
Worlds largest photography competition celebrates its 10th anniversary
New categories in Professional, Open and Youth competitions
We are committed to challenging photographers to push their creative boundaries in the years to come. Scott Gray, CEO, World Photography Organisation
June 1, 2016: The Sony World Photography Awards, the worlds largest photography competition, opens for entries today. Created by the World Photography Organisation, 2017 marks the awards' 10th anniversary.
The Sony World Photography Awards annually recognizes the world's best photography. 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.Each year the competition attracts both emerging talent and established artists and presents the world's best photography from the last 12 months to a global audience.
Winning the Portrait category was life-changing. Professionally, winning the award helped kick-start my career Sophie Gamand, Winner, Professional Portrait category 2015
Winning brought more attention to my work and I started receiving more collaboration proposals and job opportunities Kylli Sparre, Winner, Open Enhanced category 2014
The award changed my life and beyond the great visibility obtained allowed me to create solid relations of friendships and professional collaborations that I otherwise would not have been able to obtain Andrea Roseate, 3rd Place, Professional Candid category 2016
Photographers are welcome to enter their work for free into any of the awards' four competitions: Professional, Open, Youth and Student Focus via www.worldphoto.org. The newly re-launched website gives a greater visual platform to the awards' photographers and makes the entry process simpler than ever before.
The 2017 edition also sees new categories introduced across the all competitions challenging photographers to push their creative boundaries. Please see notes to editors for competition definitions and categories or click here.
The Sony World Photography Awards offer a wide range of benefits for its winning photographers, including:
The latest Sony digital imaging equipment
Inclusion in the Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition in London
Inclusion in the annual Sony World Photography Awards winners book
$25,000 (USD) for the winner of the Photographer of the Year title
$5,000 (USD) for the winner of the Open competition
Worldwide media exposure and increased recognition
Scott Gray, CEO of World Photography Organisation, comments: We are extremely proud to reach our 10th anniversary. Since launching in 2007 the Sony World Photography Awards has grown consistently in both size and credibility. Across the years the awards have discovered and celebrated a huge variety of photography. I am honored that emerging photographers across the word have been able to use the awards to launch their careers, and established photographers can use us to extend their networks. We are committed to challenging photographers to push their creative boundaries in the years to come.
The 2016 Sony World Photography Awards attracted a record-breaking 230,103 entries to from 186 countries. The 2016 Professional Photographer of the Year title was awarded to Iranian photojournalist Asghar Khamseh for his series Fire of Hatred.
The Sony World Photography Awards shortlist will be announced on February 28, Open and National Awards winners revealed on March 28 and overall winners announced on April 20, 2017, with an exhibition at Somerset House, London, running from April 21 - May 7 2017.
Winning and shortlisted images from the 2016 awards are available to download at www.worldphoto.org/press
For all press enquiries please contact
Press department, World Photography Organisation
+ 44 (0) 20 7886 3043 / press@worldphoto.org
Notes to Editors
2017 COMPETITION CATEGORIES - see full category descriptions here
Professional - Judged on a body of work
Art categories: Architecture / Conceptual / Landscape / Natural World / Portraiture / Still LifeDocumentary categories:Current Affairs & News / Contemporary Issues / Daily Life / Sport
Open - Judged on a single shot
Categories: Architecture / Culture / Enhanced / Motion / Nature / Wildlife / Portraits / Still Life / Street Photography / Travel
Youth - For photographers aged 12-19, judged on a single image responding to the brief of Beauty
Student Focus - For photography students, judged on a single image responding to a brief
KEY DATES
December 5 2016 - Student Focus competition closes
January 5, 2017 - Open and Youth competitions close
January 10, 2017 - Professional competition closes
February 28, 2017 - Shortlist for Professional, Open, Youth and Student Focus competitions revealed
March 28, 2017 - Open, Youth and National Award winners revealed
April 20, 2017 - Photographer of the Year plus Professional category winners and Open, Youth and Student competition winners revealed at ceremony held in London
April 21 - May 7, 2017 - Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London
About World Photography Organisation The World Photography Organisation is a center point for global photography initiatives. We are a platform on which individual photographers are given worldwide exposure, and forge links across the photographic industry. Our aim is to raise the level of conversation around photography. In doing this we increase awareness and appreciation of the art form and celebrate the art of the photographer.
The World Photography Organisation hosts a year-round portfolio of events including the Sony World Photography Awards, the worlds largest photography competition, and international art fairs dedicated to photography, PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai and PHOTOFAIRS | San Francisco. For more
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
15/04/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BBC World Service has selected its IP ...
15/04/2026
LiveU has announced an expansion of its collaboration with Sony Corporation, add...
