Produced by the World Photography Organization, the internationally acclaimed Sony World Photography Awards are one of the most important fixtures in the global photographic calendar.
The Awards are a global voice for photography and provide a vital insight into contemporary photography today. For both established and emerging artists, the Awards offer world-class opportunities for exposure of their work.
To get more exciting opportunities like this, at your fingertips, install the Youth Opportunities Mobile App here from your cellphone.
Now in its 13th year, the Awards consist of four competitions:
- Professional (for a body of work)
- Open (for a single image)
- Student (for academic institutions)
- Youth (for 12-19 year-olds)
Always free to enter, there is a competition and a category for everyone – from Architecture, Documentary, Landscape, Portraiture, Sport, Street Photography, Wildlife, Travel, Culture and more.
Sony Photography Awards:
- The submitted images (if taken with phone) should still be no smaller than 1MB in order to enter them, and a higher resolution version may still be required.
- Entries in any 2020 Sony World Photography Awards competition must have been taken in 2019 (January 1 to December 31, 2019), with the only exception being that entries in the Professional competition may have been taken prior to this, only if they have been first published in 2019.
- In the Professional competition you can enter a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10 images per category. On the other hand, in the Open and Youth competitions, one can enter up to 3 images in total for free.
Student Competition:
- The images of the series combined should be no larger than 10 MB and should be submitted as Jpeg file. One should also have a high res version available for printing.
- The candidate’s university must be registered to enter the competition.
- Digital manipulation is allowed, however one must provide details of how his/her image has been altered.
Deadline:
The National Award, Open and Youth Competitions: January 7, 2020
Professional competition: January 14, 2020
Student Focus competition: November 29, 2019
Location:
Online, EnglandBenefits
Successful photographers can receive:
- Inclusion in global and country-specific media and marketing campaigns
- Exhibition at Somerset House, London
- Potential to be included in international exhibitions
- Inclusion in the Sony World Photography Awards book
- Opportunity to apply for the Sony Grant to further personal photographic projects
Moreover,
- All images are judged by industry experts from across the world, who come together each year in London to reward standout works. A total prize fund of $60,000 (USD) plus the latest Sony digital imaging equipment is shared between the winning photographers.
- With the power to kickstart and shape careers, the Awards provide those working in photography a global stage to showcase their work.
- The Grants of $7,000 (USD) and $3,500 (USD) each is awarded to four professional and three student recipients respectively so they can continue developing their projects.
- Student Competition: The prize for the winning university consists of over €30,000 worth of Sony photography equipment. Out of this amazing prize collection, each of the 10 shortlisted students will be given a professional camera, whilst the overall winning institution receiving the remaining equipment and largest portion of this combined prize, provided by Sony, the sponsor.
Eligibilities
Professional, Open & Youth:
- Entries in any 2020 Sony World Photography Awards competition must have been taken in 2019 (January 1 to December 31, 2019), with the only exception being that entries in the Professional competition may have been taken prior to this, only if they have been first published in 2019.
- In the Professional competition only, images that have been commissioned or acquired to be published for the first time in 2019 can also be entered, but only after the published date.
- Must be aged between 12-19 for entering Youth Competition
Student Competition:
- Must be aged 18-30
- The institution should be teaching higher education photography – a minimum of one module/course in photography as part of a degree course or similar.
- The competition is for all students studying an element of photography within a higher education course.
Application Process
Apply online through the given link.
Professional, Open & Youth:
- Ensure that the images are above 1MB size and are in Jpeg format. Images should be no smaller than 1MB and no larger than 5MB. Images should be either JPEG or TIFF files.
- In the Professional competition, one can enter a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10 images per category. In the Open and Youth competitions, one can enter up to 3 images in total for free. One may enter more images by buying their bundles.
- All images must be submitted online, via the website.
Student Competition:
- The images of the series combined should be no larger than 10 MB and should be submitted as Jpeg file.
- Image may be in black & white or color
- Only one image can be submitted.
Application Deadline: January 14, 2020
Application ClosedOfficial link
