Sony World Photography Awards reveal stunning shortlist for 2019 Open and Youth competitions
The 2019 Awards’ first shortlist announcement shows exceptional single images from around the world
●All Open and Youth shortlisted images available at worldphoto.org/press
●Record-breaking entries to this prestigious, global awards: 326,000 submissions from 195 countries and territories
●Professional shortlist rewarding bodies of work to be announced March 26, 2019
●Ten Open category winners revealed February 26, with overall Open and Youth winners announced April 17, 2019
LONDON: FEBRUARY 5, 2019: The World Photography Organisation today reveals the shortlisted photographers for the Open and Youth competitions of the 2019 Sony World Photography Awards, recognising the world’s best single images from 2018. As one of the world’s largest and most prestigious global photography competitions, the Awards annually celebrate and promote the best contemporary photography from the past year across a wide variety of photographic genres.
Over 326,000 entries were submitted across the four competitions of the 2019 Awards, the highest ever number to date. The judges were impressed by the high standard of submissions and noted a wide range of creative approaches, influences and techniques throughout the shortlists.
Across the competitions, the highest volume of entries were submitted by photographers from the UK, Italy and USA, with Mexico, India, Korea and the UK seeing the greatest increase in entry numbers. The Landscape and Portraiture categories across the competitions proved their enduring popularity and newer categories such as Creative proved photographers real opportunity to push the boundaries of what photography can do.
The Open and Youth shortlists announced today showcase stunning and diverse individual images taken by photographers from around the world throughout 2018. The Professional shortlist, recognising bodies of work, will be announced February 26.
The Open shortlist comprises of stunning works selected across ten diverse categories. Subject matter across the shortlist varied from striking underwater photographs to majestic portraits, to urban scenes and magical landscapes. This year’s Open categories included the introduction of a new Creative category, as well as welcoming Culture Trip as Culturecategory partner and Eurostar as Travel category partner.
All Open shortlisted photographers will now go on to compete to become category winners, with the chance to be selected as Open Photographer of the Year winning$5,000 (USD).
The Youth shortlist features the top eight single images taken by 12-19 year olds responding to the theme of ‘Diversity’. Shortlisted photographers come from across the world from China and Zimbabwe to Bangladesh and Moldova, showing a truly international array of upcoming talent. One young photographer will be announced as Youth Photographer of the Year in April.
Produced by the World Photography Organisation, the internationally acclaimed Sony World Photography Awards are one of the most important fixtures on the global photographic calendar. The Awards are now in their 12th year of partnership with headline sponsor Sony and consist of four competitions in total: Professional (for a body of works), Open (for a single image), Student (for academic institutions) and Youth (for 12-19 year olds). Read More
