Sony World Photography Awards 2017

Interesting and varied exhibition at Somerset House of the shortlisted winners in these years’ Sony World Photography Awards.

I always enjoy this show for the snapshots it gives of different worlds and stories as well as for the great photographs that creates. All the pictures are displayed beautifully treating them like paintings. I like the open competition rooms but wish more those pictures had more detailed labels to tell the stories behind the pictures. Themes which emerged for me this year were work from and about China and one which looked at the Syrian/Libyan refugee crisis’s.

Pictures which stood out for me included Yuan Peng’s pictures of twin Chinese gymnasts. I loved the one of them working on a bar suspended in space with expressions of pain and concentration. I two joyous pictures,  Benjamino Pisati’s of a baptism in Georgia and Tasneem Aisultan’s of an Arabic woman tossing her son in the air.

This year’s outstanding contribution award went to Martin Parr whose work I love and there were 4 rooms of his work. I love his honest look at and fondness for people. My highlight was a picture of people picnicking in the Lake District being watched by sheep.

Closes on 7 May 2017

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