The 2020 Sony World Photography Awards is now open for entries.
Each year the Awards attracts photographers around the globe to submit their best work from the past 12 months. Free to enter and open to photographers of all abilities, entrants can choose from four competitions:
Professional: Celebrating photographic artists creating outstanding bodies of work (series between five to ten images) which interpret one of ten themed categories.
Deadline: January 14, 2020
Open: Rewarding both established and emerging photographers from a vast range of backgrounds for their best single image which interpret one of ten themed categories.
Deadline: January 7, 2020
Youth: Seven monthly competitions, each focused on a particular theme, for 12-19 year olds.
Deadline: last day of each month from June - December, 2019
Student: Open to academic institutions worldwide, photography students are invited to submit a portfolio responding to a specific theme.
Deadline: November 29, 2019
Click here to view all competitions and categories
NEW FOR THIS YEAR
A new Environment category has been introduced into the 2020 Professional competition. Recognizing the increase in photographic artists addressing human's impact on the planet and the environmental concerns that go with it, this new category provides exposure for those creating work which highlights the need to readdress our relationship with the natural world.
The 2020 Youth competition follows a new format where photographers aged between 12-19 years old can enter up to three single images per month from June to December 2019. Responding to a different theme each month, one winner and a shortlist will be announced on the World Photography Organisation Instagram account. The seven winners will then compete to win the Youth Photographer of the Year title.
Click here to discover this month's theme
WHY ENTER?
World Photography Organisation set up the Sony World Photography Awards to give the hardworking, talented photographers the visibility and opportunities they deserve to help them in the next stage of their career. All winning and a selection of shortlisted photographers are given exposure through the Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition, which opens in London's Somerset House, in April 2020, before touring globally.
A total prize fund of $60,000 (USD) plus Sony digital imaging equipment is shared between winning photographers, with many successful entrants flown to London to attend the prestigious annual awards ceremony in April 2020.
“Winning Photographer of the Year makes me so happy because it means my story can reach so many people. My phone started ringing straight after the announcement and it hasn’t stopped ringing since! I’ve got messages from all around the world...People want to listen to the story I want to tell. How can I ask for more.”
- Federico Borella, Italy, 2019 Photographer of the Year
