These include Tom Oldham, who won the ‘Portraiture’ category with a picture of Pixies’ frontman, Black Francis. “When approaching the assignment Oldham, an experienced portrait photographer, was painfully aware of the many photoshoots his sitter has been the subject of and asked him to acknowledge his frustration with the process,” said a spokesperson.

Meanwhile Alec Connah won the Motion category with Going Down!, a record of the moment the four cooling towers of Ironbridge Power Station in Shropshire were demolished on the 6 December last year. Another standout image from the shortlist was Pinball Pier by Stephen Tomlinson (below), a bird’s-eye view of Brighton Pier lit up at dusk. More than 100 photographers were shortlisted in the 2020 competition alongside 10 category winners.

Each winner receives Sony cameras as a prize and will go on to compete for the Open Photographer of the Year title and a $5,000 reward. The overall Open winner will be announced on 9th June on the World Photography Organisation and Sony’s online platforms.