“Young Mohammed Salam – in the foreground – travels regularly on iron ore hoppers through the Mauritanian Sahara, from the open-pit hematite mine center of Zouerat, to the commercial port of Nouadhibou. The journey is precarious and exhausting, but free transportation of goods provide him and his colleagues with a way to make a living. The so called "Sahara Express" was completed in 1963, three years after Mauritania's independence as a french colony, and it is considered one of the longest trains in the world. Exceeding 2.5 km long, it runs daily almost 700 Km from the deep desert to the Atlantic coast and it takes about 17 hours”. (Photo and caption by Rafael Gutierrez Garitano/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

“Ruins of Villa Epecuen in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. In 1985, a dam burst, causing the salty Lago Epecuen to flood the town to a depth of 10 meters. The village was never rebuilt”. (Photo and caption by Doralisa Romero/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

“On the Li River near Xingping in China, Cormorant fishermen work the waterways before dawn amidst the spectacular limestone towers of the Karst landscape. The birds are trained to fetch fish from the inky depths but not swallow them. The fisherman accepts the fish from the birds who dive back for more. Here, still before dawn, the fisherman and his birds head for home”. (Photo and caption by Neville Jones/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

“Built in the 60's, Jalan Bukit Ho Swee houses some of the oldest Public Housing Blocks in Singapore. More than 80% of Singapore's entire population lives in public housing. industrial modernist cubes of monotony, punctuated by varied paraphernalia – potted plants, religious altars, chained bikes, racks of wet clothes marking and defining personal spaces; individual homes in a patterned whole, like intricate tilework”. (Photo and caption by Daniel Chia/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

“Unfortunately you don't have the winters you used to have in the 17th century. In the beginning of 2013 I was lucky with a short time of winter. I had the idea to take a picture of an old Dutch landscape and was looking for a perfect location: which I found in Dwarsgracht, a small authentic village. Looking for the perfect light I'd been waiting for hours for the golden glow. I decided to find a high position, which I found in a tree for which I had to borrow a ladder from the locals to climb the tree. So I had a good view on the ice when the last skaters past by, they made the picture complete”. (Photo and caption by Theo de Witte/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

“A man sells balloons in a cemetery in Lima to cheer up families who are there to remember their dead”. (Photo and caption by Milko Torres Ramirez/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

“In July each year, this heart-pounding scene of wildebeests migration repeats itself in Kenya savanna. It's wildlife's most dramatic moment!” (Photo and caption by Cheung Lai San/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

“This image is from a larger project about racism within ballet as a profession”. (Photo and caption by Anastasia Zhetvina/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

“The photograph shows Tatiana, an inhabitant of Shatsk, Ukraine with her horse. In Ukrainian villages, horses remain an indespensible work force in farm life”. (Photo and caption by Mateusz Baj/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

“A young boy tries on the mask of a masked dancer who is having a breather after his physically grueling dance, at the festival at Tamshing Lhakhang in Bumthang, Bhutan. September 2013”. (Photo and caption by Joyce Le Mesurier/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)