‘Testosterone Notes’. Testosterone vials placed over the holes of a recorder. As notes move down the scale (a lower register), there is less liquid inside the vials. Macaia, a trans man, collects these repositories in a glass jar. The transition for him began naturally; his body has always produced more hair and his voice has always been deeper than expected. Nothing was ever wrong. A documentary series composed of photographs, films and texts about the history of voices of trans, non-binary and intersex people. The photographs are like totem poles; sculptures made for the camera that accompany biographical accounts. The starting point for this series is the story of the voice of the artist themselves, Masina Pinheiro, whose puberty transition took place at the age of 23. Their thin voice from childhood stood alongside an intuitively non-binary identity, an effeminate body with masculine expectations. The series also tells the story of voices who have undergone surgical procedures to alter decibels and conform to their gender identity. Challenging gender impositions is a determining factor that interrupts lives, especially in Brazil, the country with the highest rate of murders of LGBTQIANB+ populations in the world. © Rodrigo Masina Pinheiro, Brazil, Shortlist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

Tree. Landscape gardening is a practice dating back to ancient times; Nebuchadnezzar II of the Babylonian Empire built a garden complex in the sky for his homesick princess consort, which was known as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Sky Garden series takes its name from this history. Three years ago I settled down in Wenjiang, and there is a tree nursery within walking distance of my home. Exotic trees and rocks from all over the world can be seen there, including Japanese black pines and maple trees. There are workers lifting these trees and rocks with mobile cranes every day, transporting them and planting them in newly built parks, neighbourhoods or streets in the city. I walk through the woods and take photographs when the trees and rocks are being lifted into the air. Together, these images create The Sky Garden series. © Kechun Zhang, China Mainland, Finalist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

Tree. Landscape gardening is a practice dating back to ancient times; Nebuchadnezzar II of the Babylonian Empire built a garden complex in the sky for his homesick princess consort, which was known as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Sky Garden series takes its name from this history. Three years ago I settled down in Wenjiang, and there is a tree nursery within walking distance of my home. Exotic trees and rocks from all over the world can be seen there, including Japanese black pines and maple trees. There are workers lifting these trees and rocks with mobile cranes every day, transporting them and planting them in newly built parks, neighbourhoods or streets in the city. I walk through the woods and take photographs when the trees and rocks are being lifted into the air. Together, these images create The Sky Garden series. © Kechun Zhang, China Mainland, Finalist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

‘I bring the fish frozen so he can cook it inside. They only allow me to bring two oranges and two onions.’ ‘Don’t bring anything, I just want you to come and visit me’ is one of the phrases most repeated by the inmates of Picsi prison, located in the city of Chiclayo in northern Peru. But many visitors do not want to arrive empty-handed, despite the strict controls. Guisella D explains how ‘I get up at five in the morning to cook fried fish with cassava, which is one of my husband’s favourite dishes. Then I go to the market to buy permitted fruits like bananas and oranges, and by six in the morning I am in the queue to enter the prison. Sometimes it is stressful: the lines are endless and the murderous sun and the earth ruin your skin. The only consolation is to arrive and meet my partner again. Then you forget about the shameful controls, and the sun, until next Sunday’. These images represent different visits; the tenderness, affection and the company of parents, brothers, children and wives. The one who visits also suffers. © Carloman Macidiano Céspedes Riojas, Peru, Finalist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

‘Today I prepared dried lamb, as it is my son’s favourite dish.’ ‘Don’t bring anything, I just want you to come and visit me’ is one of the phrases most repeated by the inmates of Picsi prison, located in the city of Chiclayo in northern Peru. But many visitors do not want to arrive empty-handed, despite the strict controls. Guisella D explains how ‘I get up at five in the morning to cook fried fish with cassava, which is one of my husband’s favourite dishes. Then I go to the market to buy permitted fruits like bananas and oranges, and by six in the morning I am in the queue to enter the prison. Sometimes it is stressful: the lines are endless and the murderous sun and the earth ruin your skin. The only consolation is to arrive and meet my partner again. Then you forget about the shameful controls, and the sun, until next Sunday’. These images represent different visits; the tenderness, affection and the company of parents, brothers, children and wives. The one who visits also suffers. © Carloman Macidiano Céspedes Riojas, Peru, Finalist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

‘Temporary Artworks I’. Reinforcing mesh at a construction site in Düsseldorf, 2022. Towering cranes are part of the urban image in a big city like Düsseldorf, moving heavy components and machines at dizzying heights above construction sites. Mats and bars of iron float silently, seemingly aimless, lingering for a while and being transformed into temporary works of art until they finally disappear into the building for eternity. For many months I visited numerous construction sites, waiting for a suitable subject, often in vain. The minimalist representation directs the viewer’s gaze to the essentials: works of art in transition. © Klaus Lenzen, Germany, Shortlist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

‘Temporary Artworks IX’. Reinforcing bars at a construction site in Düsseldorf, 2022. Towering cranes are part of the urban image in a big city like Düsseldorf, moving heavy components and machines at dizzying heights above construction sites. Mats and bars of iron float silently, seemingly aimless, lingering for a while and being transformed into temporary works of art until they finally disappear into the building for eternity. For many months I visited numerous construction sites, waiting for a suitable subject, often in vain. The minimalist representation directs the viewer’s gaze to the essentials: works of art in transition. © Klaus Lenzen, Germany, Shortlist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

‘Scalpel’. I took this in a studio with a big softbox looming over the scalpel, which was sitting on a black background. I wanted to show the similarities not only between the shape of the scar and scalpel, but the texture as well. Pectus excavatum is a natural deformity to the chest, which causes it to be concave. It can cause a lot of health complications and in my case it not only affected my physical endurance, but my self-image as well. This led me to one of the most life-defining experiences I have had: a surgery called the Nuss procedure. The Nuss procedure is regarded as minimally invasive, but it is one of the most painful surgeries a child can go through. This procedure has often been likened to that of braces, but instead of taking years to work, it happens in just a few seconds. Although there were four tough years of pain while I recovered, I would go through it all again if I had to. This project focuses on the pain and clinical nature of surgery, as well as the beauty of the human body. © Austin Crail, United States, Shortlist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

‘X-ray’. An X-ray of the steel bar inside my body, under my rib cage and over my heart and lungs. The image was modified slightly to remove some text over the image and to show more of the human form. This image and the photograph of the front of my chest form a diptych, with each image echoing the other. Pectus excavatum is a natural deformity to the chest, which causes it to be concave. It can cause a lot of health complications and in my case it not only affected my physical endurance, but my self-image as well. This led me to one of the most life-defining experiences I have had: a surgery called the Nuss procedure. The Nuss procedure is regarded as minimally invasive, but it is one of the most painful surgeries a child can go through. This procedure has often been likened to that of braces, but instead of taking years to work, it happens in just a few seconds. Although there were four tough years of pain while I recovered, I would go through it all again if I had to. This project focuses on the pain and clinical nature of surgery, as well as the beauty of the human body. © Austin Crail, United States, Shortlist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

‘Cryogenia 1’. Objects I photograph are small treasures chosen by my daughter and frozen into ice shapes. Is it done in order to survive the catastrophe? What will become of us? I started working with Astrida Neimanis’ concept of hydrofeminism and ‘becoming a body of water’. In addition to the rapid melting of Arctic glaciers, Neimanis also cites studies that show elevated levels of toxins in Inuit mother’s milk, which gets there from pollution in rivers, oceans and precipitation, as well as from the poisoned seafood they ingest. I am interested not in the flux, but in the moment of freezing and the Cryogenian period. The Cryogenian was a time of drastic biosphere changes that saw the start of severe glaciation and the entire planet entering a state known as Snowball Earth. The objects I photograph are small treasures chosen by my daughter that are frozen into ice shapes. Is it done in order to survive the catastrophe? What will become of us? Of all our treasures? Of the tons of rubbish floating in the water? I do not know. I only know that the question is worth asking. © Jagoda Malanin, Poland, Finalist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

