Open to all photography enthusiasts, the jury, chaired by Nigel Atherton, Group Editor, IPC Photo, UK, selected ten category winners. Click through to see them in all their glory. 

First up is the brilliantly vibrant piece Under the Staircase.  

Photographer Name: Holger Schmidtke

Year: 2014

Image Description: I've seen similar images of staircases and so I try to do it my way.  In a Office-Building in Cologne I went down to the Zero-Ground of the staircase. I spread my tripod to get a near bottom position and fixed it in the middle of this motif. With the wide-angle 10 - 24mm lens I took some Raw-Photos. The image " under the Staircase " is one of them developed with LightRoom.

Copyright: © Holger Schmidtke_Germany_Winner_Open_Architecture_2014 Sony World Photography Awards