Grand prize winners announced for the world s largest photography competition - 06 Sony World Photography Awards

Iranian photographer Asghar Khamseh wins L'Iris d'Or Photographer of the Year and $25,000 prize for powerful portraits of acid attack victims

Kei Nomiyama, Japan, wins Open Photographer of the Year for best single shot

Fourteen Professional category winners announced

RongRong & inri honoured with Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize

Winners selected from a record-breaking 230,103 entries from 186 countries

All winners and shortlist to be exhibited at Somerset House, London 22 April - 8 May

Images available for publication at press.worldphoto.org or Image.net

The Jury were united in their admiration of the Photographer of the Year's work and the light it sheds on the tragic practice it exposes. Dominique Green, Chair, Documentary Jury

London, 21st April 2016: The overall winners of the world's largest photography competition, the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards, are named today by the World Photography Organisation. An exhibition of all the winning and shortlisted work will run at Somerset House, London from 22nd April - 8th May.

Following a record-breaking 230,103 submissions to its ninth edition, the awards' Honorary Judging Committee has selected Iranian photojournalist Asghar Khamseh as the recipient of its most coveted prize, the L'Iris d'Or Photographer of the Year.

Chosen from the winners of the awards' fourteen Professional categories, the winning work, Fire of Hatred', is a powerful portrait series tackling the social issues around the violent act of acid throwing. Khamseh was announced as the winner of the $25,000 (USD) prize at an awards ceremony in London in front of industry leaders. The winners and finalists of all fourteen Professional categories were also announced at the ceremony.

At the ceremony, the World Photography Organisation announced Kei Nomiyama, Japan, as the Open Photographer of the Year and recipient of $5,000 (USD). In addition, the organisation announced the winners of the Youth and Student Focus Photographer of the Year titles. All winners of the night received the latest Sony digital imaging equipment.

Scott Gray, CEO, World Photography Organisation comments: The awards consistently provide an incredible array of work, from a multitude of countries, and most importantlyprovide the chance for photographers to be discovered and extend their careers. I hope that the winning work this year can provide an inspiration to other photographers, helping to push their creative boundaries, whilst also serving to build the wider appreciation of photography.

The Sony World Photography Awards annually recognises the world's best photography. Free to enter and open to all photographers, the awards are an authoritative voice in the photographic industry that has the power to shape the careers of its winning and shortlisted photographers.

L'IRIS D'OR PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR - ASGHAR KHAMSEH

Born in Tehran in 1963, Asghar Khamseh is a photojournalist with Mehr News Agency, Iran, whose work focuses on social issues.

The winning series Fire of Hatred' is a powerful series of portraits of the victims of acid attacks. This beautiful yet thought-provoking work examines the social issues around this violent crime - looking past the physical and psychological damages suffered, and towards the social stigma and blame the victims, who are mainly women and children, suffer.

Dominique Green, Chair, Documentary Jury said of the work: Portraits of disfigurement resulting from social violence are undoubtedly a hard-hitting subject, and one which the longstanding tradition of documentary photography does not shy away from. The power of Asghar Khamseh's imposing series Fire of Hatred' is such that he enables the viewer to face head-on intimate images, which could be testing to examine closely, with empathy and respect which in turn allows the viewer to become a witness and not just a spectator. The Jury were united in their admiration of this work and the light it shed on the tragic practice it exposes.

PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY WINNERS AND FINALISTS

The winners of the seven Documentary and seven Art categories hail from 10 countries and, for the first time, two Professional categories have been won by one photographer in the same year. Photographers were judged on a body of work.

ART CATEGORIES

Architecture winner: Am lie Labourdette, France

2nd - Hui Zhang, China / 3rd - Stephan Zirwes, Germany

Candid winner - Kirstin Schmitt, Germany

2nd - Nick Ng, Malaysia / 3rd - Andrea Rossato, Italy

Conceptual winner - Julien Mauve, France

2nd - Alejandro Beltran, Venezuela / 3rd - Barbaros Kayan, Turkey

Landscape winner: Maroesjka Lavigne, Belgium

2nd Maoyuan Cui, China / 3rd Stefan Schlumpf, Switzerland

oPortraiture winner: Marcello Bonfanti, Italy

2nd Fauzan Ijazah, Indonesia / 3rd Rub n Salgado Escudero, Spain

oStaged winner: Alberto Alicata, Italy

2nd Cristina Vatielli, Italy / 3rd Kristoffer Eliassen, Norway

Still Life winner: Francesco Amorosino, Italy

2nd Oliver Schwarzwald, Germany / 3rd Hiroshi Watanabe, Japan

DOCUMENTARY CATEGORIES

Campaign winner: Jetmir Idrizi, Kosovo

2nd - David Chancellor, UK / 3rd - Antoine Repess , France

Contemporary Issues winner - Asghar Khamseh, Iran

2nd - Kevin Frayer, Canada / 3rd - Simona Ghizzoni, Italy

Current Affairs winner - Angelos Tzortzinis, Greece

2nd - Andrea and Magda, Italy & France / 3rd - Andrew Burton, USA

oDaily Life winner: Espen Rasmussen, Norway

2nd Sandra Hoyn, Germany / 3rd Stephanie Sinclair, USA

Environment winner: Kevin Frayer, Canada

2nd Li Feng, China / 3rd Lucy Nicholson, UK

People winner: Kevin Frayer, Canada

2nd Filippo Venturi, Italy / 3rd Alessandro DAngelo, Italy

Sport winner: Nikolai Linares, Denmark

2nd Jens Juul, Denmark / 3rd Annick Donkers, Belgium

OPEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR - KEI NO

LINK:	http://presscentre.sony.eu/pressreleases/grand-prize-winners-announced...
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