Sony reveals 2015 World Photography Awards winners

Sony has announced the winners of the 2015 World Photography Awards. The 2015 L’Iris d’Or and the Photographer of the Year laureate is John Moore for the compelling “Ebola Crisis Overwhelms Liberian Capital” photo series.

Each year, Sony and the World Photography Organisation are holding a photo contest which has become one of the most prestigious in the world. Shortly after the winners of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize were announced, another photographer covering the Ebola crisis has won an image competition. Daniel Berehulak has won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize, while John Moore is the winner of the 2015 Photographer of the Year and of the 2015 L’Iris d’Or title for his poignant “Ebola Crisis Overwhelms Liberian Capital” project.

Sony announces John Moore as 2015 L’Iris d’Or and Photographer of the Year laureate

The 2015 World Photography Awards contest has featured 13 categories for professional photographers. After the winners of each category had been selected, only one of them was chosen as the 2015 Photographer of the Year and the 2015 L’Iris d’Or recipient. His name is John Moore and he is an American photographer who has covered the Ebola outbreak in Monrovia, Liberia.

His photos are depicting the struggles of people of all ages in the capital city of Liberia, called Monrovia. The judges have decided that the way the artist has managed to capture the “brutality” that occurs in these people’s daily lives is worthy of the first prize.

The judges have also praised the fact that the shots are respecting the people affected by Ebola despite capturing the ordeal from such close distance. They said that this is how a photographer should perform their work: with respect and compassion for their subjects.

“Ebola Crisis Overwhelms Liberian Capital” also offers a great insight into composition and how to narrate a documentary photography series. As a result, John Moore takes home the 2015 L’Iris d’Or and a $25,000 prize in cash.

Full list of 2015 World Photography Winners confirmed by Sony and WPO

As stated above, 13 professional categories have been part of the 2015 World Photography Awards. Here are the overall winners of each category in alphabetical order of the category. The overall winners which were chosen from more than 87,000 entries. Each winner will receive photo products bearing the Sony brand.

• Architecture: Cosmin Bumbut from Romania;
• Arts & Culture: Aristide Economopoulos from the US;
• Campaign: Sebastian Gil Miranda from Argentina;
• Conceptual: Rahul Talukder from Bangladesh;
• Contemporary Issues: Scott Typaldos from Switzerland;
• Current Affairs: John Moore from the US;
• Landscape: Simon Norfolk from the UK;
• Lifestyle: Fan Li from China;
• People: Giovanni Troilo from Italy;
• Portraiture: Ruben Salgado Escudero from Spain;
• Sport: Riccardo Bononi from Italy;
• Still Life: Donald Weber from Canada;
• Travel: Bernhard Lang from Germany.

2015 Open Photographer of the Year announced, too

Professional photographers or not, the World Photography Awards competition also includes an Open category that rewards greatness in single shots.

There are 10 subcategories in this section. Armin Appel from Germany was elected the 2015 Open Photographer of the Year. He won the Architecture subcategory. Here are all the winners from the Open categories:

• Architecture: Armin Appel from Germany;
• Arts & Culture: Hector Munoz Huerta from Mexico;
• Enhanced: Antony Crossfield from the UK;
• Low Light: Nick Ng from Malaysia;
• Nature & Wildlife: Antoine Weis from Switzerland;
• Panoramic: Norman Quinn from the UK;
• People: Saleh Rozati from Iran;
• Smile: Wilson Lee from Hong Kong;
• Split Second: Jaime Massieu from Spain;
• Travel: Yasen Georgiev from Bulgaria.

2015 Youth Photographer of the Year is Yong Lin Tan

Young photographers are also celebrated by Sony and the World Photography Organisation. If you are under 19 or a studying photographer, then you can participate in the Youth categories.

At the 2015 World Photography Awards gala, the 2015 Youth Photographer of the Year was confirmed to be Yong Lin Tan from Malaysia, who also won the Environment subcategory.

Here are the winners, as follows:

• Culture: Beatriz Rocha from Portugal;
• Environment: Yong Lin Tan from Malaysia;
• Portrait: Stephanie Anjo from the UK.

The 2016 World Photography Awards edition is accepting entries, so make sure your project is as compelling as possible before submitting it to the judges.