As one of the largest photographic events existing today, The Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA), reach far beyond an awards programme for the still image. The SWPA is a convergence of festival events, focused photographic agendas, exhibitions, awards schemes, student programmes and an industry-led gala evening ceremony which marks the pinnacle of the week-long event in April 2009.

The Sony World Photography Awards Gala and central exhibitions that support the awards’ nominees and honourees, occurs once a year in the prestigious Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France. The evening welcomes some of the most influential names in the photography industry, from press and media to gallerists, publishers, agents, critics, aficionados and the renowned artists themselves.

From fine art to applied photography in fashion, advertising and sport to humanistic and documentary photography of people, social, cultural and current affairs to the environmental image of landscape, wildlife and ecology, there are few subjects or genres left undiscovered. The celebration of the still image – its roots, conception, adaptation and continuous evolution – is a constant parallel, unifying all categories of the Sony World Photography Awards.

This impressive union of distinct photographic genres has spurred many of the industry’s elite to actively support the SWPA. A very select group of these heavyweights have been invited to form the World Photographic Academy. To date, close to 100 members from the photographic community belong to this academy, from leading international agencies, guilds, galleries, publishing houses, foundations, press and of course renowned photographers themselves, such as Elliott Erwitt, Tom Stoddart, Susan Meiselas, Stuart Franklin, Mary-Ellen Mark and many more.

Beyond the week-long celebration in Cannes, the Sony World Photography Awards continuously create ways in order to support and further promote its existing industry network, the newly discovered photographers and those studying the craft. These many year-long initiatives include the Student Programme, The Sony World Photography Awards Global Tour and the Online World Photography Awards Magazine, Galleries and Store.

Professional Competition

The Sony World Photography Awards are entirely international, welcoming professional photographers from across the globe to submit their photographs into a highly competitive awards programme.

As an entering professional photographer, you will be judged by the World Photographic Academy in the hopes of being recognized by leading industry figures and taking the stage in Cannes to receive one of the 12 prestigious category awards and, the most coveted prize, L’iris d’Or, given to The Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year, with the recipient taking, amongst other things, prize money of $25,000.

Submitting your images: There are 12 categories in the professional programme, spread across 3 main photographic genres; to view the categories please click on the link to the left. Each photographer may submit up to a total of 10 images into a single professional category. Professionals will be judged on a body of images representing a photographic series or story. Professional photographers may enter bodies of work in more than one category.

The Judging Process: Your images will go through critical rounds of selections by the official 2010 Judging Committee, comprising selected World Photographic Academy members.

A shortlist of 7 photographers in each of the 12 categories will be selected and announced in February 2010.

Of the 7 short-listed photographers in each category, three finalists will then be selected and named as either the first, second or third place winners of each category given. The announcement of the 36 total winners will be made in March 2010.

For the final stage of judging, one single photographer will be chosen by the Honorary Judging Committee from the 12 First Place category winners. This photographer will be announced and awarded in Cannes as the recipient of the 2010 L’iris d’or.

The awards: All 36 Category finalists, will be showcased as part of the official 2010 Finalists exhibitions in Cannes, published in the winner’s book and announced to the worldwide press as Sony World Photography Awards Category Finalists. These finalists will also be part of an annual SWPA Global Tour, have the opportunity to be represented and promoted by the World Photography Gallery, showcased on the SWPA website for all of 2010 and much more.

The first place winner of each category will be flown out to Cannes, receive 2 nights accommodation in a luxury hotel on the famous Croisette and receive VIP tickets to attend the evening gala awards ceremony, taking place on the 15th of April, 2010. The winner will also receive week-long passes to attend the World Photography Festival screenings, workshops, exhibitions, talks and other events taking place throughout the city of Cannes from the 13th – 18th of April 2010.

Professional Categories

There are 12 professional categories across three distinct genres:

PHOTOJOURNALISM & DOCUMENTARY: CURRENT AFFAIRS; SPORT; CONTEMPORARY ISSUES; ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

COMMERCIAL: ADVERTISING; FASHION; MUSIC

FINE ART: PORTRAITURE; CONCEPTUAL & CONSTRUCTED; NATURAL HISTORY; LANDSCAPE; ARCHITECTURE

Professional Prizes

Winner of “L’iris d’Or” – Best overall photograph will receive:
Recipient of the title “Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of The Year”
$25,000
Entry into the “World Photographic Academy”
Exhibition showcase of winning image and 25 picture portfolio at the 2011 Sony World Photography Awards
Winning image will be exhibited on the Sony World Photography Awards’ website and promoted to creatives worldwide
Flights to Cannes, and 2 nights accommodation in a hotel on the famous Croisette and receive VIP tickets to attend the evening gala awards ceremony, taking place on the 15th of April, 2010
Sony Gift

Winners of each individual category will receive:
Recipient of the title “Sony World Photography Awards category name Photographer of The Year”
Flights to Cannes, and 2 nights accommodation in a hotel on the famous Croisette and receive VIP tickets to attend the evening gala awards ceremony, taking place on the 15th of April, 2010
Winning image will be exhibited on the Sony World Photography Awards’website and promoted to creatives
Sony Gift

Amateur Competition

The Sony World Photography Awards are entirely international, welcoming people from across the globe to submit their photographs into an exciting amateur competition, which is run alongside the Professional Awards.

