The series, taken by London-based photographer Jon Enoch, was selected from 135,000 entries, a record number for the photography competition.

This year’s competition is divided into ten categories – Architecture; Creative; Discovery; Environment; Documentary; Landscape; Natural World and Wildlife; Portraiture; Sport and Still Life. The winner of each category will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held in London on April 16.

Bikes of Hanoi was shortlisted in the Portraiture category.

Earlier, the series won gold at the Paris Photo Prize 2019.

"Delivery drivers on the streets of Hà Nội, Việt Nam, use their amazing balance skills to deliver goods to shops and vendors across the city, while some riders sell directly from their bikes.

“New legislation plans to ban motorbikes from the city by 2030 in a bid to improve air quality and reduce congestion. In addition to this, the country’s rapid economic expansion has led to an increased use of vans for commercial deliveries, instead of bikes.

“When I read about this, it struck me that the age-old art of riding an overloaded bike might be soon coming to an end. As a result, I spent a week in Hà Nội, chasing down riders and convincing them to pose for the camera. Their cargoes included footballs, water, car parts, eggs, pet fish and ice," Enoch said about his series on worldphoto.org.

Produced by the World Photography Organisation, the internationally prestigious Sony World Photography Awards are one of the most important global photographic events.

The awards, now in their 13th year, include four competitions – Professional (for a body of work), Open (for a single image), Student (for academic institutions) and Youth (for 12-19 year-olds).

The Professional competition rewards and showcases series that are technically brilliant, exciting and offer a fresh perspective on contemporary photography. — VNS