Moore is a senior staff photographer for Getty Images. He is a past recipient of the Robert Capa Gold Medal, been named photographer of the year by both Pictures of the Year International and the National Press Photographers Association and has been recognised four times by World Press Photo.
The judges said: "John Moore's photographs of this crisis show in full the brutality of people's daily lives torn apart by this invisible enemy. However, it is his spirit in the face of such horror that garners praise. His images are intimate and respectful, moving us with their bravery and journalistic integrity."
The photographer was presented with his award along with a $25,000 (£16,699, €23,340) cash prize and the latest Sony digital imaging equipment at a gala ceremony held in London on 23 April.
L'Iris d'Or/Photographer of the year: John Moore, US. Omu Fahnbulleh stands over her husband Ibrahim after he fell and died in a classroom used for Ebola patients.John Moore / Getty Images, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsL'Iris d'Or/Photographer of the year: John Moore, US. An MSF health worker in protective clothing carries a sick girl at an Ebola treatment centreJohn Moore / Getty Images, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsL'Iris d'Or/Photographer of the year: John Moore, US. A woman crawls towards the body of her sister as Ebola burial team members take her awayJohn Moore / Getty Images, 2015 Sony World Photography Awards
L'Iris d'Or/Photographer of the year: John Moore, US. A burial team sprays disinfectant over the body of a woman suspected of dying of Ebola in her homeJohn Moore / Getty Images, 2015 Sony World Photography Awards
Now in its eighth year, the Sony World Photography Awards annually presents the world's best contemporary photography across a range of genres. Free to enter and open to photographers of all abilities, it attracts both emerging talent and established artists.
The 2015 awards attracted 173,444 images submitted from 171 countries, confirming its position as the world's biggest photography competition.
In March, IBTimesUK published a gallery showcasing the category winners of the Open (amateur) competition. Now we able to publish the winners of the Professional categories.
Architecture: Cosmin Bumbutz, Romania. "Once Romania joined the European Union in 2007, the whole prison system went through major revamp and the biggest reform was to introduce the right to private visits. This means that a prisoner who is married or in a relationship has the right to receive, every three months, a two-hour private visit which takes place in a separate room inside the prison compound. Plus, if a prisoner gets married in detention he or she can spend 48 hours with the spouse in the special room and is allowed visits once a month in the first year of marriage. I started photographing the private rooms in 2008 and I have now photographed the private rooms inside all Romanian penitentiaries (35 penitentiaries)."Cosmin Bumbut, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsArchitecture: Cosmin Bumbutz, RomaniaCosmin Bumbut, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsArts & Culture winner: Aristide Economopoulos, United States. "Across New Jersey and the rest of America, every spring high school seniors go through the right of passage of their high school prom. An event where everyone looks their best wearing elaborate gowns and tuxedos where one can’t differentiate their social or economic background. Teens spend hundreds of dollars for the special night."Aristide Economopoulos, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsArts & Culture winner: Aristide Economopoulos, United States. "A girl tweets during her prom. For many teenagers, social media has become integral important outlets of who they are."Aristide Economopoulos, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsCampaign winner: Sebastian Gil Miranda, France (lives in Argentina). ": This picture was taken as part of the social project Uniendo Caminos; in the Chapel Our Lady of Lujan, in Villa La Carcova; Jose Leon Suarez, Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in the country."Sebastian Gil Miranda, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsCampaign winner: Sebastian Gil Miranda, France (lives in Argentina)Sebastian Gil Miranda, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsConceptual winner: Rahul Talukder, Bangladesh. "On April 24, 2013 the world witnessed the biggest garment factory accident till date. Rana Plaza, An eight storey commercial building collapsed during morning rush hour in Savar, Bangladesh and resulted in a death toll of more than 1,100 people and over 2,500 injured. While the search goes on for those buried under collapsed walls, another wall gets filled with pictures of the missing. Why did they take these pictures? Perhaps photos for a job application, narcissism, or to send to loved ones. As they get wet with rain, and wrinkled by the sun - they stare out at you and me and whisper 'I was somebody. Do not forget me.'"Rahul Talukder, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsConceptual winner: Rahul Talukder, BangladeshRahul Talukder, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsContemporary Issues winner: Scott Typaldos, Switzerland. "In Ancient Greece, drifting souls were often represented by butterfly symbols. This was a direct link to Psyche, the soul goddess, who was similarly depicted with delicate lepidoptera wings. When looking for a title for my work on the mental condition, I wanted a word that elevated the individuals I had met above the stale socially created traumas and stigmatisations, which had ruined their lives. The word “Butterflies” soon imposed itself as an image of a delicate but radiant state of being. A description of freedom constantly terrorised by the outside world and an unstable condition made splittable by a misplaced caress. This soul vulnerability constantly immersed in fear became my main obsession while photographing the men and women waiting in institutions or healing centres."Scott Typaldos, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsContemporary Issues winner: Scott Typaldos, SwitzerlandScott Typaldos, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsLandscape winner: Simon Norfolk, United Kingdom. "Mt Kenya 1934. Mapping with a pyrograph, the melting away of the Lewis Glacier on Mt. Kenya, 1934. The flame line shows the Lewis Glacier's location in 1934." Simon