As an amateur photographer, you also have the opportunity to be judged by the World Photographic Academy in the hopes of taking the stage in Cannes to receive one of the most sought after prizes in the competition: The Sony World Photography Awards Amateur Photographer of the Year.

Submitting your images: Each photographer may submit up to a total of 3 photographs into the competition for free. The 3 photographs can be submitted into any one amateur category or spread across two – three different categories; to view the categories please click on the link to the left.

The Judging Process: Your images will go through various pre-selection rounds by our officially selected 2010 Pre-Selection Committee, iStock – iStockphoto LP is the world’s leading royalty-free stock destination. Browse more than 4 million photos, vector illustrations, video footage and Flash files. iStock pioneered the micropayment photography business model in 2001, selling images starting at $1.

If your image is selected to go into the top 400, you will then be judged by the 2010 Judging Committee, comprising selected World Photographic Academy members.

A shortlist of top ten amateur photographers per category will be announced in February 2010.

The 8 Category Winners, will be showcased as part of the official 2010 Finalists exhibitions in Cannes, be published in the winner’s book and be announced to the worldwide press as Sony World Photography Awards Category Winners in March, 2010. These winners will also have the opportunity to be part of an annual SWPA Global Tour and showcased on the SWPA website for all of 2010.

One grand prize winner will be selected from the 8 category winners by the 2010 Judging Committee and be awarded The Sony World Photography Awards Amateur Photographer of the Year.

The overall winner and a guest will be flown to Cannes, receive two nights’ accommodation in a luxury hotel on the famous Croisette, receive VIP tickets to attend the evening gala awards ceremony on the 15th of April, 2010, and collect their prize of $5,000 and a Sony gift. The winner will also receive week-long passes to attend the World Photography Festival screenings, workshops, exhibitions, talks and other events taking place throughout the city of Cannes from the 13th – 18th of April.

Amateur Categories

Architecture
Conceptual & Constructed
Documentary
Fashion
Landscape
Music
Natural History
Portraiture
Sport
Campaign Award

Amateur Prizes

Winner of the Best overall photograph will receive:
Recipient of the title “Sony World Photography Awards Amateur Photographer of The Year”
$5,000
Winning image will be exhibited on the Sony World Photography Awards’ website and promoted to creatives worldwide
to Cannes, and 2 nights accommodation in a hotel on the famous Croisette and receive VIP tickets to attend the evening gala awards ceremony, taking place on the 15th of April, 2010
Sony Gift

Winners of each individual category will receive:
Recipient of the title “Sony World Photography Awards Amateur category name Photographer of The Year”
Exhibited in the Winner’s Exhibition and published in the Winner’s Book
Winning image will be exhibited on the Sony World Photography Awards’website and promoted to creatives
Sony Gift

Competition Link / Set Reminder

The second Sony World Photography Awards is now open for entries.

The Sony World Photography Awards 2009 is a truly global competition which honours both professional and amateur photographers.

In addition to the 12 categories for professional photographers and the nine categories for amateurs, the Sony World Photography Awards are delighted to announce the partnership with The Prince’s Rainforests for the PRP Awards which complements this year’s theme of the environment.

Professional photographers will be submitting their portfolios in the hope of being selected for a fully-funded project to document the rainforest regions of the world. Amateur photographers will also be invited to submit their images for a global awareness campaign, using photography to educate and inform.

Also new to this year’s awards:

* An extended university programme which has grown from 10 universities in Europe in the inaugural year of the awards to 60 universities across six continents. The brief for this year’s student competition is to produce one image which highlights a single environmental issue specific to their country.

* The Festival @ The Sony World Photography Awards: a week-long festival of photography that takes place throughout the city of Cannes. Through talks, seminars, screenings, networking events, book signings and many other programmes and events, The World Photography Awards have created a programme for the photographic community to participate and network through. The Festival @ SWPA is also creating a new annual cultural event for the general public and all who enjoy contemporary art.

* A new category list for professional photographers spreading across the three photographic genres – photojournalism and documentary, commercial and fine art

* The introduction of the Sony Campaign Award for amateur photographers, which joins together a global obsession for football with the enthusiasm and passion of photography. Amateur photographers are invited to enter the Campaign Award with a single image that captures the beauty and spirit of football in unexpected places, with the winner having the chance of being one of the photographers used in Sony’s forthcoming digital imaging 2009 campaign work.

