British artist Alys Tomlinson named Photographer of the Year in 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

The coveted Photographer of the Year title was presented to British artist Alys Tomlinson for her series Ex-Voto, a personal project that encompasses formal portraiture, large format landscape and small, detailed still-life images of the "ex-votos" (offerings of religious devotion) found at pilgrimage sites of Lourdes, Ballyvourney (Ireland) and Grabarka (Poland).

Her work was praised by the jury for its beautiful production, technical excellence and sensitive illustration of pilgrimage as a journey of discovery and sacrifice to a greater power.

Tomlinson was selected from the 10 category winners of the Professional competition who were announced last night alongside those in 2nd and 3rd place in each Professional category. The overall winners of the Awards’ Open (best single image), Youth and Student Focus competitions were also revealed.

Bulgarian photographer, Veselin Atanasov, was selected from 10 category winners as the best single image in the world in the Open competition. Atanasov is recognised for his image 'Early Autumn' and receives the $5,000 prize.

Megan Johnson, aged 16 and from the USA, was announced as the Youth Photographer of the Year, for her image 'Still'. Shot on the cliffs near her house in Connecticut, the black and white image captures the complex and intricate solitude the photographer faces in everyday life.

The Student Photographer of the Year was revealed as Samuel Bolduc, from Canada, age 20. Bolduc was chosen by the judges from students worldwide for his photographic series 'The Burden'. He represented College de Matane, Quebec and has won €30,000 worth of Sony photography equipment for the institution.

All winners were flown to the London awards ceremony and received Sony digital imaging equipment, publication in the winners’ book and their work will be shown as part of the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London.

Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient Candida Höfer was also at the ceremony to collect her prize. To see the full list of winners, visit worldphoto.org. In the meantime, enjoy seeing some of the winning work here.