All category winners now revealedAmerican photographer John Moore wins L'Iris d'Or/ Photographer of the Year and $25,000 (USD) prize
Armin Appel, Germany, wins Open Photographer of the Year and $5,000 (USD)
Elliott Erwitt honoured with Outstanding Contribution to Photography award
Winning and shortlisted images to be shown at Somerset House, London 24 April - 10 May
Images available at press.worldphoto.org or Image.net
EMBARGOED UNTIL 23.00 BST ON THURSDAY 23 APRIL: The Honorary Jury of the world's largest photography competition today names American photographer John Moore as the 2015 Sony World Photography Awards' L'Iris d'Or/ Professional Photographer of the Year, amongst other awardees.
Chosen from the winners of the awards' thirteen professional categories, the winning work Ebola Crisis Overwhelms Liberian Capital is a hard-hitting series of images that cut to the heart of this human tragedy. Moore, a Senior Staff Photographer and Special Correspondent for Getty Images, and the winning photographs have been universally credited for the early exposure of the scale of the Ebola epidemic in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia and the epicentre of the deadly disease.
Moore is based in New York and has photographed in more than 70 countries. He is a past recipient of the Robert Capa Gold Medal, been named Photographer of the Year by both Pictures of the Year International and the National Press Photographers Association and has been recognised four times by World Press Photo.
The photographer was presented his award along with a $25,000 (USD) cash prize and the latest Sony digital imaging equipment at a gala ceremony held in London attended by photography's industry leaders.
In a collective statement, judges Xingxin Guo, Xinhua News Agency Image Centre, China; Jocelyn Bain Hogg, photographer, UK; and Oliver Schmitt, Spiegel Online, Germany, said of the work: John Moore's photographs of this crisis show in full the brutality of people's daily lives torn apart by this invisible enemy. However, it is his spirit in the face of such horror that garners praise. His images are intimate and respectful, moving us with their bravery and journalistic integrity. It is a fine and difficult line between images that exploit such a situation, and those that convey the same with heart, compassion and understanding, which this photographer has achieved with unerring skill. Combine this with an eye for powerful composition and cogent visual narrative, and good documentary photography becomes great.
Now in its eighth year, the Sony World Photography Awards annually presents the world's best contemporary photography across a range of genres. Free to enter and open to photographers of all abilities, it is an authoritative voice in the photographic world and attracts both emerging talent and established artists.
The awards' international judging juries are comprised of esteemed industry experts and the competition offers incredible exposure, credibility and recognition not only to its winners, but also those on its shortlist. The 2015 awards attracted record-breaking entries, with 173,444 images submitted from 171 countries, confirming its position as the world's biggest photography competition.
PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY WINNERS AND FINALISTS
The winners, plus the 2nd and 3rd placed photographers, of thirteen Professional categories were also announced today.
From across the world and covering a range of topics, the winning works each showcase the very best contemporary photography in their genre. The winners are:
oArchitecture- Winner - Cosmin Bumbu , Romania
o2nd - Massimo Siragusa, Italy
o3rd - Vadim Sivak, Ukraine
oArts & Culture- Winner - Aristide Economopoulos, United States
o2nd - Alessandra Bello, Italy
o3rd - Rich Wiles, United Kingdom (lives in Palestine)
oCampaign- Winner - Sebastian Gil Miranda, France (lives in Argentina)
o2nd - Jonathan Syer United Kingdom
o3rd - Eduardo Leal, Portugal (lives in UK)
oConceptual- Rahul Talukder, Bangladesh
o2nd - Daesung Lee, South Korea (lives in France)
o3rd - Alejandro Almaraz, Argentina
oContemporary Issues - Scott Typaldos, Switzerland
o2nd - Corentin Fohlen, France
o3rd - Annalisa Natali Murri, Italy
oCurrent Affairs- John Moore, United States
o2nd - Valery Melnikov, Russia
o3rd - Herman Verwey, South Africa
oLandscape- Simon Norfolk, United Kingdom
o2nd - Peng-Chun Yen, Taiwan
o3rd - Giulio di Sturco, Italy
oLifestyle - Li Fan China
o2nd - Dovile Dagiene, Lithuania
o3rd - Ramil Gilvanov, Russia
oPeople- Giovanni Troilo, Italy
o2nd - Johan Bavman, Sweden
o3rd - Liza Van der Stock, Belgium
oPortraiture- Rub n Salgado Escudero, Spain (lives in Myanmar)
o2nd - Dougie Wallace, United Kingdom
o3rd - Jens Juul, Denmark
oSport - Riccardo Bononi, Italy
o2nd - Irina Dainakova, Belarus
o3rd - Jonathan Yeap Chin Tiong, Singapore
oStill Life- Donald Weber, Canada
o2nd - Peter Franck, Germany
o3rd - Mong-Yong Sim, Malaysia (lives in Taiwan)
oTravel - Bernhard Lang, Germany
o2nd - Nadia Dias, India
o3rd - Yoko Naito, Japan
OPEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Amateur German photographer Armin Appel was named the overall Open Photographer of the Year and received $5,000 for his image Schoolyard . Chosen from nearly 80,000 entries to the Open competition, the image was taken while Appel was paragliding and shows the vibrant landscape of Biberach an der Riss, Germany. The image won the overall commendation amongst nine other Open category winners who were announced on 31 March. A panel of experts from the World Photography Organisation, chaired by Sam Barzilay, Creative Director of United Photo Industries (USA), judged the Open competition.
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO PHOTOGRAPHY - ELLIOTT ERWITT
Renowned Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt was honoured at the awards with t
