Oday Shanshal, a photographer from the UAE, has won a national award at the Sony World Photography Awards 2023 for his shot, Knights.
Knights on top of horses ride through the Moroccan desert in a festival that took place in November. The picture was taken using a slow shutter speed, while panning the camera to follow the movement of the riders.
He's only one of a few winners from the Middle East and North Africa who bagged their respective national gongs, with horses being a major theme in their photos.
Scroll through the gallery above to see images from this year's winners and more
Confident, by Abdulla Al-Mushaifri from Qatar, is the picture of a young "knight" demonstrating his horsemanship in Oman, while looking at the assembled photographers waiting to capture him.
Abdelrahman Gabr, from Egypt, shot Anna, a kitesurfer who loves horses, for his image, The Horse Rider, a portrait of the woman and her steed at a beach in El Gouna, where she spends most of her time training.
People were also a focus, as Saudi Arabia's Mansour Mohsen, for example, won for his shot of a girl in traditional dress from the kingdom.
Elena Georgiou, meanwhile, from Cyprus, turned the lens on humans and architecture with her image, The Girl with the Red Hat, which shows a little girl walking through Eleftheria Square in Nicosia, a building designed by the late British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid.
Turning his focus to natural wonders, Erhan Coral, from Turkey, was inspired by the famous hot springs at Guroymak, Bitlis, which maintain a temperature of about 40°C year round, even when the outside temperature is as low as -14°C.
The National Awards are part of the Sony World Photography Awards 2023. The programme was set up by the World Photography Organisation and Sony in order to support local photography communities across the world.
A total of 55 countries took part this year, whittled down from more than 415,000 images being submitted from more than 200 destinations, 200,000 of which were sent for the Open competition. New this year are four Regional Awards, set up for regions in Europe.
All National Award winners get Sony digital imaging equipment and will be included in the Sony World Photography Awards book and exhibition, alongside the winners of the Student, Youth, Open and Professional competitions. The exhibition will take place at Somerset House in London from April 14 to May 1.
Travel photography award puts the lens on conservation and sustainability — in pictures
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Winner, Travel Photographer of the Year, Matjaz Krivic, Slovenia. All photos: Travel Photographer of the Year 2022 -
Winner, Travel Photographer of the Year, Matjaz Krivic, Slovenia -
Winner, Young Travel Photographer of the Year, Cal Cole (18), UK -
Winner, People's Choice Award, Romain Miot, France -
Winner, The Art of Monochrome (Best Single Image), Dana Allen, US -
Winner, The Art of Monochrome (Portfolio), Roie Galitz, Israel -
Winner, The Art of Monochrome (Portfolio), Roie Galitz, Israel -
Special Mention, The Art of Monochrome, Shyjith Onden Cheriyath, India -
Special Mention, The Art of Monochrome, Trevor Cole, Ireland -
Special Mention, The Art of Monochrome, Artur Stankiewicz, Poland -
Winner, Cultures (Best Single Image), Athanasios Maloukas, Greece -
Winner, Cultures (Portfolio), Magdalena Strakova, Czech Republic -
Runner-up, Cultures, Alain Schroeder, Belgium -
Highly Commended, Cultures, Li Yushan, China -
Commended, Cultures, Nicolas Castermans, France -
Special Mention, Cultures (Best Single Image), Katy Gomez Catalina, Spain -
Special Mention, Cultures (Portfolio), Johnny Haglund, Norway -
Special Mention, Cultures, Frank Lynch, Ireland -
Winner, Green Planet Blue Planet (Best Single Image), Panos Laskarakis, Greece -
Winner, Green Planet Blue Planet (Portfolio), Alexej Sachov, Germany -
Runner-up, Green Planet Blue Planet, Laura Storm, UK -
Runner-up, Green Planet Blue Planet, Kazuaki Koseki, Japan -
Commended, Green Planet Blue Planet, Ngar Shun Victor Wong, Hong Kong -
Special Mention, Green Planet Blue Planet, Xianghe Liu, China -
Special Mention, Green Planet Blue Planet, Scott Portelli, Australia -
Special Mention, Green Planet Blue Planet, Yaron Schmid, US -
Winner, Deserts to Rainforest (Best Single Image), John Seager, UK -
Winner, Deserts to Rainforest (Portfolio), Jaroslav Hora, Czech Republic -
Winner, Deserts to Rainforest (Portfolio), Jaroslav Hora, Czech Republic -
Runner-up, Deserts to Rainforests, Marek Biegalski, Poland -
Highly Commended, Deserts to Rainforest, Stephan Furnrohr, Germany -
Commended, Deserts to Rainforest, Jaroslav Hora, Czech Republic -
Winner, Creative Travel, Lorenz Berna, Italy -
Highly Commended, Creative Travel, Veronika K Ko, Bulgaria -
Winner, Mark of Mankind, Angiolo Manetti, Italy -
Highly Commended, Mark of Mankind, Edmond Terakopian, UK -
Winner, Water, Alexej Sachov, Germany -
Winner, Smart Shot: iTravelled, Marina Spironetti, Italy
