PROFESSIONAL, OPEN, STUDENT AND YOUTH WINNERS ANNOUNCED
The World Photography Organisation announced today the overall winners in the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards 2023 at a special gala ceremony in London, hosted by broadcaster and art historian Kate Bryan.
The Photographer of the Year title has been awarded to the acclaimed photographer Edgar Martins (Portugal) for his series Our War, a homage to Martins' friend, photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who was killed during the Libyan Civil War in 2011. Martins won a $25,000 (USD) cash prize and a range of Sony digital imaging equipment. Additionally, Martins receives a solo presentation of his work as part of next year's Sony World Photography Awards exhibition. This opportunity allows photographers to further develop their winning project or exhibit a brand new body of work, gaining them additional exposure for their practice.
Martins was selected from the 10 category winners of the Professional competition who were announced today alongside those in 2nd and 3rd place in each Professional category. The overall winners of the Awards' Open, Youth and Student competitions were additionally revealed.
Also announced is Alessandro Cinque (Italy), the first-time winner of the Sustainability Prize developed in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation and Sony Pictures' Picture This initiative this new $5,000 (USD) award recognises the stories, people and organisations whose actions highlight one of the United Nations' environmental Sustainable Development Goals.
The Sony World Photography Awards 2023 exhibition opens at Somerset House, London from 14 April - 1 May 2023, featuring over 200 prints and hundreds of additional images in digital displays from winning and shortlisted photographers. Also presented are works by this year's Outstanding Contribution to Photography, the esteemed Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi.
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Our War by Edgar Martins (Portugal) is an original and nuanced tribute to the photographer's late friend the photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who was abducted and killed on 5 April 2011 by government militia, during the Libyan Civil War.
Frustrated by unsuccessful attempts to ascertain the whereabouts of his friend's last mortal remains, Martins took matters into his own hands and travelled to Libya. He was brought in covertly by a petrol smuggler and was immediately faced with enormous challenges working in such a volatile environment. Realising that he would not be able to carry out a thorough and independent investigation, Martins instead chose to reflect on the question: how does one tell a story when there is no witness, no testimony, no evidence, no subject?'
In Our War Martins conjures and alludes to the absent central figure through a series of portraits of the people Hammerl had connected with and those involved in the fighting (freedom fighters or their descendants, ex-militia, local residents, Gaddafi loyalists or lookalikes, and so on). They were chosen because they either resembled him, had similar ideas and beliefs, or reminded Martins of him at different stages of their friendship. The project explores the idea of absence, of documenting, grieving, and honouring a subject as well as reflecting on the role of photography within a conflict zone. Martins' approach is to confront these questions head-on: to embrace the idea of the fragmentary and the many contradictions and ambiguities intrinsic to war.
Commenting on his win Martins says: It is a huge honour to be recognised and although I am philosophical about awards and the subjective nature of someone's choice, knowing that there were over 180,000 entries to this year's Professional competition, is very humbling. In this case, it is also quite an emotional experience because I get to honour my friend on a world stage and bring attention to the family's plight to find his remains. There's no award that has the reach of the Sony World Photography Awards.'
Commenting on Martins' winning project, Mike Trow, Chair of the 2023 Professional competition says: Photography is so often about memory and its nature. Long-term memory is about the conscious recollection of past events and our knowledge of them be it through direct experience or mediated through the myriad of media we use. Our War by Edgar Martins has used memory and invention to give us a powerful, personal set of portraits that attempt to explain the last days of his friend, the photojournalist Anton Hammerl. His work highlights the lengths photographers will go to to tell a story and create meaning; each image giving a sense of the journey Anton took without ever being explicit about how his life ended. The entire jury this year was fulsome in their appreciation of the work and its narrative force.'
PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY WINNERS
Winning photographers in the Professional competition have been selected by a panel of expert judges for submitting an outstanding body of work of five to 10 images, ranging from stories of war and reconciliation, to the empowerment of women through education, and original approaches to the genres of still life and sport.
All category winners receive Sony's digital imaging kit. This year's winners are:
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
WINNER: Fan Li (China Mainland) for his series Cement Factory
Finalists: 2nd place Servaas Van Belle (Belgium); 3rd place Andres Gallardo Albajar (Spain)
CREATIVE
WINNER: Lee-Ann Olwage (South Africa) for her series The Right to Play
Finalists: 2nd place Noemi Comi (Italy); 3rd place Edoardo Delille & Giulia Piermartiri (Italy)
DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS
WINNER: Hugh Kinsella Cunningham (United Kingdom) for his series The Women's Peace Movement in Congo
Finalists: 2nd place Mohammed Salem (State of Palestine); 3rd place Tariq
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PROFESSIONAL, OPEN, STUDENT AND YOUTH WINNERS ANNOUNCED
