World Photo Awards: BEST from the young shutterbugs

The London-based World Photography Organisation recently announced the final shortlists for the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards. The prestigious annual awards contest, judged in six different categories (like Professional, Open, Youth, etc), saw more than 122,000 entries from 170 countries this year -- the highest number of entries to date. The winners are scheduled to be announced in March and April, 2013.

In this third part of a series, we present some of the final shortlists in the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards in the 'Youth' category. The entries from the young shutterbugs were further categorised into 'Culture', 'Environment' and 'Portraiture' shortlists. The photographs are being published with due permission from the organisers.

Part 1: 2013 World Photo Awards: STUNNERS from the pros

Part 2: 2013 World Photography Awards: And the FINALISTS are...

Photographer: Alecsandra Dragoi, Romania, Shortlist, Culture, Youth 2013 World Photography Awards

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The photographer says: "I took this photo on the road to Ambleside from Keswick (in England), it's rare you'll get any of the lakes or waters this still through the day. The Sun was directly above the fell these trees are on, which created this strong golden touch fringing all the woodland".

Photographer: Joe Stockdale, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Environment, Youth 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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The photographer describes, "Breathe and know that we all bleed sometimes".

Photographer: Jonathan Liu, Singapore, Shortlist, Portraits, Youth 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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The photographer says, "In this photo I wanted to feature the festivities in life of people of Old Dhaka".

Photographer: Biswajit Biswas, Bangladesh, Shortlist, Culture, Youth, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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Mountains are a vital part of the Norwegian culture. These images show some of the mountains in Jotunheimen, one of the largest mountain ranges in Norway.

"With these images I want to shed light on the beauty and the grandness of nature, but also how fragile it is. The glaciers melt more and more every year. If we don't raise attention to this problem, we might end up destroying the very phenomena that created the wonderful mountains we love so much," the photographer says.

Photographer: Henrik Folleso Egeland, Norway, Shortlist, Environment, Youth, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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The photographer says: "At first on this capture I wanted to keep the painter, but artists are so strange that they always want to be "offstage"; When I protested, the painter answered me, "My work can give you more than my face"; I think there is a sense in his words".

Photographer: Marina Abdullaeva, Russia, Shortlist, Portraits, Youth, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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The Sufi El Tanoura dance performance, a part of the Egyptian folklore.

Photographer: Abdelrhman Hussein, Egypt, Shortlist, Culture, Youth, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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Street monkeys playing with each other.

Photographer: Anders Austrheim, Norway, Shortlist, Environment, Youth 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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Photographer: Berta Vicente, Spain, Shortlist, Portraits, Youth Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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The photographer says: When I visited the London Paralympic Games in the summer of 2012, I set out to capture the true spirit and energy of the whole event. To me, the Games were a powerful, diverse and exciting event which brought together the people of London, of the world.

By using the 170 degree wide-angle lens on the GoPro, I managed to capture an image that showed the uniting of people in a powerful light, brought together by the power of sport.

Photographer: Toby Pickard, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Culture, Youth, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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The photographer says, "My image was shot in the Desert of Mitzpe ramon (in Israel)."

Photographer: Lior Kestenberg, Israel, Shortlist, Environment, Youth, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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The photographer says, "Dancing tango, it is not just a dance but a way to live life. The last tanguero."

Photographer: Samantha Bermudez, Argentina, Portraits, Youth 2013 Sony World Photography Awards.

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The photographer says, "During my time in New Zealand (late 2010 to early 2011) I had the chance to attend one of their immersive Maori cultural tours. I was fascinated by how strong and alive their cultural identity was. It pushed me to reflect on our own country (Australia). I know it has been said for years, that we should be paying more respect to our own indigenous people, yet too often their culture seems to be overlooked. Perhaps we should take a note out of NZ's book".

Photographer: Julia Merrick, Australia, Shortlist, Culture, Youth 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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The photographer says, "My vision of what is special, unordinary and different".

Photographer: Marin Suslic, Croatia, Shortlist, Environment, Youth 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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The photographer says, "Carla and Xenia are good friends of mine. We adore to spend hours trying and testing the different lights and corners that my house and surroundings offer. We pursue an idea. When everything goes towards the same direction, the idea becomes real. That is what I catch, an idea made visual".

Photographer: Berta Vicente, Spain, Portraits, Shortlist, Youth, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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The photographer says, "(It's not necessary that) different cultures can only be found in different places... You can find different cultures and subcultures even in any city or village you live in".

Photographer: Ilia Filin, Hungary, Shortlist, Culture, Youth, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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The photographer says, "All three images that I have submitted in this category, share a common theme, 'Protection'; each image clearly illuminates how serene and perfect our world 'can' be; when mankind's dependency on natural resources is eliminated, the beauty of endangered wildlife is highlighted".

Photographer: Michael Wilkie, Australia, Shortlist, Environment, Youth 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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Jaranan is one of the traditional cultures in Indonesia; a dance usually performed in a trance.

Photographer: Diko Risanto, Indonesia, Shortlist, Portraits, Youth 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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A young Zulu tribesman sitting on the edge of the Valley of 1000 Hills, South Africa.

Photographer: Yusuf Kadermia, USA, Shortlist, Culture, Youth 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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The photographer says, "The coexistence of people and nature is a topic that I have seen many times during my travels. Especially with the huge environmental issues that we have at the moment, it is important to capture what we do to nature and how people are able to live with nature, in a way that most people have forgotten, like the people I've met in Indonesia that live next to an active volcano. These experiences are important for me to share".

Photographer: Ramin Krause, Germany, Shortlist, Environment, Youth, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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Photographer: Alyona Korolyova, Russia, Shortlist, Portraits, Youth 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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The photograph represents urban environment through an abstract long exposure photo at an urban location, the photographer says.

Photographer: Robert Gifford, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Environment, Youth, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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The face that asks questions

Photographer: Julia Merrick, Australia, Shortlist, Portraits, Youth 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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Photographer: Jimmy, Taiwan, Shortlist, Environment, Youth Competition, 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

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