Here’s a sample of the fantastic photos on the shortlist for the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards

posted Monday, February 4, 2013 at 7:19 PM EDT

The World Photography Organization just revealed the shortlist of photos for the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards and, as expected, some amazing work has made the cut. We've included a selection of some of our favorite photos from the Professional and Open category shortlists below.

Organizers said they received the highest number of submissions to date for this year's competition, with 122,000 entries from 170 countries and a wide variety of subjects and styles.

"Topics ranged from haunting shots of the Syrian conflict to the Obama presidential campaign; an intimate study of cinema-goers in Kabul to quirky and witty shots of the animal kingdom," according to a press release put out to announce the two shortlists.

The work of all the shortlisted photographers will be on display at the Somerset House in London, from April 26 to May 12, 2013 as part of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition. The photos will also be published in the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards book.

The Open and Youth category winners will be announced on March 19, 2013 and the Professional category winners -- including the Photographer of the Year title -- will be revealed at a special ceremony on April 25, 2013.

See the full shortlist here. 

Professional competion