Paying tribute to emerging talent is fundamental to the World Photography Organisation and Sony, and the Student competition reinforces this commitment.
Open to academic institutions worldwide, the Student competition reveals the individuals soon to shape the photography industry. This year students were asked to submit a body of work responding to the inspiring theme ‘Evolution.’ A shortlist of ten were given a final brief, to create a series relating to ‘Belong.’ The Student Photographer of the Year is a coveted award, elevating a developing image-maker’s portfolio to a global audience and securing €30,000 worth of Sony photography equipment for their institution. This generous sum combined with worldwide recognition highlights the Sony World Photography Awards supporting of photography is an academic environment.
Natalia Wiernik
Natalia was a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow when she entered the Student competition in 2013. An aspiring photographer with a strong artistic style, her series caught the judges’ attention and was named the 2013 Student Photographer of the Year. Since winning, Natalia has had her work shown in many of the world’s leading photography magazines and has delivered masterclass on behalf of Sony.
Natalia Wiernik is a multimedia artist living and working in Krakow, Poland. She was a student at the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow (ASP) between 2008 – 2013. An aspiring photographer with a strong artistic style, her series caught the judges’ attention and was named the 2013 Student Photographer of the Year. Since winning, Natalia has had her work shown in many of the world’s leading photography magazines and has delivered masterclass on behalf of Sony.
After receiving the Award, Wiernik pursued her doctoral studies at the Department of Animation, Photography and Digital Media at ASP and in 2017 she was awarded a PhD in Fine Arts. She also works at ASP as a lecturer. In her artistic practice, she analyzed issues related to the broadly defined concept of identity, its formation in the process of remembering, site-specific activities, and in the perspective of interpersonal relations at the level of family and society, e.g. in cultivated traditions. In this context, the institution of museum, its role in creating collections and its potential to shape social consciousness has become an area of interest for her.
See more about her series awarded 2013 Student Photographer of the Year.
