
I want to be blown away by seeing a portrait or image that immediately invokes an emotional response, not a pastiche of a famous portrait or replication of a photographers style that has come before. Russ O'Connell, 2017 Professional competition judge
December 6, 2016: With just one month until the 10th edition closes, the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards today releases new entries from its Open competition, and asks its judges to share their advice to photographers worldwide entering the Professional, Open and Youth competitions plus the National Awards.
The Sony World Photography Awards, created by the World Photography Organisation, is the world's largest photography competition. The 2016 competition received a record-breaking 230,103 images from 186 countries. The Photographer of the Year title was won by Iranian photojournalist Asghar Khamseh, and the Open Photographer of the Year title was awarded to Kei Nomiyama from Japan.
All entries to the Sony World Photography Awards are free at www.worldphoto.org. The deadlines for each competition are:
January 5, 2017 - Open competition - rewarding the best single images across 10 categories
January 5, 2017 - Youth competition - the best single image responding to a set brief by any photographer aged 12-19
January 5, 2017 - National Awards - uncovering the best single image from over 60 countries entered into the Open competition
January 10, 2017 Professional competition - 10 categories judged upon a body of work
The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on April 20, 2017. Prizes include the latest Sony digital imaging equipment, inclusion in the 2017 awards' book plus cash prizes of $25,000 (USD) for the overall Professional winner and $5,000 (USD) for the overall Open winner.
All winning and shortlisted images will also be exhibited as part of the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London from April 21 - May 7, 2017. The exhibition will also feature a special curation of work by the awards' 2017 Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient.
Top tips from the judges
The awards' judging panels are made up of esteemed industry experts who below offer advice to those entering any of the 2017 competitions:
Russ O'Connell, Picture Editor, The Sunday Times Magazine (UK)
2017 Professional competition judge
Be conscious of your contemporaries and competition, try and choose something that really stands out, but is relevant in todays saturated market
Think commercially - what may be special to you personally, can be lost or misunderstood to the viewer
Be mindful of clich images
Fran oise Callier, Program Director, Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops (France)
2017 Professional competition judge
Technically good photos is a must
Don't copy winners from previous competitions
Good storytelling is important to me. I like being able to look at the photographs and understand what they are telling me without having to read the text description about them. I want the photographs to speak for themselves.
Damien Demolder, Photographer and Journalist (UK)
2017 Open and Youth competitions Chair of Judges
Try not to shoot images that have been done a thousand times before and which only copy and emulate others
Your life and your experience are different to everyone else's so use your individuality
New images available for publication
A new selection of entries to the Sony World Photography Awards' Open competition is now available via the World Photography Organisation press center. Please visit www.worldphoto.org/press for more details
For all press enquiries please contact
Press Department, World Photography Organisation
+ 44 (0) 20 7886 3043 or 3049 / press@worldphoto.org
Notes to Editors
All entries to the Sony World Photography Awards are free via www.worldphoto.org.
Please visit the website for rules and conditions of entries.
Key dates
January 17, 2017 - Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient announced
February 28, 2017 - Shortlist for Professional, Open, Youth and Student Focus competitions revealed
March 28, 2017 - Open, Youth and National Award winners announced
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 global platform for photography initiatives. Working across up to 180 countries, our aim is to raise the level of conversation around photography by celebrating the best imagery and photographers on the planet.
We pride ourselves on building lasting relationships with both individual photographers and our industry-leading partners around the world.
We host a year-round portfolio of events including: the Sony World Photography Awards (the worlds largest photography competition, marking its 10th anniversary in 2017), various local meetups/talks throughout the year, and PHOTOFAIRS, International Art Fairs Dedicated to Photography, with destinations in Shanghai and San Francisco.
About Sony Corporation
Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, imaging, game, communications, key device and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and online businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading electronics and entertainment company in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $72 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. Sony Global Web Site: http://www.sony.net/
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
15/06/2025
July 2025 in Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam & London
Photo: Thea Martre
Music Production for Women (MPW) have announced that they will be running a series of fo...
15/06/2025
Composer/producer launches free virtual instruments
Sulcata Sound is the latest venture of Jason Graves, a two-time British Academy Award-winnning composer,...
14/06/2025
NEW YORK Pluto TV and the All Womens Sports Network have launched a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) AWSN channel in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the Nor...
14/06/2025
NEW YORK and CINCINNATI E.W. Scripps has announced a new, multiyear agreement with the WNBA that will continue Ions regular-season coverage of the league on Fri...
14/06/2025
WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters highlighted the hidden importance of spectrum in the production of major sporting events and described wha...
14/06/2025
WASHINGTON Sunsetting ATSC 1.0, expanding business opportunities for NextGen Broadcast and increasing international adoption of the ATSC 3.0 standard were top o...
14/06/2025
SAN FRANCISCO Samba TV and Acxiom have announced that they will dramatically expand their longstanding relationship....
14/06/2025
July 2025 in Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam & London
Photo: Thea Martre
Music Production for Women (MPW) have announced that they will be running a series of fo...
14/06/2025
San Francisco State University's School of Cinema Uses Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 13, 2025
0 Comments
More than 40 Blackmagic Design came...
