Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA) has shared with DIYP some of the most stunning 2020 entries so far. But finalists and shortlisted images of the Professional competition have now been officially announced, and they’re nothing less amazing than the photos we’re used to seeing at this contest. We bring you a selection of finalists and shortlisted photos, along with some background about this year’s competition.

SWPA is now in its 13th year. When you think of it, 13 years isn’t that long, yet this competition has become one of the largest and most prestigious in the world. This year’s contest has broken the record in the number of submissions. There were more than 345,000 images from 203 territories submitted across the 2020 Awards’ four competitions. Over 135,000 of them were entered for Professional competition only.

The Professional competition covers ten categories and a wide variety of topics within them. A new category has been introduced this year: Environment. The importance of this topic in both fine art photography and photojournalism has been growing, so SWPA decided to recognize it as a new category.

For now, only shortlisted and finalist images have been announced, and I was amazed by so many of them. However, we’ll have to wait a bit more to learn who the winner is. He or she will be selected from the group of Professional finalists and announced during the Sony World Photography Awards 2020 ceremony in London on 16 April 2020. In the meantime, take a look at the selection of finalists and shortlists below. Let them take you on an amazing ride on an emotional rollercoaster.

Lead image credits: © Jon Enoch, UK, Professional competition, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards