2017 Sony World Photography Best Photos Will Take Your Breath Away

Diamond-Dust. This picture was taken in February in Nagano-ken at an altitude of about 1,700 meters. In Japan, February is the coldest season in a year. Diamond dust can be seen only a few times during cold season. So, it took four years to make this work since I started taking diamond dust. Orange circle is diamond dust. Diamond dust usually looks white, but it turns into orange just for the morning sunrise. I expressed the diamond dust as a silent forest fairy.

Beyond dreams. The plain of Castelluccio Landscape in flowering. Sibillini Mountains National Park, Italy.

Silent Kingdom. Ever since I was a kid, as far back as I can remember, I was attracted to the sea. I dreamt about what lay beneath the waves, and how would it look if suddenly all the water vanished, leaving all the animals and living creatures in stasis. In this way, I could walk within the ocean and see them all, suspended for a moment in time and space. To this day I carry within me that dream; and very gratefully realise it through my photography. Each image is a visualisation of that sublime moment whereupon the beautiful marine life around me is frozen majestically in its natural environment. 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 with others their splendour and soul. I hope the images I capture contribute to the existing corpus of underwater photography in a way that energises each of us to form our own dream of preserving and creating a better world where we value and care for all expressions of life. Ultimately our understanding and celebration of the sheer beauty and poetry of life is intrinsically linked to how we communicate and bond with the myriad configurations of life energy surrounding us. In my case, it is the ocean and its marine inhabitants which inform my observance and joy for life. I in turn communicate this through my photography of the underwater realm.

Shaolin Kungfu, also known as Shaolin Wushu, is one of the famous Wushu schools in China. It has a long history and profound influence, is an important part of the traditional martial arts Chinese. The most prominent feature of Shaolin Kung Fu is "Zen Wu one", namely the Zen in Wuhan, practicing meditation, so there are "Zen martial arts".

NYC Light II. A Manhattan sunset. Shot from Queens across the East River. Part two in a New York Trilogy which I call "NYC Light."

Green monster. May 16, 2016, a tornado warned high precipitation supercell storm is rolling over the town of Stratford, Texas. Its structures and color seem unreal and belong to the most dramatic I have ever witnessed in many years. I only had a few moments to find a decent spot to capture this amazing view. There was a bigger gap in the traffic along the highway so I had enough time to take a few photos. The image is a panorama of two images, further editing includes primarily color and local contrast enhancements, highlight recovery, foreground brightened up, and adding vignette.

Mathilda. Inspired by the movie Leon. Model: Anastasiya Marinina.

Pandas Gone Wild. Seen by few, but beloved by billions, the giant panda is one of the most recognised animals on the planet. It’s hard to imagine, but these animals, who roamed the earth for eight million years, were only discovered in the last century. Unknown, and hidden from the western world for millions of years, even today they are seen by few but known by most everyone. So secretive and mysterious was its solitary life, lived in the thickest of bamboo, in the highest of mountains, in mist and rain, governed and guided by smell rather than sight, that the giant panda has eluded easy answers, even while making its way into everyone’s heart. Giant pandas have a secret life governed by their nose, and their daily diet and breeding behaviours have made them vulnerable in today’s world. With a diet almost entirely composed of the leaves, stems and shoots of various bamboo species, their reliance on bamboo left them vulnerable to any loss of habitat. Found only in central China, the entire species came dangerously close to extinction. Scientists considered the giant panda a relic species; shy, and difficult to breed in captivity. But now there is a glimmer of hope, as years of research are finally paying off. In a region where bad environmental news is common, China cracked the code and is on its way to successfully saving its most famous ambassador. The giant panda was recently taken off the endangered species list!

