This year, young photographers were asked to submit up to three images responding to the theme ‘Through Your Eyes’. The successful images show how the photographers of tomorrow perceive and interpret the world around them.

Winners of Student Photographer of the Year and Youth Photographer of the Year will be announced on 18 April and will be on view as part of the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 exhibition at Somerset House, London.

‍

The Youth competition shortlist comprises the works of 10 photographers aged 19 and under. For the 2024 competition, entrants were invited to respond to the brief Through Your Eyes.

A number of the shortlisted photographers reflected on their personal experiences of the natural world and environment. River Lewis-Gosch (USA, 15 years old) caught the first moments of a severe wildfire in the North Cascades National Park in Washington, just as the firefighting helicopters began to arrive; while Kas Christiaens’ (Belgium, 19 years old) striking night-time image depicts light pollution in rural Belgium, revealing how street lights have impacted the clarity of the night sky. Sebastián Fernández Lora (Spain, 15 years old) succeeded in capturing a photograph of comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura), which was visible from Spain in September 2023; and Daniel Murray (UK, 15 years old) turns his camera to a lone surfer on an empty beach, meditating upon the scenery of the Cornish seaside.

The shortlisted photographers also explored questions of identity and individuality in their work. Shayna Cuenca (USA, 15 years old) created a stylised self-portrait using a cut printed image, and tea bags; while Joyce Xu (Australia, 18 years old) took a studio self-portrait in a moment of reflection. Across the shortlist, photographers demonstrated creative approaches to composition as they documented their surroundings. Zy Grei Zander M. Esperanza’s (Philippines, 16 years old) image of a flying flock of doves highlights their motion through intentional camera movement techniques.

Elsewhere Chengchen Wang (China Mainland, 18 years old) captured the snow-covered peaks of Yala Mountain, glowing in the late-evening light; Afiq Sharkawi (Malaysia, 18 years old) portrayed a craftsman in the workshop, making a traditional weapon known as a ‘keris’; and Isaac Friend (UK, 18 years old) took a dramatic photograph of rock formations against the backdrop of a clouded sky and distant ocean waves.