The 'Professional' photographers in the running for this year's Sony World Photography Awards

Now in its 13th year, the annual contest by the World Photography Organisation rewards a remarkable body of work for technical excellence and a fresh perspective on contemporary subjects.

The winner of Photographer of the Year 2020 will be selected from the group of Professional finalists and announced during the Sony World Photography Awards 2020 ceremony in London on 16 April.

Over 345,000 images from 203 territories were submitted across the 2020 Awards' four competitions, and over 135,000 were entered across the Professional competition's ten categories – the highest number of entries to date. A new Environment category was introduced for 2020 in recognition of the growing importance of this topic in both fine art photography and photojournalism.

Under the Architecture category, forms and textures are the focus of abstract photographs by José De Rocco from Argentina, featuring vibrant building exteriors in Formalism, as well as UK photographer Jonathan Walland's Structures – a minimalist black and white series depicting modern constructions. Then there's Canadian Sandra Herber's Ice Fishing, Lake Winnipeg, which presents whimsical images of the colourful ice fishing huts that dot the frozen surface of the lake in winter.

Highlights for the Creative category include Seeds of Resistance by Pablo Albarenga from Uruguay who pairs pictures of landscapes and territories in danger from mining and agribusinesses with portraits of the activists fighting to conserve them. And Brit Joseph Ford is shortlisted for his series, Invisible Jumpers.

Using shots of social media posts, chats and Skype or WhatsApp calls, Kill Me With an Overdose of Kindness by Italian Dione Roche explores how relationships and intimacy are lived and expressed online. Witness Objects by the UK's Luke Watson comprises images of pinhole cameras made using historical objects from the Bosnian War alongside photographs taken with these makeshift cameras of meaningful locations around Sarajevo.

Elsewhere, in Natural World & Wildlife, German photographer Adalbert Mojrzisch uses macro lens technique to provide a closeup view of the intricate colours and patterns of insect and amphibian eyes. And in Discovery, Cast Out of Heaven by Hashem Shakeri looks at the lives of those forced to leave Tehran due to the economic downturn and move into inadequate state-funded housing projects.

Under Still Life, Italian Alessandro Gandolfi goes into research labs and institutions to document the processes and objects which represent modern science's advancements in its pursuit to overcome death. And for Sport, Dives by Andrea Staccioli presents poetic portraits of athletes in mid-dive at the Gwangju Diving World Championships.

An exhibition of the Sony World Photography Awards will run at Somerset House in London from 17 April until 4 May 2020. Find out more at www.worldphoto.org.