Chinese photographer Chen Li named Open Photographer of the Year at 2014 Sony World Photography Awards

Chinese amateur photographer Chen Li is tonight awarded the Open Photographer of the Year at the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards - one of the most prestigious awards programmes in the photographic industry.

Chen Li’s winning image, ‘Rain in an ancient town’, was selected from over 65,000 entries from across the world - in a competition that sought to find the world’s single best image taken by an amateur photographer or photography enthusiast. Chen Li was flown to London by the World Photography Organisation and presented with his award at a gala ceremony attended by the elite of the photography industry.

Chen Li, who lives in Fenghuang County, Hunan Province, has been a keen amateur photographer for over 30 years. Talking about his win, Chen Li comments; “I’m surprised to receive such an honour, and it has simultaneously put pressure on me! I sincerely hope I can take better pictures with Sony cameras in the future as my appreciation.”

Li’s image was announced as the winner of the Travel category of the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards Open competition on 18 March. Nine other category winners were announced on this date and the overall winner for the Open Photographer of the Year title was chosen from these ten photographers. Each of the ten category winners received a Sony a6000 camera.

Presiding Chair of Judges, Nigel Atherton, supervised the judging of the Open competition. Atherton comments “Photography is a language that transcends national borders and cultures, race, gender and social background. Its poetry touches the hearts and minds of people all over the world, and nowhere is this better demonstrated than in these awards. No two of this year’s Open category winners are from the same country, but all share the ability to visually interpret the world around them in a unique and captivating way. The winning and shortlisted images demonstrate this gift with aplomb.”

Chen Li’s winning image will be shown as part of the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at the famous Somerset House in London from 1 – 18 May. It will also be published in the 2014 edition of the annual Sony World Photography Awards book.

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