* A global touring exhibition – Discovering a World of Images – showcasing images by the 2008 winners and finalists which through the course of a year will visit Belgium; Cologne; Tokyo; Delhi; New York; Singapore; Rio de Janeiro; Moscow and Melbourne.

The Sony World Photography Awards welcome submissions from every corner of the world. Last year – the first year of the awards – over 70,000 entries were received from 178 countries. For both professional and amateur photographers, the categories cover a broad range of subjects from photojournalism to sport, architecture to fashion, offering an all-encompassing competition for the photographic world.

Now, in just their second year, the awards have grown to become much more than an awards programme. It is a mix of festival events, exhibitions, award schemes and student programmes throughout the year. In April 2009 the WPA will host Festival @ The Sony World Photography Awards, a week-long celebration of photography at the Palais des Festival in Cannes attended by some of the most influential names in the photography industry from around the world. The highlight of the week is the awards ceremony gala dinner when the winners in all the categories will be honoured and the Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year will be announced.

Through its many initiatives, the Sony World Photography Awards aim to unite the international photographic community.

World Photographic Academy
The awards are judged by the World Photographic Academy which today comprises close to 100 of the world’s leading photographers including Elliott Erwitt, Mary-Ellen Mark, Susan Meiselas, Bruce Davidson and Tom Stoddart; gallery owners; picture agencies; international Guilds; picture editors; critics and publishers. Their role is to promote excellence in photography and set the standard for award selections.

Key dates
2008
22 September Professional and amateur categories open for submissions
9 October Global tour opens in Tokyo
31 October Student Focus participating universities announced
25 November WPA Judges announced
2 December Global tour opens in New York
31 December Closing date for professional and amateur categories
2009
24 February Amateur and professional awards shortlist announcement
3 March Student Focus winners’ announcement
17 March Amateur and professional winners’ announcement
14-19 April Festival @ The Sony World Photography Awards – exhibitions and events in Cannes
16 April Sony World Photography Awards gala evening and ceremony

Amateur Categories & Prizes

• Architecture
• Conceptual & Constructed
• Fashion
• Landscape
• Music
• Natural History
• Portraiture
• Sport
• Campaign Award

One grand prize winner will be selected from the 8 category winners by the 2009 Judging Committee  and be awarded The Sony World Photography Awards Amateur Photographer of the Year.

The overall winner and a guest will be flown to Cannes, receive two nights’ accommodation in a luxury hotel on the famous Croisette, receive VIP tickets to attend the evening gala awards ceremony on the 16th of April, 2009, and collect their prize of $5,000  and a Sony gift.  The winner will also receive week-long passes to attend the World Photography Festival screenings, workshops, exhibitions, talks and other events taking place throughout the city of Cannes from the 14th – 19th of April.

Professional Categories & Prizes

Photojournalism & Documentary:

• Current Affairs / Spot News
• Sport
• Contemporary issues
• Arts and entertainment

Commercial:

• Advertising
• Fashion
• Music

Fine Art:

• Portraiture
• Conceptual & Constructed
• Natural History
• Landscape
• Architecture

Winner of “L’iris d’Or” – Best overall photograph will receive:
Recipient of the title “Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of The Year” $25,000
Entry into the “World Photographic Academy”
Exhibition showcase of winning image and 25 picture portfolio at the 2010 Sony World Photography Awards.
Winning image will be exhibited on the Sony World Photography Awards’ website and promoted to creatives worldwide.
Flights to Cannes, and 2 nights accommodation in a hotel on the famous Croisette and receive VIP tickets to attend the evening gala awards ceremony, taking place on the 16th of April, 2009.

Winners of each individual category will receive:
Recipient of the title “Sony World Photography Awards category name Photographer of The Year”
Flights to Cannes, and 2 nights accommodation in a hotel on the famous Croisette and receive VIP tickets to attend the evening gala awards ceremony, taking place on the 16th of April, 2009.
Winning image will be exhibited on the Sony World Photography Awards’ website and promoted to creatives

Competition Link / Set Reminder

HELLO! magazine has launched their inaugural Young Photographers Award as part of their 20th Anniversary celebrations this year.

The award is open to photography students between the ages of 18 to 30 years, and has been devised and developed in conjunction with Nikon and Getty Images Gallery.

“Launched on 7th May 1988, HELLO! was the first celebrity magazine in the UK and is often credited with single-handedly creating the celebrity magazine market, and has remained a dominant force in an increasingly competitive and fast-moving sector. Synonymous with glamour, style and sophistication, HELLO! is passionate about photography, and this is reflected in the quality of our award-winning photo shoots. In celebrating our milestone anniversary, it seems entirely fitting to offer aspiring young photographers the chance to showcase their work and to win that critical first commission. Demand for quality photographic work has never been greater as our culture becomes increasingly dominated by visual imagery.”

