Today is an exciting day at World Photography Organisation as we reveal the judging panel for the 2020 Sony World Photography Awards!
The 2020 jury includes a diverse range of industry experts across the museum, gallery, art fair and media sectors, with each member bringing expertise and insight. See the 2020 judging panel here.
Free to enter, the internationally acclaimed Sony World Photography Awards invites all levels of photographers from around the world the chance to be supported, celebrated and given the recognition they deserve. Embracing all genres, styles and points of view, judges will be looking for the talented, dedicated and creative photographers from the past year who continue to push their work to new territory.
We’re delighted for the third year, Editor, Photographer and Consultant Mike Trow takes on the title of Judging Chair and Exhibition Curator for the 2020 Sony World Photography Awards. Since the 2018 competition Mike's guided the most credible curators, museum directors and picture editors to decide who has created the most exciting work entered into the Professional competition.
We caught up with Mike to hear his thoughts on what he hopes to see from the entries to this year's Awards.
“The imagery celebrated in last year’s Sony World Photography Awards was remarkable in its diversity, artistic integrity, and technical quality. For the 2020 competitions, I want to ensure the Awards continue on this upward trajectory and acknowledge those individuals using photography to interrogate the world as it is today.
"As the great Gilles Peres famously said, 'I don't trust words, I trust pictures', and whilst we know his belief is not always the case today, as the medium and our world is so much more complex, multifarious and layered, the best photographic work can still have an unquestioned validity.
"Last year’s Photographer of the Year, Federico Borella, captured a global environmental story in such a way that he pushed the boundaries of documentary photography to explore new ground. I want to be excited by work that is dynamic, challenging and brave in its approach. I hope to uncover and honor photographers fighting for the sophisticated language of imagery, to celebrate those creating work that invites the viewer to stop, engage with and be compelled to discover more about what they are looking at.
"To quote another of photography’s great luminaries, Ansel Adams believed: 'You don't take a photograph, you make it'. He made his images in his head and in the darkroom. I want to feel that all the images recognized in this year’s Awards have been made with a rigorous mental and emotional process that can be communicated from the artist to the viewer through their work. Whether made in the darkroom or on the computer, the pictures recognized in the 2020 competitions should feel as if they’ve been produced with skill and intent.”
