Calling all photographers! The Sony World Photography Awards 2019 is already open, with three new categories for its 12th edition.
Created by the World Photography Organization, the Sony World Photography Awards is the world’s most diverse photography competition. Together with Sony, the Awards supported the continued development of photographic culture throughout the world, celebrating the best of past and present practitioners, as well as giving a global platform to today’s talent.
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On its 12th edition, the Awards introduced three new challenging categories in addition to the existing four competitions (Note that you can only enter one of the following competitions: Professional, Open or Youth):
- Professional – Recognising outstanding bodies of work (closes January 11, 2019 – 1300 GMT)
- Open – Rewarding the world’s best single images (closes January 4, 2019 – 1300 GMT)
- Youth – Best single images by photographers aged 12-19 (closes January 4, 2019 – 1300 GMT)
- Student – For photography students worldwide (closes November 30, 2018 – 1300 GMT)
- Brief (New category) – will test photographers abilities to compose a body of work on a specific theme. The inaugural theme of this category is ‘Identity’.
- Documentary (New category) – for bodies of work portraying facts about a chosen subject, giving insight into contemporary issues and news.
- Creative (New category) – a new category under the “Open” competition, with Culture Trip and Eurostar as category partners.
The National Awards program will also reward local photographic talent.
Sony World Photography Awards 2019 prizes and deadlines:
Photographers have until November 30, 2018 to enter the Student competition, January 4, 2019 for the Open and Youth competitions, and January 11, 2019 for Professional. Full competition and categories descriptions can be found at www.worldphoto.org/swpa.
All category winners of the Professional, Open, Youth and Student competitions will receive digital imaging equipment from Sony. In addition, cash prizes of $25,000 (USD) will be presented to the Photographer of the Year and $5,000 (USD) to the overall Open competition winner. All winning and shortlisted photographers’ works will be exhibited at the annual Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition in London and will then be toured internationally. The winning images will also be published in the annual Awards’ book.
In addition to the prizes, winners will also be awarded Sony Grants, giving them further opportunities to develop and display their works and establish an ongoing relationship with Sony after the Awards. The recipients are chosen by Sony from the winning and shortlisted photographers of the Awards’ Professional and Student competitions.