Best Pictures: World Photography Awards 2011

Best Amateur "After Dark" Picture

Photograph courtesy Chumlong Nilkon, Sony World Photography Awards

Hundreds of floating lanterns ascend in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in the winning "After Dark" picture in the World Photography Awards' 2011 Open Competition.

"We believe that it's a symbol of problems and worries floating away," photographer Chumlong Nilkon said of the lanterns in a statement.

(Related: "Best News Pictures of 2010: World Press Winners.")

Published May 11, 2011

Best Pro "Current Affairs" Picture

Photograph courtesy Javier Arcenillas, Sony World Photography Awards

A young Rohingya refugee in southern Bangladesh stares out from the winning picture in the professional "Current Affairs" category of the World Photography Awards.

Repressed and persecuted in Myanmar (Burma), the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, have sought refuge in neighboring countries such as Bangladesh for more than 50 years, according to Spanish photographer Javier Arcenillas. Once across the border, many Rohingya survive in makeshift camps with little or no basic amenities, including food and water.

(See the winning pictures from the 2010 National Geographic Photo Contest.)

Published May 11, 2011

Best Pro "Still Life" Series

Photograph courtesy Renhui Zhao, Sony World Photography Awards

Remarkably camouflaged leaf insects perch on a plant in a picture from the photo series that won the professional "Still Life" category of the World Photography Awards. The pictures, by photographer Renhui Zhao of Singapore, were taken during a leaf insect competition in Tokyo, during which collectors display prize specimens.

(Also see "Best Science Pictures of 2010 Announced.")

Published May 11, 2011

Best Pro "People" Series

Photograph courtesy Alejandro Chaskielberg, Sony World Photography Awards

"The Hunter" by Argentine professional photographer Alejandro Chaskielberg is one in a series of pictures examining a community living in Argentina's Paraná River Delta. Called "High Tide," the collection won the "People" category and garnered its creator L'Iris d'Or—the World Photography Contest's photographer-of-the-year prize.

Chaskielberg shared daily life with islanders in the delta for two years while working on the project. "My photographs set out to document the way they live and work," he said in a statement. (See a picture of the Paraná River taken from space.)

Chaskielberg will receive a U.S. $25,000 cash prize and become a member of the World Photographic Academy.

Published May 11, 2011

Best Pro "Contemporary Issues" Series

Photograph courtesy Javier Arcenillas, Sony World Photography Awards

A boy walks past the body of an assassinated woman in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The picture is from Spanish photographer Javier Arcenillas's winning Sicarios ("assassins") series, which explores hitman culture in Latin America.

"Young people living in poverty," Arcenillas said in a statement, "are seduced by the ease of earning money" as gunmen.

Published May 11, 2011

Best Pro "Landscape" Series

Photograph courtesy Florence Iff, Sony World Photography Awards

"Landscape" winner Florence Iff photographed artificial indoor displays, such as the one pictured, for her Post-Arcadia series.

The Swiss photographer captured the images at natural history museums, indoor garden shows, zoos, and botanical gardens. According to Iff, the pictures are part of a long-term project on landscape and its representation.

(Also see some of the best amateur astronomy pictures of 2010.)

Published May 11, 2011

Best Pro "Sport" Series

Photograph courtesy Pavel Wolberg, Sony World Photography Awards

Two members of Ethiopia's seminomadic Bodi tribe walk away with a victory cup after a traditional New Year's "fat-man competition" in this picture by Pavel Wolberg of Israel.

For three to six months before the contest, many young Bodi men consume only cow blood and milk, which is apparently quite fattening, according to a statement by Wolberg. "On competition day, they arrive to the Bodi King village," he said, "and after the dance they are measured by the elders, who then decide who is the winner and the fattest."

(See the winning pictures of the 2010 International Conservation Photography Awards.)

Published May 11, 2011

Best Amateur "Nature/Wildlife" Picture

Photograph courtesy Andiyna Lutfi, Sony World Photography Awards

Rearing like tiny horses, ants stretch for food in a photograph by IndonesianAndiyan Lutfi, who took home the prize for best amateur nature or wildlife picture.

(Also see pictures of fire ants forming living life rafts.)

Published May 11, 2011

Best Pro "Portraiture" Series

Photograph courtesy Alain Willaume, Sony World Photography Awards

A man identified as Bruno reflects after a meal in one of a series of pictures by French photographer Alain Willaume.

The portraits in the series, called The Common Part, all show people beside emptied plates and are intended "to take us to the crossroads between two worlds: the privacy of an intimate ritual and the boundaries of an inner landscape," Willaume said in a statement.

Published May 11, 2011