of extinction. Sadly, the majority of humans see marine animals merely as food. As we can’t understand their voices, the higher purpose of my images is to be a voice of, and for the ocean, hoping that people can get a glimpse of who they really are; beautiful sentient individuals with feelings, personalities, complex behaviours and interesting lives that science is only starting to understand. I believe photography is capable of real service to humanity, promoting empathy and initiating change, so my goal is to create poetic images showing the incredible beauty of these animals, carrying the power of changing our perception and sparking the love and empathy that we all have inside. Copyright: © Christian Vizl, Mexico, Shortlist, Professional, Natural World, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards