Spiralkampagnen: Juliette Pavy, France (Overall winner of photographer of the year, first place documentary projects)

Between 1966 and 1975, Greenlandic Inuit women were the victims of an involuntary birth control programme known as the Spiralkampagnen. This image shows Naja Lyberth, a psychologist in the capital, Nuuk, who was one of the first to testify about her forced sterilisation. The Sony World Photography Awards 2024 exhibition is at Somerset House, London until 6 May 2024

Spiralkampagnen: Forced Contraception and Unintended Sterilisation of Greenlandic Women by Juliette Pavy

Led by the Danish authorities, nearly 4,500 intrauterine devices (‘coils’) were implanted into women and girls, some as young as 12, many of whom say that the procedure was performed without their consent. This image shows Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, which is located on the west coast and has 19,000 inhabitants

The fight against burning oil wells, Kuwait oil fields: Sebastião Salgado, Brazil (Outstanding contribution to photography)

The ceremony also honoured this year’s outstanding contribution to photography recipient, the internationally acclaimed Sebastião Salgado, whose distinctive black-and-white works have captured imaginations over the past five decades. Salgado was recognised for his indelible contribution to the visual language of photography

Zero Hunger: Maurizio Di Pietro, Italy (Third place, environment)

The aim of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 2 is to create a world that is free of hunger by 2030. Breeding and eating insects is a sustainable practice that can help us reach our goal. Insects are rich in proteins and highly sustainable, with minimal environmental impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and water and soil consumption. As a result, researchers are studying the most sustainable and cost-effective ways to promote the use of insects as a food source for both people and animals

Finger Wrestling in Bavaria: Angelika Jakob, Germany (Second place, sport)

Finger wrestling is an honest sport for real powerhouses. The rules are simple and there is hardly any trickery involved, as speed, good fingers and concentration are all that’s required. You can read a My Best Shot on this image here

Portraits and Landscapes: Jorge Mónaco, Argentina (First place, portfolio)

Jorge Mónaco: ‘My goal is to create projects that shed light on the lives of people from minority groups, whether they are ethnic, religious or gender-related. Through my images, I aim to raise awareness and promote inclusion, offering a reflective perspective on human diversity’

The Sacrifice Zone: Eddo Hartmann, Netherlands (First place, landscape)

This series explores a remote area of Kazakhstan known as The Polygon, which was once home to the Soviet Union’s major nuclear testing facilities. Between 1949 and 1989 more than 450 nuclear tests took place here, with little regard for their effect on the local people and environment. The location is still heavily contaminated and can only be accessed in protective clothing. The images in this series were made using an infrared camera, which hints at the radioactive menace that is invisible to the human eye

LGBTQIA Refugees, Fleeing Uganda: Brent Stirton, South Africa (Second place, documentary projects)

Lady Tina, in the wig, and Pretty Peter are trans women who fled harsh anti-LGBT laws in Uganda and now live in a safe house in Nairobi, Kenya. They live with other trans woman and keep a low profile, only dressing as women within the privacy of the house and only very occasionally going out like that to a sympathetic bar. Both Pretty and Tina were jailed for their trans lifestyle and experienced sexual assault in prison. Both are waiting to be resettled

Spa Culture: Karol Pałka, Poland (Second place, architecture and design)

Slovakia is rich in springs of natural healing water. Spa culture has been a part of the Slovakian lifestyle for hundreds of years, and has become part of a secular ritual for some. In 1947 a special balneological congress decided to divide the approximately 50 Slovak spa localities into three categories: international importance, national importance and local importance. This project examines the ways in which the architecture of spas allows those establishments to be spaces of ritual and community

A Thousand Cuts: Sujata Setia, UK (First place, creative)

Derived from the ancient Asian form of torture known as lingchi (slowly slicing), A Thousand Cuts is an ongoing series of portraits and stories that present a photographic study of patterns of domestic abuse in the south Asian community. Sujata Setia: ‘I have borrowed the metaphorical meaning of lingchi to showcase the cyclical nature of domestic abuse. The continuous act of chipping at the soul of the abused is expressed by making cuts on the portrait of the participant, while the prints are made on thin paper to depict fragility’

King Without a Throne: Poached or Dehorned: Haider Khan, India (Second place, wildlife and nature)

The persistent human desire for rhino horn – for everything from traditional medicines to hangover cures or status symbols – drives the slaughter of more than 1,000 of these majestic animals each year in South Africa. To protect them from poachers, some rhinos are now deliberately dehorned, something that is considered a necessary evil by anti-poaching campaigners in Africa. This series follows the story of two rhinos who have been stripped of their once-proud horn

Wildfires of Palermo: Jim Fenwick, UK (Second place, landscape)

Jim Fenwick: ‘I arrived in Palermo, in the midst of a gripping environmental problem that was unfolding across Sicily. The canvas of the night sky had been transformed into a captivating tableau as the flames from ongoing wildfires painted a surreal and enchanting spectacle. The ethereal glow was a juxtaposition of beauty and devastation’

Suspended Worlds: Eva Berler, Greece (First place, wildlife and nature)

Eva Berler: ‘This project started as an exploration of the world of spider webs, but it led to a personal journey into my deepest fears and aspirations. As I focused on what was hidden in the webs I became fascinated by the artful random creations that I found; the impermanent worlds that we don’t usually notice. I realised that these worlds resonate with me on a deeper level. They work as metaphors for the hidden lives of the people next to us, who we pass by every day and don’t really know anything about’

Father and Son: Valery Poshtarov, Bulgaria (First place, portraiture)

Valery Poshtarov: ‘While posing, fathers and sons hold hands for the first time in years, sometimes decades. It’s a powerful moment, often filled with hesitation or even resistance. This act of intimacy became the project’s main purpose, the photographs being just a mere testament to the long-unspoken love between the men’

London Plane Tree: Beth Galton, US (Third place, still life)

Beth Galton: ‘As an artist and a person finding themselves in the later part of life, it has become essential for me to re-evaluate and prioritise how I move through the world. Walking to my studio, I pass a line of London plane trees, and have noticed that they shed their bark. The tree is growing rapidly, and the bark is unable to expand as quickly as the tree enlarges. This fascinating process resonates with me, so I created this photographic series, which consists of cast-off bark with manipulated self-portraits’

Parenthood: Angelika Kollin, Estonia (Third place, portfolio)

Angelika Kollin: ‘The nucleus of one’s existence is rooted in family; each person inherently has parents. In our contemporary society, the concept of family has evolved and now integrates and embraces both traditional and new forms. No longer confined to a mere group of individuals sharing blood ties, I believe that family is increasingly becoming a feeling rather than a particular manifestation of form. My photographic exploration examines the myriad forms that a modern-day family can take’

America’s First Wilderness: Kathleen Orlinsky, US (Winner, sustainability prize)

The Mexican grey wolf is native to the Gila Wilderness region, and almost went extinct until a recovery programme began reintroducing the species into the wild in 1992. Here we see a wolf at the Ladder Ranch in Caballo being placed inside a capture box and muzzled by US Fish and Wildlife Service biologists. Once inside, the biologists will apply radio collars, check the wolf’s health and administer vaccines, deworming treatment and fluids before the animal is relocated to the wild in Mexico