2017 Sony World Photography Awards Now Open for Entries

·  World’s largest photography competition
celebrates its 10th anniversary

·  New categories in Professional, Open, and
Youth competitions

·  Hunt launched to discover Singapore’s best
photographer

(SINGAPORE, 1 June 2016) – The Sony World Photography Awards, the
world’s largest photography competition, opens for entries today. Created by
the World Photography Organisation, 2017 marks the awards’ 10th anniversary.

In addition to the Professional, Open, Youth
and Student Focus competitions, the hunt is also on to find Singapore’s best
photographer in the Singapore National award.

The Sony World Photography Awards annually
recognises the world’s best photography. Open to all photographers, the awards
are an authoritative voice in the photographic industry that has the power to
shape the careers of its winning and shortlisted photographers. Each year the
competition attracts both emerging talent and established artists, and presents
the world’s best photography from the last 12 months to a global audience.

“I am deeply honoured and overwhelmed by this
recognition. It’s my privilege to represent Singapore. This is such an immense
inspiration to keep me pursuing my passion for photography further and further.
Photography had been something to me and now it’s become everything to me.
Smiling time!” – Kajan
Madrasmail, Winner, 2016 Singapore National Award

“Winning the Portrait category was
life-changing. Professionally, winning the award helped kick-start my
career.” – Sophie
Gamand, Winner, Professional Portrait category 2015

“Winning brought more attention to my
work and I started receiving more collaboration proposals and job
opportunities.” – Kylli
Sparre, Winner, Open Enhanced category 2014

“The award changed my life and beyond the
great visibility obtained allowed me to create solid relations of friendships
and professional collaborations that I otherwise would not have been able to
obtain.” – Andrea
Roseate, 3rd Place, Professional Candid category 2016 and Italy National Award
winner 2015 

Photographers are welcome to enter their work
for free into any of the awards’ four competitions:Professional, Open, Youth and Student
Focus via www.worldphoto.org. The newly re-launched
website gives a greater visual platform to the awards’ photographers and makes
the entry process simpler than before.

Entries to the Singapore National Award will
be taken from those with Singaporean nationality entering any of the ten Open
categories.

The 2017 edition also sees new categories
introduced across the all competitions aimed at challenging photographers to
push their creative boundaries. Please see notes to editors for competition
definitions and categories or click here.

The Sony World Photography Awards offer a wide
range of benefits for its winning photographers, including:

·         The latest Sony digital imaging equipment

·         Inclusion in the Sony World Photography Awards
Exhibition in London

·         Inclusion in the annual Sony World Photography
Awards winners book

·         USD$25,000 for the winner of the Photographer
of the Year title

·         USD$5,000 for the winner of the Open
competition

·         Worldwide media exposure and increased
recognition

Scott Gray, CEO of World Photography
Organisation, comments: “We are extremely proud to reach our 10thanniversary.
Since launching in 2007 the Sony World Photography Awards has grown
consistently in both size and credibility. Across the years the awards have
discovered and celebrated a huge variety of photography. I am honored that
emerging photographers across the world have been able to use the awards to
launch their careers, and established photographers can use us to extend their
networks. We are committed to challenging photographers to push their creative
boundaries in the years to come.”

The 2016 Sony World Photography Awards
attracted a record-breaking 230,103 entries from 186
countries. The Singapore National Award was presented to Singaporean
photographer Kajan Madrasmail.

The 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
shortlist will be announced on 28 February 2017, Open and National Awards
winners will be revealed on 28 March 2017, and the overall winners will be
announced on 20 April 2017. This includes an exhibition at Somerset House,
London, running from 21 April to 7 May 2017.

Winning and shortlisted images from the 2016
awards are available to download at press.worldphoto.org. 

●     Professional – Judged on a body of work

o      Art categories: Architecture, Conceptual,
Landscape, Natural World, Portraiture, Still Life

o      Documentary categories: Current Affairs & News,
Contemporary Issues, Daily Life, Sport

●     Open – Judged on a single shot

○         Categories: Architecture, Culture, Enhanced,
Motion, Nature, Wildlife, Portraits, Still Life, Street Photography, Travel

●     Youth – For photographers aged 12 to 19, judged on a single image
responding to the brief of ‘Beauty’

●     Student Focus – For photography students, judged on a single
image responding to a brief

●     5 December 2016 – Student Focus
competition closes

●     5 January 2017 – Open and Youth
competitions close

●     10 January 2017 – Professional
competition closes

●     28 February 2017 – Shortlist for
Professional, Open, Youth and Student Focus competitions revealed

●     28 March 2017 – Open, Youth and National
Award winners revealed

●     20 April 2017 – Photographer of the Year
plus Professional category winners and Open, Youth and Student competition
winners revealed at ceremony held in London

●     21 April to 7 May 2017 – Sony World
Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London