World Photography Organisation

On Asphalt We Grow: Interview with Robin Tutenges

annasiemaszko@creoarts.com — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 14:48:54 +0000

On Asphalt We Grow: Interview with Robin Tutenges

We spoke with the French photographer about his shortlisted series documenting skateboarding communities in Ukraine

annasiemaszko@… Fri, 12/19/2025 - 14:48

Can you tell us a bit about yourself? What inspired you to pick up photography?

I originally came to photography through my interest in journalism and geopolitics. Very quickly, I allowed my photographic practice -which I had pursued as a hobby since adolescence - to take over during my field investigations, to the point that I now make a living from my photo reports for the French and international press. I have since specialised in human rights violations, producing long-term photographic series in different countries around the world, while also striving to create more personal, more documentary-driven projects, such as the series selected here for the Sony World Photography Awards.

Your series On Asphalt We Grow was shortlisted in the Sony World Photography Awards 2025 Professional competition’s Sport category. What motivated you to pursue this project?

I covered the first hours of the Russian invasion of Ukraine for the press, but I quickly felt that I wasn't telling a story that was any different from the flood of news that overwhelmed us at the time. I wanted to take a step back and tell the story differently. I wanted to talk about Ukrainian youth, those in their twenties like me at the start of the invasion, whose lives have been devastated.

Through the young skateboarders, I was able to imagine what my life might have been like if I had been in their shoes, being a longtime skateboarder myself. The project became personal; the community immediately accepted me and let me document their daily lives. Talking about skateboarding and what it brings as an urban practice took on several dimensions in the context of war: we talk about forging connections when a whole world is collapsing, trying to continue living amid the chaos, living with anxieties and calming them through sport, taking back the streets, even though the scars of war have ravaged them.

Several dimensions and stories opened up to me, and I tried to photograph them sensitively and respectfully. I was also privileged to receive a grant from the Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP) in France, which allowed me to take my time and also to work with film.

Were there any memorable moments or people you encountered while shooting this series?

Every encounter with Ukrainian skateboarders remains a memorable moment. They all have their own stories, often deeply affected by this war that took everything from them. There were young people barely 18 years old who had their eyes set on the United States and Europe, following skateboarding videos from there, and whose dreams were shattered by the war; Elya and Eric, two friends from Dnipro, who saw the Russians targeting their town, approaching day by day, but never stopped skateboarding; Vasilkan, originally from Odessa, who took refuge with skateboarding friends in Kyiv while his city was being bombed; and then those caught up in the war, like Mitya, a skateboarder from Bucha, who is still fighting today in the Ukrainian army. Many of the skaters I met have now gone to the front, and I am currently seeking for grants or funding for a new chapter in this photo series to find them again.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

It's not advice, but rather a way of working. You have to take your time, treat photography like a marathon, not a sprint. Digging into stories to turn them into a universal narrative takes time, and out of respect for the testimonies gathered and the subject matter, it's also a necessity.

What have you been up to since being recognised in the Sony World Photography Awards? And what are your plans for the future?

The visibility of the Sony World Photography Awards has allowed me to exhibit this series in several places, from France to Colombia, notably at the Museum of Photography in Bogota. While waiting to be able to complete another chapter of this long-term project on Ukrainian skateboarders, I continue to work on long-term reports in different countries around the world. I was lucky enough to receive a grant from the Pulitzer Center in 2025 to continue another investigation, the Grand Prize at the Sarajevo Photo Festival for a long-term photo project in south east-asia, as well as the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Lucas Dolega SAIF 2025 Prize for a report on the civil war in Ethiopia.

About Robin Tutenges

Born in 1995, Robin Tutenges is a multi-award-winning French photographer, member of collectif Hors Format, who focuses his work on crises and their consequences, with particular attention to human and women's rights violations. His long-term reports have led him to work in India on the farmers' revolt, in Kazakhstan on survivors of Xinjiang camps, and in Ukraine on the skateboarding community. Since 2022, he has been documenting the armed resistance against the junta in Myanmar.

Visit Robin Tutenges' website
Follow Robin Tutenges on Instagram

The Sony World Photography Awards 2026 close in early January. Don't miss your chance to win $25,000, Sony Digital Imaging equipment, worldwide exhibition inclusions, a day of sessions with industry experts - and more!

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Interview

Flashlight fish, an abandoned power plant and an icy landscape

annasiemaszko@creoarts.com — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 09:16:39 +0000

Flashlight fish, an abandoned power plant and an icy landscape

The latest Entries of the Week are here

annasiemaszko@… Wed, 12/17/2025 - 09:16

From a glowing school of splitfin flashlightfish captured by Korean photographer Akira Asahina to an abandoned power plant shot by Italian photographer Daniel Joss, the latest Entries of the Week have arrived.