‘Cryogenia 4’. Objects I photograph are small treasures chosen by my daughter and frozen into ice shapes.
Is it done to survive the catastrophe? What will become of us? I started working with Astrida Neimanis’ concept of hydrofeminism and ‘becoming a body of water’. In addition to the rapid melting of Arctic glaciers, Neimanis also cites studies that show elevated levels of toxins in Inuit mother’s milk, which gets there from pollution in rivers, oceans and precipitation, as well as from the poisoned seafood they ingest. I am interested not in the flux, but in the moment of freezing and the Cryogenian period. The Cryogenian was a time of drastic biosphere changes that saw the start of severe glaciation and the entire planet entering a state known as Snowball Earth. The objects I photograph are small treasures chosen by my daughter that are frozen into ice shapes. Is it done in order to survive the catastrophe? What will become of us? Of all our treasures? Of the tons of rubbish floating in the water? I do not know. I only know that the question is worth asking. © Jagoda Malanin, Poland, Finalist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

‘Circuit Boards 2’. A collection of motherboards extracted from defunct personal computers. I am interested in the resonance of memories that have passed through these objects, which have now evolved into 21st Century uninterpretable hieroglyphics. They were photographed using paper negatives on a 10×8 Deardorf camera to emphasise the otherworldliness of the objects. © Alun Crockford, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

‘Circuit Boards 6’. A collection of motherboards extracted from defunct personal computers. I am interested in the resonance of memories that have passed through these objects, which have now evolved into 21st Century uninterpretable hieroglyphics. They were photographed using paper negatives on a 10×8 Deardorf camera to emphasise the otherworldliness of the objects. © Alun Crockford, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

The Bleaklow Bomber was a US Air Force Boeing B-29 Superfortress that was modified as part of the Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron and bore the name ‘Overexposed’. It crashed on the moors in the Peak District in 1948, during a routine flight. Captain Landon Tanner was flying using instruments only, as there was very low cloud, and the aircraft hit the ground at 610 metres (2,000 feet) above sea level, 300 metres (1,000 feet) north east of the Higher Shelf Trig Point. The plane was engulfed in flames and one crew and two military passengers perished. Out hiking in the bleak endless hills of the Peak District I came across the B-29 crash site, its warped structures interrupting the skyline with metal debris that drew my eye. The forms have been displaced by the force of a crash that happened more than 50 years ago, and have survived the harsh weather in the Peak District to create sculptural forms. I am fascinated not only by the different textures that erosion has left in this, and other aircraft crash sites in the area, but also by the fact that few people have seen these objects. © Liz McBurney, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

This B-24J Liberator crashed on 11 October 1944, as it was being flown from Burtonwood to Hardwick by a two-man ferry crew. It struck the ground on Mill Hill, roughly 2½ kilometres (1½ miles) from the Grouse Inn between Glossop and Hayfield. The two pilots extracted themselves and walked along the stream to the road, where they were picked up. Out hiking in the bleak endless hills of the Peak District I came across the B-29 crash site, its warped structures interrupting the skyline with metal debris that drew my eye. The forms have been displaced by the force of a crash that happened more than 50 years ago, and have survived the harsh weather in the Peak District to create sculptural forms. I am fascinated not only by the different textures that erosion has left in this, and other aircraft crash sites in the area, but also by the fact that few people have seen these objects. © Liz McBurney, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

‘A Step in Time 2’. Prop up sculpture made from preserved slivers of centuries-old shoe leather found whilst mudlarking on The River Thames foreshore. Pieces of preserved shoe leather that date back to Tudor times, found on the Thames foreshore. The shoes might have slipped from a child’s foot while they were being carried to a boat, or may have been worn hobnailed by a weary worker, but in either case, the leather has been preserved by the anaerobic mud. These mini-sculptures were made into tableaux and photographed in natural winter light. © Elaine Duigenan, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

‘A Step in Time 4’. Prop up sculpture made from preserved slivers of centuries old shoe leather found whilst mudlarking on The River Thames foreshore. Pieces of preserved shoe leather that date back to Tudor times, found on the Thames foreshore. The shoes might have slipped from a child’s foot while they were being carried to a boat, or may have been worn hobnailed by a weary worker, but in either case, the leather has been preserved by the anaerobic mud. These mini-sculptures were made into tableaux and photographed in natural winter light. © Elaine Duigenan, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2023 DM/ ML