2016 Edition of the World’s Largest Photography Competition Opens for Entries
- New Art and Documentary genres in Professional competition
- Record entries and exhibition visitors for 2015 awards
- Canadian National Award and new Canadian Youth segment award
TORONTO – September 9, 2015: The 2016 Sony World Photography Awards, the world’s largest photography competition organized by the World Photography Organisation, are open for entries.
Now in its ninth year, the awards are an authoritative voice in the photographic world. Each year they attract both emerging talent and established artists and present the world’s best contemporary photography from the last 12 months.
Free to enter at www.worldphoto.org, photographers of all abilities are invited to submit work to any of the awards’ five competitions: Professional; Open; Youth; National Awards and Student Focus. Please see notes to editors for competition definitions and categories.
Entries are open to Canadian photographers of all skill levels to win the Canadian National Award. New in 2016, the Canadian National Award category will be separated into two parts with the first winner to be selected from entries in the ten Open categories. A second winner will be chosen from Canadian entries in the three Youth (ages 12 – 19) categories.
Another addition for 2016, the 14 Professional categories are now divided into two distinct genres - Art and Documentary. The change is to provide a clearer structure in which photographers can be recognized. Both genres also include new categories, with Art presenting the new Staged and Candid categories and Documentary now including Daily Life and Environment.
Also new this year, British Journal of Photography (BJP), the world's longest running photography magazine, will partner with the World Photography Organisation and its Student Focus competition. As part of this partnership, the winning Student Focus photographer will receive an online feature showcasing a body of work on the BJP website and will also have the opportunity to take over the magazine’s Instagram feed.
The Sony World Photography Awards offer a range of benefits to those who enter. All submitted images are seen by juries made of up leading experts from across the photographic industry. Beyond this, awarded shortlisted and winning photographers are given global exposure and recognition and have the opportunity to promote and sell their work via the World Photography Organisation.
The awards’ prizes include: the latest Sony digital imaging equipment; inclusion in the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House, London; inclusion in the 2016 awards’ book and $30,000 (USD) for the overall winners.
The 2015 Sony World Photography Awards attracted 173, 444 entries from 171 countries. The 2015 L’Iris d’Or / Professional Photographer of the Year title was awarded to Getty Images photographer John Moore. The awards’ annual exhibition of the winning and shortlisted works returned to Somerset House, London and saw a record 33,394 visitors.
Winning and shortlisted images from the 2015 awards are available to download at press.worldphoto.org
For more information on the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards please visit Sony.ca/en/swpa2016
Notes to Editors
2016 COMPETITION CATEGORIES
- Professional - for serious photographers, 14 categories in two genres judged on a series of work: Art (Architecture, Conceptual, Landscape, Portraiture, Staged, Still Life, Candid) and Documentary (Campaign, Current Affairs, Contemporary Issues, Daily Life, Environment, People, Sport)
- Open - open to all, 10 categories judged on a single shot: Architecture, Arts & Culture, Enhanced, Low Light, Nature & Wildlife, Panoramic, People, Smile, Split Second, Travel
- Youth - for young photographers aged 12-19, three categories judged on a single image: Culture, Environment, Portraits
- National Awards - looking for the best single shot by a local photographer from over 50 countries
- Student Focus - for emerging photographic talent studying any degree level photography course
For full list of participating countries see www.worldphoto.org
KEY DATES
- December, 4 2015 – Student Focus competition closes
- January 5, 2016 – Open, Youth, National Awards competitions close
- January 12, 2016 – Professional competition closes
- February 23, 2016 – Shortlist for Professional, Open, National Award and Youth competitions revealed
- March 1, 2016 – Student focus shortlist revealed
- March 15, 2016 – National Award winners revealed
- March 29, 2016 – Open and Youth winners revealed
- April 21, 2016 – L’Iris d’Or/Photographer of the Year plus Professional category winners and Open, Youth and Student Focus Photographers of the Year revealed at gala ceremony held in London
- April 22 – May 8, 2015 – 2015 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London
For further information please contact:
Ved Khan
Public Relations Specialist
Sony of Canada Ltd.
ved_khan@sony.ca
416-495-3703
Kristen Schaffrath (on behalf of Sony of Canada Ltd.)
NATIONAL Public Relations
kschaffrath@national.ca
416-848-1704
About World Photography Organisation (WPO)
WPO is a home where photography is celebrated and the art of the photographer is recognized. Working with professional, enthusiast and student photographers alike, the World Photography Organisation provides a global network across the photographic industry to not only to raise the level of conversation around the subject, but to increase awareness and appreciation of this artform. WPO hosts a year-round portfolio of industry and public events including: Sony World Photography Awards, the world’s largest photography competition and accompanying global exhibition; the World Photography Student Focus Programme, inspiring and working with the next generation of photographers, and Photo Shanghai, Asia Pacific’s premier art fair dedicated to photography. In addition, WPO has a thriving online presence via its website, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and addresses the industry’s latest issues in its monthly online publication, The Magazine. For more information please visit www.worldphoto.org
About Sony of Canada Ltd.
Sony of Canada is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of Tokyo, Japan, one of the most comprehensive entertainment company in the world, with a portfolio that encompasses music, motion pictures, mobile, gaming and financial services. Through headquarters in both Toronto, Ontario, Sony of Canada is a leader in electronics for the consumer and professional markets.
By focusing on engineering and a passion to inspire, Sony is creating world-leading products that innovate and inspire generations, such as the iconic PlayStation, the award-winning Alpha Interchangeable Lens Cameras and revolutionary high-resolution audio products. Sony is also a leading manufacturer of end-to-end solutions from 4K professional broadcast and A/V equipment to the marketing leading 4K Ultra HD TVs.
For more information, visit www.sony.ca.
Tags:
