sony world photography awards | somerset house

"the sony world photography awards is the largest international photography competition in the world, and prides itself in recognising and celebrating outstanding talent. the world photography organisation programmes offer year-round, unprecedented, international exposure for all of its photographers. the competition is free to enter and welcomes submissions from international photographers of all levels and areas of expertise."

on saturday, despite my throbbing headache and epic lack of sleep, i was peer pressured into leaving the comfort of my bed for the brilliant blue skies of my bad-ass babe of a city, mostly because the girls promised me gifts. i love gifts! especially gifts that included new york souveniers and home made banana loaf. so yes, i made my way (slowly) into town, lazily walking along the embankment toward somerset house, for an afternoon of being a cultured individual. look at me! i am one classy bird. (i did bail on brunch first in favour of being sick though, so.. you win some, etc) i met up with three of new zealand's finest after they'd finished brunch at tom's kitchen inside the terrace, and we hit the exhibition. 

some of the works were really awesome. some of them were... instagram worthy. these are a few of my favourites. the first few are from a piece creatively titled 'wet dog', and each of the pictures were taken in the split second before these freshly-washed dogs shook themselves dry. some of the facials on the dogs were epiiiic. we were in fits of laughter over them. another of my favourites was a instalment of pictures taken randomly around the streets of brooklyn and new york city. you know that old saying "a picture's worth a thousand words"; never more appropriate than with this instalment. each of these pictures tells a story, and it was kind of awesome to stand there and hear someone's words, without ever actually hearing a thing. (deep, i know.) the last one, i just think is really sweet. from afar, it just looks like a strawberry milkshake has been spilled. up close, there's a tiny boat with a cute fifties couple in it sitting amongst the spilled milk. it's so totally random, and so incredibly captivating.

i suppose there are worse ways to spend your hangover, right? the city was so pretty and the girls give the best company (and gifts!), so i'm glad i hauled myself out of bed to make the exhibition. if you're around london and have a couple of hours to kill, you should definitely go; the exhibition runs until may 18th at somerset house, and a ticket will cost you about seven quid. oh, and the competition for 2015 opens on the 1st of june, so... get your pictures ready guys!