Sony World Photography Awards launches 2018 edition with new categories and grant opportunity

·         A global platform giving visibility to
photographers worldwide

·         ‘Creative’ and ‘Discovery’ categories
introduced to challenge photographers

·         New grant opportunity available to
winning photographers

·         Images available at press.worldphoto.org

(SINGAPORE, 1 June 2017) – The 2018 Sony World Photography Awards, one of the world’s leading
photography competitions, are now open for entries.  Submissions are free
at www.worldphoto.org.

The 11th edition of the Awards
is marked by the introduction of two challenging new categories in the
Professional competition, ‘Creative’ and ‘Discovery’, and an important new
opportunity for award-winners to secure a grant to fund future photographic
projects.

Created by the World Photography Organisation,
the Sony World Photography Awards are an authoritative voice in the
industry.  Celebrating the finest contemporary photography from the past
year, the Awards give vast exposure, visibility and opportunity to
photographers worldwide on an annual basis.

Commenting on the Awards’ impact, 2017 Sony
World Photography Awards winner Frederik Buyckx said: “Being named Photographer of the Year has given me more
exposure than I could ever have imagined.  It has opened lots of new doors
but, just as importantly, the award has also encouraged me to keep on working
on my personal projects.”

In recognition of the changing use of
photography, two new categories have been added to the
2018 Awards’ Professional competition.

The new ‘Creative’ and ‘Discovery’ categories are both
designed to embrace photographers working at the cutting-edge of the medium.
Judges will specifically look to reward originality, experimentation and
imagination in these categories and hope to discover what that would otherwise
be unseen by the Awards.  Artistic interpretation, integrity and technical
ability are the key factors for judges across all categories of the Awards.

The Sony World
Photography Awards comprise of four competitions:

·  Professional – 10
categories judged upon a body of work (5-10 images)

·  Open – best single
images across 10 categories

·  Youth – young
photographers aged 12-19 responding to a brief with a single image

·  Student Focus – for
those studying photography

The new ‘Creative’ and ‘Discovery’ categories are both
designed to embrace photographers working at the cutting-edge of the medium.
For the full list of competition categories and descriptions please go to www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards.

In demonstration of the Awards’ commitment to
create opportunities for its photographers, a new grant programme those
participating in the Professional and Student Focus competitions has been
introduced this year.

From the winners of the 2018 Professional
categories, Sony will award multiple grants of $7,000 to selected photographers
to pursue photographic projects of their choice.

In addition, shortlisted photographers from
the Student Focus competition will each be given $3,500 (USD) to work together
on a new photographic commission set by Sony and the World Photography
Organisation.

The Sony Grant programme has been formalised
for the 2018 Awards following a successful pilot with three 2016 Sony World Photography Awards Professional
category winners: Amélie Labourdette, Maroesjka Lavigne and Nikola Linares.  The
inaugural Sony grants supported diverse projects including the documentation of
young bullfighters in Spain (Linares), landscapes of Iceland and Namibia
(Lavigne) and the impact of man on the Tunisian desert (Labourdette).

For more details about the recipients of the
2017 Sony Grant recipients please see Notes to Editors below.  Images
from the series are available at press.worldphoto.org.

All category winners of the Professional,
Open, Youth and Student Focus 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 category winners
plus many of the shortlisted Awards photographers will be exhibited at the
annual Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition in London and then toured
internationally.  The images will also be published in the annual Awards
winners’ book and all shortlisted and winning photographers are given global
exposure via dedicated marketing and press campaigns.

·  4 December 2017 – Student Focus closes

·  4 January 2018 – Open & Youth
competitions close

·  1 January 2018 – Professional competitions
close

·  27 February 2018 –Shortlist announced

·  27 March 2018 – Open and National Awards
winners revealed

·  19 April 2018 – Photographer of the Year
& Professional category winners announced