With less than three weeks left to enter the Sony World Photography Awards 2026, we hope this curated selection of recent Open competition submissions inspires you to share your strongest work before the deadline.

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A curious panda, an Italian street shot and a playground seen from above

Anna Bonita Evans — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 15:00:00 +0000

A curious panda, an Italian street shot and a playground seen from above

With three weeks left of the Open competition, we take put the latest Entries of the Week in the spotlight

Anna Bonita Evans Sun, 12/14/2025 - 15:00

Time is ticking with the Sony World Photography Awards closing in early January. We highlight some of our favourite images entered into the Open competition. There are 10 categories to choose from, including Portraiture, Street Photography and Travel. With just three weeks left to enter make sure you enter before 6 January 2026 at 13:00 GMT.

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Divided Youth of Belfast: Interview with Toby Binder

annasiemaszko@creoarts.com — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 14:04:08 +0000

Divided Youth of Belfast: Interview with Toby Binder

We spoke with the winner of the Documentary Projects category about his long-term series and upcoming work

annasiemaszko@… Fri, 12/12/2025 - 14:04

Can you tell us a bit about yourself? What inspired you to pick up photography?

During my graphic design studies, I quickly realised that I didn't just want to lay out other people's stories, but rather experience and document these stories myself. I'm more of a drifter and stray dog and can't sit at the computer for too long.

Your series Divided Youth of Belfast won 1st Place in the Sony World Photography Awards 2025 Professional competition’s Documentary Projects category. What motivated you to pursue this project?

When I started the project, I had no idea that it’ll occupy me for so long and turn into a long-term documentary. But when I saw that young people in Northern Ireland's working-class communities had hardly any contact with each other even though they face the same problems and social discrimination, I decided to highlight these similarities and create a project of unity which brings down long-held enemy stereotypes and prejudices.

Were there any memorable moments or people you encountered while shooting this series?

Oh, there are so many... I mostly work with young people, but when I once told an old man that I really love Belfast and its people, he said, “Oh yes, we're nice to strangers. We just kill each other.” In all its cynicism, there is so much truth in that sentence, showing how absurd it sometimes feels what is happening here…

Although the dividing wall has gates, I quickly noticed that no locals go through them, whereas I do so several times a day. At the beginning, kids on one side assured me, ‘You can take photos here, no probs, you’re safe here. But don't go over to the other side, they'll beat you up and steal your camera!’

I then told them that I had been over there an hour ago – and was told exactly the same thing!

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

It’s nice to be nice and don’t believe the stereotypes!

What have you been up to since being recognised in the Sony World Photography Awards? And what are your plans for the future?

This year, I continued to shoot the series in Belfast that won the Sony World Photography Awards, and I plan to publish a follow-up volume to the first book from 2019 in 2026.

In addition, my new book #053kids about young people in a strongly migrant-influenced environment in Duisburg, Germany, will be published next January.

And a new major long-term project is being started in Baltimore, so stay tuned – there will be a lot going on!

About Toby Binder

German-born photographer Toby Binder's work focuses on stories from the margins of society and often takes the perspective of young people - whether it's children stigmatised as witches in Nigeria, war-wounded children in Afghanistan or child labourers in Bolivia.

Visit Toby Binder's website
Follow Toby Binder on Instagram

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Interview

Frosty landscapes, awkward dogs and fragmented oceans

annasiemaszko@creoarts.com — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 17:59:08 +0000

Frosty landscapes, awkward dogs and fragmented oceans

The latest Entries of the Week are here!

annasiemaszko@… Wed, 12/03/2025 - 17:59

This week, we're showcasing photographs recently entered across all 10 categories of the Open competition - street photography, wildlife, architecture, portraiture, and more.

Take a look at what's coming in from photographers around the world, and enter the Sony World Photography Awards 2026! There's only a few weeks left...

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Redux Pictures x Sony World Photography Awards: Tommaso Ausili and Jen Osborne

annasiemaszko@creoarts.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Redux Pictures x Sony World Photography Awards: Tommaso Ausili and Jen Osborne

Two photographers recognised in the Awards, 14 years apart

annasiemaszko@… Thu, 11/27/2025 - 10:00

This interview was written in partnership with Redux Pictures

In 2010, Tommaso Ausili won Photographer of the Year in the Sony World Photography Awards for The Hidden Death, a series documenting the final moments of animals in slaughterhouses. Fourteen years later, fellow Redux Pictures photographer Jen Osborne was shortlisted in the Wildlife & Nature category for her wildfire coverage in Alberta.

Redux Pictures is an independent commercial, editorial, and syndication photo agency based in New York. With a diverse and talented international roster of photographers, Redux takes pride in championing the transformative power of modern photography and video, empowering creative individuals to bring about meaningful change. Ausili and Osborne's work both reflect this approach.

