Sony World Photography Awards 2015 ★★★★★

By CW Contributor on 23/4/2015

The best of the Sony World Photography Awards: our guide to the world's biggest photography competition at Somerset House.

Farid Sani, 2015, Faces

From Burmese punk groups to Flemish porn, the Sony World Photography Awards is the largest photography competition in the world.

Thus is a celebration of photography in all its glory; from serious images of the Ebola catastrophe, refugee camps in the Sudan and slums in India, to the conceptual and the downright comical. Spend an afternoon at Somerset House to soak up all that the awards have to offer.

While the professionals lead the way, we recommend spending some time with the young winners and amateurs who are trailblazing their way to stardom, and the new Mobile Phone Competition, which is surprisingly rich in technical ability and candid camera moments. The National Awards also give one photographer from each country a chance to shine, rather than battle it out with the hundreds of other inclusions.

The experts | Professional Competition

Shortlist, People, Professional Competition: 'Maurice and Lisa' by Liza Van der Stock, 2015

In a small, perfectly ordinary Flemish village, couple Laura and Maurice live with their young daughter Eva. Except this is a family with a difference; when Eva heads to school the couple create porn with everyday people that counteracts the industry's fascination with Barbie doll looks and rippling muscles. Liza Van der Stock's images take the viewer through the daily life of Laura and Michael as they look after their daughter, bathe with their dogs and eat as a family.

Winner, Current Affairs, Professional Competition: 'Blue Room' by John Moore, 2015

John Moore spotlights the effects of the devastating Ebola virus in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, which has become the epicentre of the disease with it's dense urban environment and traditions of washing dead bodies. In this horrifying image, Omu Fahnbulleh stands in shock over the body of her husband Ibrahim who has just fallen and died in a classroom used to house Ebola patients.

Fresh and Talented | Youth Competition

Shortlist, Portraits, Youth Award; 'Anna' by Adi Dekel, 2015

Winner, Environment:'Back alley' by Yong Lin Tan, 2015, copyright the photographer

Set on Chinese New Year 2014, Yong Lin Tan captures his grandmother's home in Alor Setar, Malaysia as night descends and the stars illuminate the flowers in bloom.

Budding Amateurs | Open Competition

Shortlist, Smile, Open 'Exuberance' by Christine Kapuschinsky Johnson, 2015

Winner, People, Open Competition 'Don Bohlul from Isfahan' by Saleh Rozat, 2015

In downtown Vienna, Iranian photographer Saleh Rozat pictures a fictional man named Don Bohlul, the chivalric Don Quixote of the Orient. Perhaps insane, perhaps a wise philosopher, Don Bohlul is a fascinating satirical story woven through the streets of Austria.

Snap happy | Mobile Phone Competition

Winner, Mobile Phone: 'A day on the beach' by Turi Calafato, 2015, copyright the photographer

Calafato made a series of images on Sicilian beaches of the crowds of sun worshippers and day trippers for his Instagram page between 2013 and 2014. Now the project has taken on a life of it's own with images of all kinds of different people frolicking in the sunshine.

Photography Superstar | Outstanding Contribution to Photography

Legendary Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt is the winner of this year's Outstanding Contribution to Photography accolade for his powerhouse black and white images of 20th century Paris, golden Hollywood and everyday life. Fans of Henri Cartier-Bresson will recognise the influence of his 'Decisive Moments' in the 89 year-old French photographer's work.

Don't miss Erwitt's witty and satirical images of a family gazing at an empty portrait in the Palace of Versailles. You'll also love the fabulous photographs of glittering Hollywood stars like Grace Kelly at her engagement party to Prince Rainier of Monaco at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in 1956, as well as more personal moments from Erwitt's life.

'USA, Arlington, Virginia. November 25, 1963', by Elliott Erwitt / MAGNUM PHOTOS

Erwitt captures the moment that Jackie Kennedy arrived at her husband, President John F Kennedy's funeral in 1963 after he was assassinated. In this vulnerable moment, the First Lady stares with blank eyes through a dark veil, her eyes filled with despair.