GREY MATTER(S). God's son was wearing grey, the colour of undyed wool, worn by peasants and the poor. Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) never had the intention to paint only with grey, but he gave in: In the course of my work I have eliminated one colour after another and what has remained is grey, grey, grey! In 2014 the English newspaper The Guardian declared grey as the Colour of the Decade The world from dusk to dawn has been fascinating the human being from the very beginning. Since the figure of the biped appeared in prehistoric darkness, it was drawn to the purity and spirituality of that colourless world. Colours simply are reflected light, individually put together in our brain, a place also called Grey Matter. No light, no colours. By photographing our colourful world at times & places, where there is no colour, the illusion of a colourful reality is being unmasked. For two years Tom Jacobi travelled to six continents, searching for archaic landscapes - mystical places that had been shaped over thousands of years by nature, yet they seem timeless, even modern. The landscapes unfold their strength and spirituality in front of the beholder. Through the absence of the Juggler Colour the planet seems to find peace, just like it might have done long time before our existence.

Light. Shadows. Perfect Woman. 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.

Walking on water. The Solomon Islands are special well beyond pristine reefs and world-class diving. It is one of the last frontiers where local tribes and indigenous populations are scattered throughout the archipelago, and proudly conduct a life where what is taken from Mother Nature is only that which is needed as a means of subsistence. I wanted a different shot than the usual underwater reef scene to capture the cultural essence of this incredible far-flung destination and its inhabitants. This is a place where it seems kids learn to paddle before they walk. I noticed canoes following my bubbles, a great opportunity to capture villagers, their canoe, the reef, and a stunning sunset as the backdrop.

White breasted marten. A white breasted stone marten leaping over some roots, picture taken in Czech Republic in the beginning of 2016.

Shaolin Kungfu, also known as Shaolin Wushu, is one of the famous Wushu schools in China. It has a long history and profound influence, is an important part of the traditional martial arts Chinese. The most prominent feature of Shaolin Kung Fu is "Zen Wu one", namely the Zen in Wuhan, practicing meditation, so there are "Zen martial arts".

Silent Kingdom. Ever since I was a kid, as far back as I can remember, I was attracted to the sea. I dreamt about what lay beneath the waves, and how would it look if suddenly all the water vanished, leaving all the animals and living creatures in stasis. In this way, I could walk within the ocean and see them all, suspended for a moment in time and space. To this day I carry within me that dream; and very gratefully realise it through my photography. Each image is a visualisation of that sublime moment whereupon the beautiful marine life around me is frozen majestically in its natural environment. 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 with others their splendour and soul. I hope the images I capture contribute to the existing corpus of underwater photography in a way that energises each of us to form our own dream of preserving and creating a better world where we value and care for all expressions of life. Ultimately our understanding and celebration of the sheer beauty and poetry of life is intrinsically linked to how we communicate and bond with the myriad configurations of life energy surrounding us. In my case, it is the ocean and its marine inhabitants which inform my observance and joy for life. I in turn communicate this through my photography of the underwater realm.

Whiteout. There is a peculiar transformation of nature when winter comes, when snow and ice start to dominate the landscape and when humans and animals have to deal with the extreme weather. The series investigates this struggle against disappearance. The struggle against a whiteout. These photos were made in the Balkans, Scandinavia and Central Asia; remote areas where people often live in isolation and in close contact with nature. A harsh existence, fighting against superhuman forces.

Black rhinoceros at night. The waterhole at Okaukuejo in the Etosha National Park in Namibia, is visited by black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) on a regular basis. This animal stood in the water at night for quite some time before drinking. The calm water allowed for reflections. The position of the flash, some 30 meters from the camera, helped reveal the structures of the body surface. The photo was taken in April 2016.

African Wildlife at Night. My aim was to capture never-before-seen images of African wildlife at night and to show nocturnal animals such as lions and hyenas in their true element. The techniques I employed were only made possible by the low-light ability of modern-day digital cameras and by using remote-control devices such as my "BeetleCam". BeetleCam is a remote-control buggy for my camera, which I created to take close-up ground-level photographs of African wildlife. All of these images were taken in Liuwa Plain National Park, a remote area in the West of Zambia. These images were shot over the course of two trips in 2015 and first published in print and online in 2016.

Metropolis. A reflection of the tree on the woman's hair in Midtown.

Darkitectures. "Darkitectures is a series of images of the most significant italian architectures, from an artistic point of view, captured at night. The voluntary memory of these pictures is a reminder of the stone not in its lifeless matter, but as the continuing of the living forms’ vital momentum. The whole project is meant to be as a work in progress."