We caught up with Tommaso and Jen to see what the've been up to and to see how they reflect on their success in the Sony World Photography Awards.

Tommaso Ausili

It’s a curious coincidence that I find myself sharing my unforgettable experience at the Sony World Photography Awards at the very moment when, after fifteen years since receiving the prize and beginning the project The Hidden Death, I have decided to take it up again and continue its journey. Winning the Iris d’Or and the first prize in the Contemporary Issues category was for me an honor as immense as it was unforeseen.

The Hidden Death Pt.2 © Tommaso Ausili

When I presented the project at the 2010 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards, it was still unpublished. Although I was deeply satisfied with the work, I had no idea how it would be received by the public. Would I succeed in conveying the essence of my message? Or would those scenes prove too explicit, crossing the line from truth to repulsion? You can imagine, then, the profound joy and relief I felt in realizing that the outcome had far exceeded my expectations.

Fleeing Ukraine © Tommaso Ausili

Perhaps this remains my greatest sense of gratitude toward the Sony World Photography Awards: they recognised and legitimised the value of my project — and, more importantly, carried it to a wide and diverse audience who might never otherwise have encountered it.

As so often happens, however, with every great honor comes an equally great responsibility. The unexpected success of a work that was still far from complete instilled in me a kind of reverential fear, one that for years held me back from touching it again. I wondered whether I still had something meaningful to say, or whether any new images would fail to add depth — or worse, diminish the resonance of what had already been achieved.

Suspended Adolescence © Tommaso Ausili

After fifteen years and with the wisdom that time and experience bring, I understood that the moment had finally come: I could reclaim that expressive freedom I once feared had been irretrievably lost. To my delight, I found myself once more immersed in the same thoughts I had back then, observing with the same wonder and the same sense of profound connection. I have since created new images — equally powerful, equally significant — of which I am deeply proud.

At the same time, I am pursuing a long-term research project that has engaged me since the Covid years, focusing on the relationship between younger generations and the spaces they inhabit — the places they live in, traverse, and often resist. My work explores how these environments, both physical and emotional, shape their sense of identity and belonging, while at times amplifying feelings of dislocation, estrangement, or being misplaced and displaced. Through this investigation, I aim to reveal the subtle tensions between individuals and their surroundings, and to understand how the geography of contemporary life — its shifting borders, transient architectures, and unstable meanings — mirrors the restless search for self that defines an entire generation.

Visit Tommaso Ausili's website and follow him on Instagram.

Jen Osborne

Fire photography became my journey in December 2019. I previously photographed the Ukraine conflict. Then Australian fires hit Canadian news. Images of fires burning Australian wildlife drove me to visit New South Wales. I caught the remainder of that season. When those fires calmed, I turned my lens towards animal rescues. I’ve since photographed wildfire in Chile, Canada and America.

Hazy Canadian Skies © Jen Osborne

Wildfires aren’t pleasant to photograph. A fire zone feels like being in hell, alive. And it’s certainly abnormal to run towards wildfires. Fire photography is taxing. One must keep a safe distance, while staying close enough to take meaningful pictures. Fire often requires long, gruelling drives. Burned trees may fall and block my escape route. Traffic jams trap panicked people, causing them to escape fire on foot. At night, I sleep in my car because evacuees fill hotels. But sometimes power outages close everything.

Hazy Canadian Skies © Jen Osborne

Personal protective equipment is heavy and hot. Fire-retardant clothing, fire boots, leather gloves, goggles, a helmet and a mask – I wear it all. Not only flames, but radiant heat can kill. During the Mosquito Fire in 2022, I had my metal water bottle strapped to my belt. I removed my gloves to drink from it. The bottle burned my bare hand. Toxic smoke exposure is dangerous, too. I give my presence to the victims - whether they be flora or fauna. I take their photos and communicate their courage and struggles to the world.

Hazy Canadian Skies © Jen Osborne

I am thankful to the Sony World Photography Awards for highlighting my work from Alberta’s fire zones of 2023. Access to fire-stricken areas is particularly difficult in Canada due to the immense repression of press around climate disasters. I appreciate my work being shown to the world via Sony because it’s otherwise difficult to get eyes on catastrophic fire zones in my home country.

Visit Jen Osborne's website.

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Interview

Unexpected juxtapositions, candid moments and powerful storytelling

annasiemaszko@creoarts.com — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 14:14:47 +0000

Unexpected juxtapositions, candid moments and powerful storytelling

The latest Entries of the Week focus on the power of street photography

annasiemaszko@… Tue, 11/25/2025 - 14:14

Street photography is one of the most popular and diverse genres, and often a starting point for image-makers due to its accessible nature. All you need to do is simply grab your camera, hit the streets, and either wait patiently for the perfect moment or actively hunt for those fleeting candid shots.