Judges:
Judging the Award will be a panel of top photographers, comprising Lorenzo Agius, Mike Daines, Dave Hogan, Penny Lancaster Stewart, Terry O’Neill, Christopher Simon Sykes, Aidan Sullivan, John Swannell, Mark Thompson and former HELLO! editor Ronnie Whelan.

The categories for the competition are as follows:
AT HOME/INTERIORS: An at home/location shoot that conveys the subject’s personality.
REPORTAGE: An open brief to tell a news/feature story, capturing intimate, enlightening and powerful moments.
WEDDINGS & CELEBRATIONS: A well-lit and original study that captures the essence of a special day, whether a wedding, birthday or other milestone event.
BABIES & PARENTHOOD: An intimate and unique study of babies up to 12 months, highlighting the interaction between baby and parent(s).
FASHION: HELLO! is glamour and style! The challenge here is to produce images that reflect the very essence of individual style.

Closing Dates:
Work must be submitted by noon on Friday 27th June 2008.

How to Enter:
Entrants must first register on HELLO’s website. Once registration has been activated, each applicant will be invited to upload up to three complete digital entries per category. Please submit jpegs of no more than 5MB. Each photograph must be accompanied by an explanation detailing when, where and why the photograph was taken in no more than 50 words.

The Prizes:
There will be a winner and a runner-up in each of the five categories. An overall winner and runner-up will then be decided by the judges. The winner will be the entrant whose photograph in the opinion of the judges demonstrates the greatest flair, technique and originality. The judges may also, at their discretion, nominate highly commended entries.
The winner will receive £5000 and have a commissioned shoot published in HELLO! magazine. The runner-up will receive £2500 and have a two day internship with a leading Getty Images photographer in the area of his/her choice i.e. News, Sport, Entertainment or Creative photography. In addition all the category winners will receive a Nikon D40 kit, and the category runners-up will each receive a Nikon Coolpix P60.
The judges will present the prizes at an exhibition of the winning entries at Getty Images Gallery at the end of September 2008.

Copyright:
Entrants will retain copyright in their submitted entries; however, by entering, all entrants give HML, GIG and NUK a worldwide royalty free perpetual licence to edit, publish and use all or segments of each entry in any and all media (including print and online) for publicity and news purposes relating to this competition and to the publicity and promotion of this competition in future years. In particular, all entrants license HML the right to publish their entry on HMC and in print. Where an image is used, the photographer will be credited. Publication of any entry does not necessarily mean that the entrant has won a prize and no consideration shall be due or payable, or compensation awarded, in the event of publication without any prize being awarded.

Competition Link / Set Reminder

UPDATE: EXTENDED DEADLINE
Entry Deadline: July 20

International Color Awards presents the 3rd Annual Photography Masters Cup.

Share the spotlight with the greatest names in photography and promote your work around the globe to industry leaders from Christie’s, Fox, Taschen, Saatchi & Saatchi, Benetton, National Geographic Channel, Musee de l’Elysee & more.
 
The Photography Master Cup is a global online awards show recognizing excellence in color photography. This celebrated event shines a spotlight on the finest professional and amateur photographers and is presented by International Color Awards.
 
PRESTIGE
The awards Jury represents the most influential art directors, agencies, editors, galleries, and publishers from the world of photography, advertising and entertainment. Images are nominated and selected by Jury members who honor the finest images with the highest achievements in color photography.
 
AWARDS
Nominees vie for 63 Coveted Title Awards in 21 Categories representing the best work of the year. Winning photographers receive:

GRAND AWARD WINNER (professional & amateur)
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
– Recipient of the title award “Photographer of the Year”
– $1,000 prize money from Grants for Color Photography Fund
– Recipient of the Masters Cup
– Creative Excellence prize
– Publication in “Photography Masters Cup” Yearbook published by book|BASIL
– Publication in leading photography magazines
– Exhibited at Masters of Photography Exhibition
– Showcase at the online Winners & Nominee Gallery

CATEGORY AWARD WINNERS
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
– Recipient of the title award “Outstanding Achievement”
– $500 prize money from Grants for Color Photography Fund
– Recipient of the Masters Cup
– Creative Excellence prize
– Publication in “Photography Masters Cup” Yearbook published by book|BASIL
– Publication in leading photography magazines
– Exhibited at Masters of Photography Exhibition
– Showcase at the online Winners & Nominee Gallery

CATEGORIES
Abstract
Advertising
Architecture
Fashion
Fine Art
Nature
Nude
People
Photojournalism
Sport
Still Life

3rd Annual Photography Masters Cup is open to professional and amateur photographers shooting in all forms of color photography using traditional or digital methods.

ENTRY FEES
PROFESSIONAL – Single Entry – $35
AMATEUR – Single Entry – $30

Competition Link / Set Reminder