15/04/2026
Ateme has announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to support live Apple Immersive ...
15/04/2026
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has announced a multi-year partnership renewal with DAZN DACH, covering Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, and...
15/04/2026
Canon U.S.A. (NAB Booth C3825) today took the lid off of the CINE-SERVO 40-1200m...
15/04/2026
Panasonic Video and Audio Systems North America and NEP Group will demonstrate a...
15/04/2026
For the fourth year running, independent analysts found businesses across all industries and verticals pay roughly the same amount in fees as they spend on stor...
15/04/2026
The Soccer Tournament (TST) has announced a media rights deal with NBC Sports to...
15/04/2026
JB&A will host the Pre-NAB 2026 Technology Event on April 17-18 at Flamingo Las Vegas, ahead of NAB Show. The event features hands-on demonstrations and technic...
15/04/2026
The Sennheiser Group will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth 4931, Central Hall), with demonstrations from Sennheiser, Neumann, and Merging across three areas: Rel...
15/04/2026
NAB Show 2026 will take place April 18-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, wi...
15/04/2026
AI-Media has announced the LEXI Text Encoder and LEXI Voice Encoder at NAB Show 2026, the company's first new encoder hardware release in more than a decade...
15/04/2026
Italian camera support manufacturer Cartoni will introduce several new products at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C6540, Central Hall), including the Master 30 OB fluid h...
15/04/2026
Lawo and swXtch.io have announced a memorandum of understanding at NAB Show 2026, under which Lawo will explore incorporating swXtch.io's groundSwXtch softw...
15/04/2026
CacheFly will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W3129, April 19-22, Las Vegas Convention Center), showcasing three new additions to its content delivery platform:...
15/04/2026
Synamedia has announced GO Shorts, a new module within its Synamedia Go OTT platform that uses AI to convert an operator's existing content library into a s...
15/04/2026
The NAB Show kicks off on Saturday, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams a...
15/04/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced an agreement to acquire Comprimato, a live video encoding and processing software company. The deal will unite the two companies...
15/04/2026
Prime Video Sports' NBA Playoffs coverage, which includes the entire SoFi NB...
15/04/2026
Just announced, the SDE standard provides a unified method and file format to ensure consistent and reliably comparable noise predictions
Sports and entertainm...
15/04/2026
From immersive storytelling to laugh-out-loud comedies, podcasts are booming in ...
15/04/2026
Books have always moved with us, whether tucked in our bags or humming in our he...
15/04/2026
For many artists, independent venues are where music careers begin and fan communities take shape. Independent venue operators work hard every day to keep local...
15/04/2026
From gripping thrillers to poignant memoirs, the 21st century has had no shortage of unforgettable books. To celebrate the standout storytelling of our modern e...
15/04/2026
Vintage broadcast experts release second plug-in
Telsie T is the second plug-in to be released by SonicWorld, a German audio company who specialise in servi...
15/04/2026
Includes eight free UAD plug-ins
Universal Audio's latest bundle brings together a selection of their renowned plug-ins and virtual instruments, and is ...
15/04/2026
Maximum uptime for broadcasters: Rohde & Schwarz launches R&S BroadcastShield at...
15/04/2026
Image courtesy of MD Helicopters...
15/04/2026
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, L3Harris VP Mark Farley, and state and local l...
15/04/2026
U.S. Space Forces Ground-Based Optical Sensor System upgrade at the Maui Space S...
15/04/2026
NBCU-Versant notches 13.1% of TV viewing in February, its best since August 2024...
15/04/2026
New data reveals older Kiwis are financially resilient, loyal to local products,...
15/04/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, announces the market launch of the ACCE...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Evergent introduces its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform, transforming how subscription businesses across direct-to-consumer streaming, pay-TV, telecommun...
15/04/2026
Harmonic's XOS Media Processor Delivers Exceptional Video Quality to More than Half of U.S. Public Media Viewership
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announce...
15/04/2026
LONGMONT, COLORADO, APRIL 15, 2026 DPA Microphones N Series Digital Wireless System users in North America can now take full advantage of the system's exc...
15/04/2026
Cobalt Iron, a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced the launch of Compass Tape Gateway (CTG), a transformative enhancemen...
15/04/2026
Disguise to Showcase Cutting-Edge Experience Tech for Sports, Broadcast and More...
15/04/2026
Arooj Aftab Makes the Music She Wants to Hear The singular artist explores the juxtaposition of grief and joy, dark and light, in her distinctive sound.
Apri...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Interra Systems, a provider of end-to-end quality assurance solutions for the digital media industry, is proud to announce its central role in the digital trans...