Images from across the world named as winners in photography awards

The winning photograph of the Church of St Ursula and power lines in Siroko Polje, Slovenia. PIC: Andrej Tarfila

WINNING IMAGES have been selected from almost a quarter of a million entries into the world's biggest photography competition.

A record-breaking 230,103 photographs from 186 countries were entered into the Sony World Photography Awards – up a third on last year’s competition.

Thirteen images have been chosen as initial winners in the open and youth competitions.

The subject matter of the winning material varied greatly.

A grandson and his grandfather, taken by Alex Ingle, was the winning photograph in the Open Competition, Smile category.

A photograph of the youngest member of the Nawrot family with his grandfather lying on the sofa by Alex Ingle was the winner of the Open Competition, Smile category.

And an image of the Church of St Ursula and power lines in Siroko Polje, Slovenia, by Andrej Tarfila, was named as the winner of the Open Competition, Travel section.

Other photographs among the 13 winners included a polar bear emerging from the water, a lantern store in Vietnam, fireflies shot in the moonlight in Japan and a stunning Icelandic landscape.

The chair of the competition, Jael Marschner said: “Photography is a binary talent. It combines conceptual art with technical skill, and with technological advances ever progressing, is accessible to everyone.”