Last week we revealed Joel Meyerowitz, one of the street photography giants, as the 2026 recipient of the prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Photography. To celebrate this announcement, we've selected 10 photographs recently entered into the Open competition that reflect the spirit of the dynamic genre.

Would you like to showcase your images alongside Joel Meyerowitz's work? Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity. Enter your best shots into the Sony World Photography Awards 2026.

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Inspiration

Landscape, Labour, Tradition, and Memory

Cassandre Maes — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 09:31:07 +0000

Landscape, Labour, Tradition, and Memory

Discover the latest Entries of the Week

Cassandre Maes Wed, 11/19/2025 - 09:31

Entries of the week is back!

Whether set in bustling markets, remote mountain ranges, coastal shallows, or domestic interiors, each image offers a vignette of lives shaped by landscape, labour, tradition, and memory.

This week’s selection is an exploration of how beings live with their environments - not as passive backdrops but as active forces that influence identity, livelihood, and imagination. A fisherman harnesses the rhythm of tidal waters; a vendor under colourful awnings stands at the intersection of commerce and community; a lone walker moves through a vast highland path, held by the contours of the earth. Even in images devoid of people, the human presence lingers: in the quiet geometry of rural dwellings, in the scaffolding that signals growth and change, in the tender placement of objects assembled into symbolic still life.

Through the rhythm of work, the pull of the land, and the quiet gestures that reveal who we are, the photographs remind us that despite distances and differences, we are connected by the simple act of inhabiting the world - together, yet uniquely.

Make sure to enter your best shots to the Sony World Photography Awards 2026 for a chance to win incredible prizes and gain unparalleled reach and promotion.

Enter now

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Inspiration

2026 Outstanding Contribution to Photography: Joel Meyerowitz

Anna Bonita Evans — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 08:27:09 +0000

2026 Outstanding Contribution to Photography: Joel Meyerowitz

We’re thrilled to announce that Joel Meyerowitz has been named the recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Photography in this year’s Sony World Photography Awards.

Anna Bonita Evans Tue, 11/18/2025 - 08:27

Born in New York City, USA in 1938, Joel Meyerowitz studied painting and medical drawing at Ohio State University before working as an advertising art director. After watching the Swiss-American photographer Robert Frank shoot an advertising project for him in 1962, Meyerowitz immediately quit his job and went out onto the streets with a borrowed camera and two rolls of colour film, and embarked on a career that would make an indelible mark on the medium.

While his early work was in colour, he later added black and white to his photography. Meyerowitz’s work forms an integral part of the American photographic canon – it has appeared in over 350 exhibitions in museums and galleries across the world, and has been published in 57 monographs. Driven by the desire for continual learning, Meyerowitz doesn’t confine himself to a single genre, instead experimenting with street photography, portraits, and landscapes.

Commenting on his acceptance of the award, Joel Meyerowitz says: ‘I am honoured to be selected as this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient. The photographs I have made over the years show the world as I see it, and the moments of beauty, humour and fun that can be found everywhere, if we take the opportunity to look. I hope this exhibition will encourage visitors to look again at their surroundings and engage with all of the life that unfolds around them.’

A retrospective of works by Joel Meyerowitz will be shown at Somerset House, London, as part of the Sony World Photography Awards 2026 exhibition. This showcase offers an insight into the spirit and curiosity that has characterised his practice for the past six decades. Through video and audio installations, Meyerowitz invites visitors to see from his vantage point, recalling the sense of wonder he experienced seeing the scenes in his images for the first time. A special talk with Joel Meyerowitz will take place on 21 April 2026.

To be among the first to know when tickets to the Joel Meyerowitz talk go on sale, register your interest here.

Inspiration All Around the World

Cassandre Maes — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 11:31:58 +0000

Inspiration All Around the World

Discover the latest Entries of the Week

Cassandre Maes Tue, 11/11/2025 - 11:31

It’s time for this week’s Entries of the Week! We are back for another selection of our favourite images entered into the Open competition of the Sony World Photography Awards 2026.

From the quiet steps of minimalist architecture to the vast sweep of the Milky Way, these images capture the essence of inspiration that transcends borders. Each photograph tells a story of global and cultural diversity, offering a glimpse into the many ways humans connect with their surroundings - whether through design, nature, or pure emotion.

Through these images, the relationship between humans, nature, and design becomes a universal language. It’s a reminder that inspiration isn’t confined to a single place or culture; it’s found everywhere.

These photographs, drawn from across the globe, stand as a testament to strong visual storytelling. They illustrate creativity, curiosity, and the shared humanity that connects us all.

Make sure to enter your best shots to the Sony World Photography Awards 2026 for a chance to win incredible prizes and gain unparalleled reach and promotion.

Enter now

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Inspiration