This striking image of a performer in Taiwan’s annual fire festival in the city of Taichung is a finalist in the 10th Sony World Photography Awards, which has just announced its shortlist. ‘Temple devotees dressed as “hell guardians” withstand heaps of burning firecrackers,’ says Foley Hits, who took the picture. ‘I was only five metres from the action and wanted to get the deafening sound into the feel of the shot.’ See all the contenders – plus work by legendary photographer Martin Parr – at an upcoming exhibition at London’s Somerset House (21 April–7 May; worldphoto.org).
SOMETHING TO DECLARE: