SWPA 2014: British photographer studying at Central Saint Martins announced as winner of Student Focus Award

British photographer Scarlett Evans was this evening announced as the winner of the Sony World Photography Awards Student Focus Award, triumphing over students from more than 230 universities worldwide.

Evans competed for the title on behalf of her university - Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, UK - and she and the university were revealed as the winner at the Sony World Photography Awards Gala Ceremony in London. Scarlett and Central Saint Martins were presented with the award and will receive €35,000 worth of Sony digital imaging equipment for the university’s photography department at the ceremony, which was attended by the elite of the photography industry.

Scarlett Evans’s winning series - shot with a Sony α7 camera - was chosen unanimously by the Student Focus judges - Rob Taggart, Director of Commercial Photo Operations, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Associated Press (AP); Moni Haworth, Photographer - and Anne Bourgeois-Vignon, Creative Content Director of NOWNESS.com

All ten finalists - representing universities from around the world (see full list of universities in Notes to Editors) -were flown to London with their tutors to attend the Sony World Photography Awards Gala Ceremony to discover who had triumphed - and take part in a series of photography workshops led by the World Photography Organisation.

The ten finalist students were asked to shoot a series of photographs on a brief entitled ‘Self-portraits’. Talking about Evans’ winning series, ‘A Childhood in England’, Judge Rob Taggart comments: “This set fits the brief exactly to produce a coherent set of self-portraits that reveals a story about the subject. These simply lit and composed, uncluttered images tell the story of the subject's childhood perfectly. By cleverly using clothing and styling of the period in meaningful locations gives the viewer immediate insight to the subjects school days and juvenile years.”

Ania Wadsworth, Student Focus Manager at the World Photography Organisation comments: “With the rise of 'selfies’, self-portraiture has become a global phenomenon - however the tradition in photography is as old as the medium itself. Whilst some photographers struggle to turn the camera on themselves, others flourish. We asked our students to create a body of work which exposed themselves to the camera. The results are touching, humorous, insightful, political and playful and I, alongside the judges, am delighted with the results.”

Evans’ winning images will be exhibited alongside the work of the other Student Focus finalists, as part of the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London - from 1 -18 May. All student images will also be published in the 2014 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards book.

To see all winning images from the awards please go to: worldphoto.org

For more information about the Student Focus programme please go to: worldphoto.org/student-focus/