Sony World Photography Awards: Open and Youth Winners [SLIDESHOW]

The World Photography Organisation has announced the Open and Youth category winners in the 2012 Sony World Photography Awards, which is billed as the global photographic event of the year.

The Open competition is for "for anyone with an interest in photography" and entrants are judged on the basis of a single image in categories that include People, Split Second and Enhanced.

New to the 2012 awards, the Youth Competition is open to anyone under the age of 20 and this year there were winners in three categories: Culture, Environment and Portraits.

The overall Open and Youth competition winners will be announced at the annual Sony World Photography Awards ceremony and gala dinner on 26 April at the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane.

IB Times UK casts an approving eye over the winners in each category.