Czech photographer among winners of Sony World Photography Awards

Czech photographer Tomáš Vocelka has become one of the winners of the annual Sony World Photography Awards, which organizers describe as one of the most important photographic contests of the year.

Vocelka, an editor and photographer for Aktuálně.cz, won the Architecture and Design Category for a photo series depicting a pet crematorium in the Czech Republic.

Vocelka's series, titled Eternal Hunting Grounds, depicts the transformation of a former military complex that has now became a crematorium for pets.

It was awarded the top prize in the Architecture and Design Category by jury members for the Sony World Photography Awards.

The Sony World Photography Awards are bestowed annually by the World Photography Organisation, which was founded in 2007 by Scott Gray.

The World Photography Organisation is global platform for photographic projects, cooperating with partners across the world from 180 different countries.

Vocelka was the first Czech winner in one of the professional categories. For his victory, he received a set of equipment for digital photographs from Sony.

Initially, the photographer was hesitant to even shoot the subject.

"At first, I really didn't want to go there," Vocelka told iRozhlas.cz after his win.

"Then I realized that these things that you don't want to do at first move you forward because you have to think a lot about how to do it. And I also realized that it is a very interesting topic."

"It's not just a curiosity about an animal crematorium, but it shows how people's relationship with animals is changing, how we live among a lot of people, but a lot of us are alone and the closest being is a dog or a cat. In addition, it is a former military building from the Cold War, which was rebuilt into a beautiful architectural work."

You can view more of Vocelka's photography on his website and Instagram page.