Norfolk, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsLandscape winner: Simon Norfolk, United Kingdom. "Mapping with a pyrograph, the melting away of the Lewis Glacier on Mt. Kenya, 1963. The flame line shows the Lewis Glacier's location in 1963."Simon Norfolk, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsLifestyle winner: Fan Li, ChinaFan Li, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsLifestyle winner: Fan Li, China. "Living in the Great Liangshan Mountains in southwest Sichuan province of China, the ethnic Yi people experienced a great societal change from the slave society to the socialist society after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Back in the depth of the Great Liangshan Mountains with backward economic development, they are living a self-sufficient farming way of life and their indigenous way of life is one of the best preserved among ethnic minorities in western China."Fan Li, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsPeople winner: Giovanni Troilo, Italy. "Philippe passes most of his time in his beautiful house in one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in Charleroi, Belgium."Giovanni Troilo, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsPortraiture winner: Ruben Salgado Escudero, Spain (lives in Myanmar). "Just 26% of Myanmar's population has access to the electrical grid, at least half of whom live in cities. In rural areas, infrastructure is extremely primitive: of the estimated 68,000 villages in Myanmar, just 3,000 or so have any sort of access to power. With vast opportunities for hydro-power development and extensive offshore natural gas reserves, electricity should be the last of Myanmar’s worries. Solar energy is a viable and much-needed solution that has the potential to improve the lives of millions immediately. Small, inexpensive photovoltaic power (PV) systems can provide households with at least 12 hours of light during the night, allowing people to do more with their waking hours at no additional cost. These portraits depict the lives of inhabitants of remote areas of Myanmar who, for the first time have access to electricity through the power of solar energy. Each subject was asked how having electricity has affected their life."Ruben Salgado Escudero, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsPortraiture winner: Ruben Salgado Escudero, Spain (lives in Myanmar)Ruben Salgado Escudero, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsSport winner: Riccardo Bononi, Italy. "Bolivia is proud of being the Latin American country with the highest the number of actively working women. Bolivian women no longer are the subject for the weaker sex prejudice, they are rather associated with the outstanding physical stamina, the inclination to struggle and the great brute strength. In the poorest neighbourhood of La Paz, a bunch of female farmers from the countryside get together every Sunday in the ring for a public fight. When I was working in the San Pedro prison in La Paz I met a woman living inside the jail and leaving only during the weekend for a fight. That made me curious to follow this woman in her world of the Bolivian female lucha libre."Riccardo Bononi, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsSport winner: Riccardo Bononi, ItalyRiccardo Bononi, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsStill Life winner: Donald Weber, Canada. "Molotov Cocktails have been the weapon of choice for the EuroMaidan protestors in Kiev. Using fire to their advantage, the protesters were able to defend their barricades, extend their lines and fortify their positions. In order to set fire to tanks, armoured vehicles, buses, and tires in opposition to local cops, Kiev’s protestors used thousand and thousands of Molotov Cocktails, inspiring and mobilizing people throughout the city to collect as many bottles as possible."Donald Weber, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsStill Life winner: Donald Weber, CanadaDonald Weber, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsTravel winner: Bernhard Lang, Germany. "Aerial photographs of the Adriatic coastline between Ravenna and Rimini, Italy. The colourful umbrellas create amazing geometric patterns which contrast dramatically with the golden sand and azure-coloured sea. From the air it is possible to see how almost every inch of sand is used on a busy summer's day on the Adriatic coastline." Bernhard Lang, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsTravel winner: Bernhard Lang, GermanyBernhard Lang, 2015 Sony World Photography Awards
Amateur German photographer Armin Appel was named the overall Open Photographer of the Year and received $5,000 for his image "Schoolyard".
Chosen from nearly 80,000 entries to the Open competition, the image was taken while Appel was paragliding and shows the vibrant landscape of Biberach an der Riss, Germany. See the IBTimesUK gallery of the Open category winners.
Open Photographer of the Year: Armin Appel, GermanyArmin Appel, 2015 Sony World Photography Awards
Nineteen-year-old student Yong Lin Tan from Malaysia was awarded the Youth Photographer of the Year title for an image taken in the back alley of the photographer's grandmother's house in Kedah, Malaysia.
It was chosen from the three Youth category winners who were announced on 31 March. 6,675 entries were received to the Youth competition in total.
Youth Photographer of the Year: Yong Lin Tan, MalaysiaYong Lin Tan, 2015 Sony World Photography Awards
Russian photographer Svetlana Blagodareva from Saint Petersburg State Polytechnic University beat nine other shortlisted students from around the world to collect the Student Photographer of the Year title. Her prize is €35,000 (£25,000) worth of Sony photography equipment for her university.
Student Focus Photographer of the Year: Svetlana Blagodareva, St Petersburg State Polytechnic University, RussiaSvetlana Blagodareva, 2015 Sony World Photography AwardsStudent Focus Photographer of the Year: Svetlana Blagodareva, St Petersburg State Polytechnic University, RussiaSvetlana Blagodareva, 2015 Sony World Photography Awards
All of the winning and shortlisted images will be exhibited at Somerset House, London from 24 April to 10 May, along with an exhibition featuring Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient, Elliott Erwitt.
The exhibition is accompanied by a book of the winning and selected shortlisted work. It is available to buy from www.worldphoto.org.
