Belgium student beats photographers worldwide at 2013 Sony World Photography Awards Student Focus

A student from La Cambre, Brussels is today named as a finalist for the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards Student Focus competition, the world’s largest student photography programme and award.

Andréa Azéma, aged 23, beat entries from over 230 universities worldwide to be named as one of 10 finalists for the Student Focus award. She will now compete against the nine other finalists from as far apart as New Zealand to Argentina, to win the overall Student Focus title and €35,000 worth of Sony digital imaging equipment for her college.

Azéma’s finalist image is called ‘Dad, 2012’ and was taken in response to an initial brief asking student photographers to capture the spirit of celebration in their country.

She says of the image “I took this photograph during winter break - my father had managed to find time in his schedule to have dinner with me in a restaurant. He was wearing his work suit and I thought the contrast with the Christmas decorations would be interesting. There is a strange, almost scary, atmosphere in this photography, not like the usual holiday pictures."

Talking about her success Azéma comments: "When I heard that my photo had been selected, I couldn't believe it. I have never taken part in such an important competition and I'm very thrilled and excited about the final brief."

Marie Le Mounier, Azéma’s tutor at La Cambre comments: “Being a finalist of such a prize will certainly give Andrea a lot of confidence in her work. Students have to learn how to trust their work and this achievement will certainly lead to that. The same is true for the school, if we are capable of taking our students there while allowing them to develop a very personal project then I believe we are going it the right direction.”

The image will be shown as part of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at the famous Somerset House, London from 26 April – 12 May. It will also be published in the 2013 edition of the annual Sony World Photography Awards book.

As a finalist, Azéma receives a Sony α65 camera and will use it to complete the final brief of the competition to decide the winner. Each student photographer will shoot a set of 6-10 images exploring what the word ‘family’ means to them.

All finalists, including Azéma, will be brought to London to find out who has won the 2013 Student Focus title which will be revealed at the glamorous Sony World Photography Awards Gala Ceremony on 25 April.

www.worldphoto.org/studentfocus

For further details and images please contact:
Jill Cotton at World Photography Organisation

+44 (0) 20 7886 3146/ + 44 (0)7557 261 537 / jill@worldphoto.org