Captive rhinos to sacred pilgrimages: The best pictures from Sony World Photography Awards 2024

In 2022, I was commissioned by The New York Times to photograph my friends in their first cars. Having spent my final teenage years in isolation due to the pandemic, the car provided me with a space to come back into touch with my community and with L.A.

Insects are rich in proteins and highly sustainable, with minimal environmental impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and water and soil consumption. As a result, researchers are studying the most sustainable and cost-effective ways to promote the use of insects as a food source for both people and animals.

With this series I want to share the painful story of two rhinos, one living in Munich, Germany, and the other in Kolkata, India. Despite being separated by thousands of miles, these beautiful creatures have a shared past: both of them have been stripped of their once-proud horn, symbolising the harm that humans can inflict upon wildlife.

The Senegalese surf scene is growing fast and I’ve been there to document the life of Ismaila Samb, a young, promising surfer who is aspiring to become a professional. The surfers here don’t have the best equipment, but though they surf with old surfboards and wetsuits, their passion is above everything.

In recent years, due to population growth and lack of sufficient housing, the towns near Tehran have been crowded and people have to migrate here.

These cut flowers were bought at a local flower shop and photographed in front of prints of landscapes in my studio.

My photographic exploration examines the myriad forms that a modern-day family can take, uniting them under common and universally sought human emotions: a sense of belonging, love and emotional intimacy.

Plants are among the main suppliers of medicinal substances and should be considered as the producers and dynamic containers of chemical substances. This series highlights the important role of pharmacognosy in modern biology.

The Ayabaca pilgrimage is at the heart of deep-rooted catholic traditions within the South American region. I joined these pilgrims to explore and capture the performative image of their cathartic rituals, as they travelled to meet the Captive Lord, represented wearing a spiked crown as he is led to his crucifixion.

Home is Where The Horse is follows a herd of wild horses inhabiting the Bot river estuary at the Rooisand Nature Reserve, in the Overberg region of South Africa. As an equestrian with a broad knowledge of equine behaviour, on extremely rare occasions I would insert myself in their presence as a respectful observer; non-threatening and mindful to avoid any form of dependence, trust or disruption.

These scenes and objects – the result of human production and labour processes serving human survival and life – are now left on the earth and have become the landscape. Some of these landscapes have become construction waste, destroying the living environment and becoming permanent scars.

This series of images presents a kitsch and often absurd world where new stories are found. Offering both a humorous and serious contemplation of our past and present, these fragments of history come from a world that in and of itself is often completely out of joint. Surreal greetings from ‘Absurdistan’!