The 2016 Sony World Photography Awards are now open to entries, and feature some new categories.
The world’s largest photography competition, the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards, organised by the World Photography Organisation, is open for entries, with two new over-riding categories for professional shooters. The awards have been running for nine years, and each year they attract both emerging talent and established artists and present some of the world’s best contemporary photography from the previous 12 months.
For 2016 the 14 professional categories are now divided into two distinct genres – Art and Documentary. Organisers say the change is designed to provide a clearer structure to the competition. Both genres also include new category additions, with Art presenting the new Staged and Candid categories and Documentary now including Daily Life and Environment.
The British Journal of Photography (BJP), the world's longest running photography magazine, will partner the World Photography Organisation and its Student Focus competition. As part of this the winning Student Focus photographer will receive an online feature showcasing a body of work on BJP website and will also have the chance 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. A total of 33,394 visitors saw the awards’ annual exhibition of the winning and shortlisted works at Somerset House, London.
The Sony World Photography Awards shortlist will be announced on February 23 next year and overall winners on April 21, with an exhibition at Somerset House, London running from April 22 to 8 May 8, 2016.
Overall winner of the 2015 award was US photographer John Moore for his work on the ebola crisis in West Africa. © John Moore/Getty Images, US, Winner, Current Affairs, Professional Competition, 2015 Sony World Photography Awards.