Pandas Gone Wild. Seen by few, but beloved by billions, the giant panda is one of the most recognised animals on the planet. It’s hard to imagine, but these animals, who roamed the earth for eight million years, were only discovered in the last century. Unknown, and hidden from the western world for millions of years, even today they are seen by few but known by most everyone. So secretive and mysterious was its solitary life, lived in the thickest of bamboo, in the highest of mountains, in mist and rain, governed and guided by smell rather than sight, that the giant panda has eluded easy answers, even while making its way into everyone’s heart. Giant pandas have a secret life governed by their nose, and their daily diet and breeding behaviours have made them vulnerable in today’s world. With a diet almost entirely composed of the leaves, stems and shoots of various bamboo species, their reliance on bamboo left them vulnerable to any loss of habitat. Found only in central China, the entire species came dangerously close to extinction. Scientists considered the giant panda a relic species; shy, and difficult to breed in captivity. But now there is a glimmer of hope, as years of research are finally paying off. In a region where bad environmental news is common, China cracked the code and is on its way to successfully saving its most famous ambassador. The giant panda was recently taken off the endangered species list!

The Longings of Others. The Kandapara brothel in the district of Tangail is the oldest and one of the largest in Bangladesh - it has existed for some 200 years. It was demolished in 2014 but has been re-established with the help of local NGOs. The brothel district is surrounded by a two-metre wall, and in the narrow streets within, there are food stalls, tea shops and street vendors. More than 700 sex workers live and work here with their children and their madams. Many of the women were either trafficked or born inside the brothel's walls and in this way their livelihood is secure. Their customers are policemen, politicians, farmers, fishermen, factory workers and groups of teenage boys. The brothel is a place with its own rules and power hierarchies, which are completely different from mainstream society. The most vulnerable stage is when a young sex worker enters the brothel, when she is called a bonded girl. Officially, sex workers must be 18 years old, but most are underage and bonded girls are usually 12 to 14 years old. They have no freedom or rights; they belong to a madam, have debts and are not allowed to go outside or keep their money. From the moment a woman has paid her debts, she is free to leave. Although prostitution inside registered brothels has been legal in Bangladesh since 2000, these women are socially stigmatised outside their "homes" and thus often choose to stay and continue supporting their families with their earnings.

Moody. DNF, Fujisan Marathon.

Caught in the Crossfire. As the fight for Mosul enters its fourth month, thousands of civilians remain caught between Iraqi and coalition forces on one side, and Islamic State group fighters on the other. Over 800,000 people are still trapped in Mosul, according to estimates from the United Nations. Tens of thousands are sheltering in neighborhoods declared liberated by Iraqi forces and many more remain in parts of the city under ISIS control. Humanitarian organisations continue to fear mass displacement and civilian casualties. Many have already made the harrowing decision to flee their homes, in some cases leaving behind the bodies of loved ones who died as the fighting came to their area and had to be buried in front gardens. The majority of the more than 130,000 people who have fled are still living in temporary camps in Iraq’s Kurdish region. Some say they are waiting for the security situation to improve, others are waiting for their homes to be rebuilt. Although well organised and supported by international organisations, the camps are isolated and winter weather has made life there very difficult for people who already endured two years of harsh rule under ISIS. While other areas of the country were largely devoid of civilians when they were finally wrested from ISIS control, the battle for Mosul is different because so many people have been told to remain inside. As a result, progress has been slow and civilian casualties, although lower than expected, are still mounting.

Lady in Red. I shot this picture with my drone during a summer vacation. My wife and I spent several days in Montenegro on the Adriatic Coast, and this shot is from the cove Veslo, located at the eastern part of Luštica peninsula. This is a perfect spot where you get the feelings of coziness, privacy, and relaxation, and this is what I wanted to be reflected in my work. Unspoiled and rugged at the same time, but also a beautiful and authentic landscape is what I found here, and I hope this is what transcends through this image. Model: Nevena Mirković.

Algo casual 2. This image is a criticism of modern relationships and the distance between human beings in their daily interactions.