2024 Professional competition Winners

Photographer of the Year

Congratulations to Juliette Pavy for being awarded this year’s Photographer of the Year title for her series Spiralkampagnen: Forced Contraception and Unintended Sterilisation of Greenlandic Women. As well as winning a $25,000 (USD) cash prize, Pavy is given a range of Sony digital imaging equipment plus global online coverage. Pavy also wins a solo presentation at Somerset House of her work as part of next year’s Sony World Photography Awards exhibition.

Speaking about her win, Pavy says:

'Thank you very much for this award for my work on the forced sterilization of Greenlandic women. I hope to give a voice to those who were silenced for almost half a century. By documenting this story, I also hope to raise awareness of the violence against Inuit women and the social and psychological repercussions of forced sterilization.'

Spiralkampagnen: Forced Contraception and Unintended Sterilisation of Greenlandic Women by Juliette Pavy

Between 1966 and 1975, Greenlandic Inuit women were the victims of an involuntary birth control program known as the Spiralkampagnen (spiral campaign). Led by the Danish authorities, nearly 4,500 intrauterine devices (‘coils’) were implanted into Inuit women and girls, some as young as 12, many of whom say that the procedure was performed without their consent. This campaign was first revealed by a Danish podcast in spring 2022, and documents now prove that the authorities implemented the policy to reduce Inuit population growth. An official investigation has now been opened, which is set to conclude at the end of 2024.

Image description — © Juliette Pavy, France, Photographer of the Year, Professional competition, Documentary Projects, 2024 Sony World Photography Awards

Category Winners

Congratulations to the category winners! Photographers could submit a series of five to ten images interpreting one of the ten categories. Each submission entered into the Professional competition was rigorously judged by a panel of industry experts. This year’s category winners each receive Sony digital imaging kit, inclusion in the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition and book, plus global online coverage.