Winners of the Sony World Photography Awards

From waterdrops to a one-man band. Here are the stunning winners of the Sony World Photography Awards.A wide range of incredible imagery was recognised at the Sony World Photographic Awards, which took place on Thursday night. The competition saw more than 112,000 entries from 171 countries across the globe, the largest number since its inception in 2007.

Overall winning photograph was a stop motion waterdrop image taken by Tobias Brauning. Called 'Dancing Queen' it resembles a flower rising out of the ground. Brauning said that Inspiration for his image came from pictures of simple water drops on a German DSLR internet forum.

Cute but haunting: A monkey in Wroclaw Zoo, Poland, taken by Jacek Kusz.

Donald Weber won the Current Affairs category for this portrait of persisting tsunami damage in Japan. He said: "Odaka lies on the north-eastern coast of Japan. It was once home to 13,000 people, but today it is almost a ghost town. When the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March (2011) triggered blasts at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a 20km radius exclusion zone was imposed by the Japanese government.".

Travel winner Luis Henry Agudelo Cano took this eerie shot in New York to signify those lost in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. "Ten years after the 11 September attacks on New York City, its people and streets are fragments of a melancholy memory while the action of reconstruction continues."

The Fashion category winner by Peter Franck.

This unique time jump composite was created by Irina Werning, scooping the Architecture category. "I love old photos," she said. "Most of us are fascinated by their retro look but to me, it’s imagining how people would feel and look like if they were to re-enact them today. I decided to actually do this. So, with my camera, I started inviting people to go back to their future."

The last supper - British photographer Helen Thompson won the Still Life category with mocked-up pictures of death row inmates' final meals. "The project was a collaboration with graphic designer Matt Prosser, who used the images to illustrate a mock-up book on the subject. The crime committed by each prisoner was printed on one side of the book, the image on the other, juxtaposing text with image," said Thompson.

"Working in a modelling agency, I have contacts with young girls for whom I am the first link on the road to the fashion industry," said Kasia Bieska, Contemporary Issues category winner with this image.

Manuel Geerinck's Conceptual category winning image. "In creating photographic images, I am building upon an environment based on the behaviour of assemblages in motion," he said. "These photographs represent an extension of research that originally was born in more static painting."

An incredible stormy image claimed the Landscape category, snapped by American Mitch Dobrowner. Dobrowner won the L’Iris d’Or photographer of the year award for his series of images titled 'Storms'.

"Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport and one of the fastest growing sports today," say PALMER PAWEL, winners of the Sport category for this bloody shot.

Huge clouds engulf the earth in another of Mitch Dobowner's winning photographs.

The Campaign category winner by Peter Franck, Germany.

Looking a bit out of place? British photographer Simon Norfolk won the People category with this image taken in Afghanistan. "The Irish war photographer John Burke, of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880), documents a most extraordinary record - and yet he is virtually unknown," said Norfolk. "In 2011 I went back to Afghanistan to follow in John Burke's footsteps. Loosely re-photographic, the new work is more of an Improvisation On A Theme By John Burke."

'The Last Hero' depicts a Russian war veteran climbing steps to meet current troops. It was taken by the overall Youth Winner, Sergey Kolyaskin of Russia.

Dutch snapper Rob Hornstra won the Arts and Culture category with this quirky shot of a rather lonely looking singer on stage. "It's common for restaurants in the Russian tourist resort of Sochi to feature singers who, night after night, rely on a fixed repertoire of Russian chansons," said Hornstra.