14/06/2025
Boris FX Mocha Pro Adds New AI Tools To Tackle VFX Tasks Fast
Jessie Electa Petrov June 13, 2025
0 Comments
The 2025.5 release helps artists work more...
14/06/2025
AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 2025
Brie Clayton June 13, 2025
0 Comments
Next-gen frame addresses diverse rackmount needs wit...
13/06/2025
(L-R) Lindsay Utz, Michelle Walshe, and The Right Honourable Dame Jacinda Ardern attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Prime Minister at Eccles T...
13/06/2025
Photo credit: Atsushi Nishijima
If you're a true lover of rom-coms, chances...
13/06/2025
Pure Drama and Fierce Rivalries set to dominate the world's most iconic spor...
13/06/2025
Johannesburg, 12 June 2025 - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an a...
13/06/2025
ABILENE. Texas A severe storm knocked down the tower and severely damaged the news studio and main facility of Sinclair-owned KTXS here on Sunday, June 8....
13/06/2025
Berklee's Music Business/Management Department Recognized by the Music Biz A...
13/06/2025
WASHINGTON The ATSC, the Broadcast Standards Association, honored veteran technologist Aldo Cugnini and Clarence Hau, Senior Vice President of Standards, Policy...
13/06/2025
(Editor's note: The 2025 UFL Championship Game between the D.C. Defenders and Michigan Panthers kicks off Saturday, June 14, at 8 p.m. Eastern. The game wil...
13/06/2025
New iPad/iPhone synth App announced
Following on from last year's release of Gradient Synth - which reached #6 on the App Store's Paid Music charts ...
13/06/2025
LONDON Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that HBO Max will launch direct-to-consumer in multiple new countries this July as the streamer becomes available in...
13/06/2025
AI voice transcription and captioning platform Verbit has added a new feature to its Captivate ASR solution the ability to identify specific features in automat...
13/06/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission member Anna Gomez has wrapped up two weeks in California visiting broadcasters, television studio executives, enter...
13/06/2025
WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives voted mostly along party lines to approve a rescission package that would cancel $9.4 billion in previously approve...
13/06/2025
At InfoComm 2025, AJA Video Systems announced DRM2-Plus, an intuitive, high-capacity 3RU frame that can neatly house up to 24 AJA Mini-Converters. Tailored to s...
13/06/2025
Cinema advertising leader to leverage AOS and suite of AI-enabled solutions to optimize forecasting, yield management, and streamlined ad sales and operations a...
13/06/2025
Manfrotto has launched the ONE Hybrid Tripod, a new support system designed specifically for professional content creators working with mirrorless cameras acros...
13/06/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that its Media Edge Gateway (MEG), an ATSC 3.0 software-based IRD, now supports Device Security requ...
13/06/2025
LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video contribution, production and distribution solutions, is deepening its commitment to the German-speaking market with th...
13/06/2025
Chaos, the leader in architectural visualisation software, today announces Chaos Corona 13, giving archviz designers new ways to add eye-catching style and flai...
13/06/2025
PALI's Nena Music Video Shot with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 12, 2025
0 Comments
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve Studio b...
13/06/2025
OddBeast Powers Up iRobot's Newest Roombas with Suite of CGI Launch Assets
Brie Clayton June 12, 2025
0 Comments
The motion design and production ...
13/06/2025
On Chick Coreas Birthday, a Newly Uncovered Archival Release The Visitors, composed by Corea and performed by vibraphonist Gary Burton and pianist Kirill Gers...
13/06/2025
In fulfilment of a recommendation by the Government's Expert Advisory Commit...
13/06/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Backblaze's Gleb Budman Talks Products, Partnerships, and the ...
13/06/2025
SVG Sit-Down: DAZN's Walker Jacobs Calls Streaming the FIFA Club World Cup ...
13/06/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Vecima Networks' Paul Strickland on How Improving QoE...
13/06/2025
Pitch Perspective: Where's Next for Specialty Cameras in Soccer? Leaders from Sky Austria and ACS discuss the possibilities of camera placement pitchside B...
13/06/2025
Premiership Rugby Final 2025: Vintage clash between Bath and Leicester gets full...
13/06/2025
Premiership Rugby Final 2025: TNT Sports gears up for Bath vs Leicester battle w...
13/06/2025
NCAA Men's College World Series: ESPN Adds Two-Point SupraCam, Invests in Ne...
13/06/2025
New FSWX signal and spectrum analyzer with novel architecture overcomes limits o...
13/06/2025
Apple today announced the addition of iPad to Self Service Repair, providing iPad owners with access to repair manuals, genuine Apple parts, Apple Diagnostics t...
13/06/2025
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed iOS 26, a major update that brings a beautiful new design, intelligent experiences, and improvements to the apps use...
13/06/2025
At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple unveiled Apple Games, an all-new destination designed to help players jump back into the games they...
13/06/2025
Industrial AI isn't slowing down. Germany is ready.
Following London Tech Week and GTC Paris at VivaTech, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang's Europea...
12/06/2025
In 2018, Spotify launched Heart & Soul, a mental health initiative developed to ...
12/06/2025
50 Years Strong: SBS and NITV Supercharge NAIDOC Week 2025 in a joint 50th celeb...