Juries announced for the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

• A selection of entries from the Awards’ Open competition is now available via worldphoto.org/press
• Judges offer their advice to those entering
  
• All entries to the Awards are free at www.worldphoto.org/swpa

September 26, 2017:

The juries of the 2018 World Photography Awards, one of the world's leading photography competitions, are today announced by the World Photography Organisation. To mark the occasion, a selection of entries to the Open competition are released and the new judges offer advice to those entering the Awards.

The hand-picked experts from across the photographic industry making up the juries are:

• Professional competition jury: Chair: Mike Trow, Picture Editor, British Vogue, UK/ Naomi Cass, Director, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Australia / Sue Davies OBE, Founder, The Photographers’ Gallery, UK / Gareth Harris, Chief Contributing Editor, The Art Newspaper, UK/ Dewi Lewis, publisher, Dewi Lewis Publishing / Philip Tinari, Director, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), China
• Open, Youth and National Awards competition: Chair, Zelda Cheatle, curator
• Student Focus: Reiner Opoku, international art agent and Co-Founder Parley for the Oceans

For full biographies of each judge please go to: www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/2018-Judges

Worldwide recognition and grant opportunities for winners

Now in its 11^th year, the Sony World Photography Awards celebrates the finest contemporary photography from the past 12 months. All competitions – Professional, Open, Youth, Student Focus and National Awards – are free to enter at www.worldphoto.org/swpa.

The Awards’ winning and shortlisted photographers can enjoy worldwide recognition and exposure, in addition to cash prizes, the latest digital imaging equipment from Sony and inclusion in global exhibitions.

New for 2018, award-winners can also secure a grant to fund future photographic projects form Sony. Multiple grants of $7,000 (USD) will be awarded to selected winners of the Professional competition and $3,500 (USD) will be given to chosen shortlisted Student Focus photographers to work together on a new photographic commission set by Sony and the World Photography Organisation.

The 2018 judges offer the following advice to potential entrants:

“Pick your stories carefully, see how they fit with your belief structures. Research the story, and other people’s work in the area, and then shoot it. Be ruthless in your editing and quality control, and be consistent in the presentation of images. And always get the opinion of others – how they see things is not necessarily how you see it and will help give objectivity to the sense of whether your pictures work or not.” Mike Trow, Chair, Professional competition

“Enter something you believe in and that you think we would appreciate and believe in too.” Sue Davies OBE, Juror, Professional competition

“For me the most important thing is that a photographer develops their own voice – that their individual qualities and personality comes through. This ultimately means finding a theme / a subject that they really believe in and that they really care about.” Dewi Lewis, Juror, Professional competition

“Don’t replicate anyone else’s style (too much).” Gareth Harris, Juror, Professional competition

“Be sincere, think about the message within your work, keep it simple and work from the heart.” Zelda Cheatle, Chair, Open, Youth & National Awards competitions

Forthcoming deadlines and announcements

The closing dates for the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards are:

• December 4, 2017 – Student Focus
• January 4, 2018 – Open, Youth and National Award competitions
• January 11, 2018 – Professional competition

The shortlist for all competitions of the Awards will be announced on February 27, 2018. The Open and National Awards winners will be announced March 20, 2018. The Photographer of the Year and the Professional category winners will be announced April 19, 2018.

NOTES TO EDITORS

2018 SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS COMPETITIONS & CATEGORIES – see full category descriptions here

●Professional - Judged on a body of work.

Categories: Architecture / Contemporary Issues / Creative / Current Affairs & News / Discovery / Landscape / Natural World & Wildlife / Portraiture / Sport / Still Life

●Open - Judged on a single shot.

Categories: Architecture / Culture / Enhanced / Motion / Landscape & Nature / Portraiture / Still Life / Street Photography / Travel / Wildlife.

●Youth - For photographers aged 12-19, judged on a single image responding to the brief of “My Environment”.

●National Awards – Rewarding the best single photograph taken by a local photographer in more than 50 countries.

About World Photography Organisation The World Photography Organisation is a global platform for photography initiatives. Working across up to 180 countries, our aim is to raise the level of conversation around photography by celebrating the best imagery and photographers on the planet. We pride ourselves on building lasting relationships with both individual photographers as well as our industry-leading partners around the world. The World Photography Organisation hosts a year-round portfolio of events including the Sony World Photography Awards, one of the world’s leading photography competitions, and PHOTOFAIRS, international art fairs dedicated to photography with destinations in Shanghai and San Francisco For more details see www.worldphoto.org