Ausili receives a $25,000 cash prize. At the ceremony, he said: "I'm very glad to receive this award. Since I started this series on the death of animals, I have felt an enormous sense of guilt, and this prize goes some way to repay that debt. Thanks to the Sony World Photography Awards for honouring my work with this prize." To see the full project, check this Italian blog entry.

Astrada, an Agence France Presse photographer, also won, in 2008, BJP's International Photography Award in the singles category.

The full list of winners in the professional categories:

Photojournalism and Documentary

• Walter Astrada (Argentina) for Current Affairs
• Scott Barbour (New Zealand) for Sport
• Tommaso Ausili (Italy) for Contemporary Issues
• Paolo Pellegrin (Italy) for Arts and Entertainment

Commercial

• Martin Brent (United Kingdom) for Advertising
• David Handley (United Kingdom) for Fashion
• Mohammad Golchin (Iran) for Music

Fine Art

• Philipp Lohöefener (Germany)for Architecture
• Tommaso Bonaventura (Italy) for Portraiture
• Renhui Zhao (Singapore) for Conceptual and Constructed
• Pere Pascual (Spain) for Natural History
• Peter Franck (Germany) for Landscape

The final award went to celebrated Magnum photographer Eve Arnold, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award. Unable to attend the ceremony, the 98-year-old photographer was represented by her grandson Michael Arnold.

Arnold began working as a photographer in the early 1950s. Having worked at a film processing plant in New York, and then studying under Alexei Brodovitch, the art director of Harper's Bazaar, she approached Magnum with a series of work she had taken of migrant labourers in Long Island.

She became involved in the civil rights movement, with Malcolm X personally choosing her to follow him on his tours. But she also photographed stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich and Isabella Rossellini, and worked in China, Russia, South Africa and Afghanistan. In 1960, she moved to London, where she still lives.

For more information and to view all winning images, visit www.worldphotographyawards.org.