Stunning Images Of Global Photography Competition

Stunning images of fiery celebrations in China and Romanians wearing bear costumes make up winning entries in global photography competition Astonishing winning images by amateur photographers released by World Photography Organisation Ten winners from all over the world are announced, whittled down from 50,000 entries Now they will go head-to-head for the grand prize at a prize ceremony next month By Sam Webb A haunting image of a Vietnamese girl in a windstorm, a breathtaking starscape over Kazakhstan and an explosion of colour as men partake in a fire dragon dance in China are all contenders for a major photography award. The World Photography Organisation has today revealed the winners of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards, with amateur photographers hailing from countries as far apart as Chile and Vietnam. The judges have whittled down nearly 55,000 entries in the Open category to just 10, who will now will now compete for the Sony World Photography Awards Open Photographer of the Year title. Inferno: The fire dragon dance is a 300-year-old event held in the Fung Shun area of southern China.  The dragons are composed of bamboo, metal wire and paper and are festooned with fireworks, firecrackers and fire arrows. Photographer Gilbert Yu was  forced to wear a protective mask and helmet to prevent fire burns Alecsandra Dragoi, a Romanian who is studying photography at Portsmouth University, took this striking image of men in bear costume at a New Year's eve celebration in Romania The overall winner will be revealed at a gala ceremony on April 25 and this photographer will receive more than £3,000 prize money. All category winners will also have their images exhibited at Somerset House, London, from 26 April – 12 May as part of an Exhibition and be published in a book. Damien Demolder, presiding chair of jury for the Open competition and editor of Amateur Photographer magazine, said: 'Amateurs constantly amaze me, not only with their determination, their passion and their internal drive, but also with the astonishing quality they are capable of achieving. Manny Fajutag took this photo during a holiday in Sibuyan Island in the Philippines. He was riding a passenger jeepney during a family outing Weathering the storm: Nguyen Hoang Hiep, of Vietnam, won the Enhanced category with this haunting scene of a girl being buffeted by the wind Creepy crawler: The Nature & Wildlife category winner. It was taken by Krasimir Matarov from Bulgaria The Milky Way over a mountain near the Ush Konyr plateau in Kazakhstan. This photo won the Low Light category and was taken by Elmar Akhmetov of Kazakhstan 'They can be extraordinarily creative, and more than capable of working to their own brief to turn a wonderful idea or moment into a beautiful photograph. In so many ways there are heftier chunks of real life and soul in amateur images than there are in the professional categories – because amateurs do it for the love of taking pictures. 'And the shortlist and winners for this year's Open competition demonstrates that perfectly.' Sony also announced the three finalists in the Youth category, Alecsandra Dragoi, from Romania, Xu Wei Shou, from Taiwan and Berta Vicent, of Spain, as well as the winner of the 3D category, Slovenian photographer Matjaž Tančič. Professional category winners and the coveted L'Iris D'Or/ Sony World Photography Awards Professional Photographer of the Year title will be announced at the ceremony in April.  The L'Iris D'Or winner will receive nearly £17,000. Hisatomi Tadahiko of Japan took the winning picture for the People category, featuring this married couple relaxing against a drab background An explosion of milk: Photographer Matias Galvez said: 'For the human eye to capture this scene with this detail is impossible. But with a camera you have a whole new world to discover' Panorama: Yeow Kwang Yeo took this photo of an elderly man's home in a small village outside Jakarta. The man has lived there since he was a boy Fragile: Xu Wei Shou's winning photo for the Environment category is a bold black and white image showing a house teetering over a sheer cliff face Portrait: Spain's Berta Vicente said: 'One day I came across an uninhabited building. Once inside, I imagined a girl I used to meet in the bus there. I made it true' Joie de vivre: Ming Hui Guan went to a slum in ebu City in the Philippines for this picture of some laughing children playing in a Jeepney Darkness and light: A Hui-style living room in the old village houses of Yixian, China