2017 Sony World Photography Awards now open for entries

Now celebrating its tenth year, the hugely popular Sony World Photography Awards is once again calling for submissions as the 2017 competition opens.

Featuring a $25,000 reward for the grand prize winner and $5,000 for the winner of the Open category – on top of Sony imaging equipment – the competition is open to anyone to enter. Besides the physical rewards, the highly publicised competition can also hold the key for international recognition and career-building opportunities to its winners and shortlisted entries.

Photographers are called on to enter their work in any of the awards’ categories: Professional, Open, Youth and Student Focus.

In 2016 the competition broke new records, receiving over 230,000 entries from 186 countries, with the coveted Professional Photographer of the Year title ultimately taken by Iranian photojournalist Asghar Khamseh for his ‘Fire of Hatred’ series.

2017 Sony World Photography Awards Competition – Key dates:

• December 5 2016 – Student Focus competition closes
• January 5, 2017 – Open and Youth competitions close
• January 10, 2017 – Professional competition closes
• February 28, 2017 – Shortlist for Professional, Open, Youth and Student Focus competitions revealed
• March 28, 2017 – Open, Youth and National Award winners revealed
• April 20, 2017 – Photographer of the Year plus Professional category winners and Open, Youth and Student competition winners revealed at ceremony held in London
• April 21 – May 7, 2017 – Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London

To find out more details about the competition, as well as how to enter, visit www.worldphoto.org.

Click here to see our round-up of last year’s stunning winners.

Full press release

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

“We are committed to challenging photographers to push their creative boundaries in the years to come.”  Scott Gray, CEO, World Photography Organisation

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.

The Sony World Photography Awards annually recognizes 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.

“Winning the Portrait category was life-changing. Professionally, winning the award helped kick-start my career” Sophie Gamand, Winner, Professional Portrait category 2014 

“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 Rossato, 3rd Place, Professional Candid category 2016

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 ever before.

The 2017 edition also sees new categories introduced across the all competitions 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

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

·      $5,000 (USD) 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 10th anniversary. 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 word 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 to from 186 countries. The 2016 Professional Photographer of the Year title was awarded to Iranian photojournalist Asghar Khamseh for his series ‘Fire of Hatred’.

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