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The jury for the 2020 Sony World Photography Awards is revealed today by the Awards’ creators, the World Photography Organisation. The jury for the internationally acclaimed awards includes a diverse range of industry experts across the museum, gallery, art fair and media sectors. The photography competition will be judged on a serious body of work and targeting artists working across the breadth of photography across 10 categories.
The jury who will assess the entries are: Claudi Carreras Guillén, Independent curator, editor, and cultural manager; Touria El Glaoui, Founding Director of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair; Katie Hollander, Director, Annenberg Space for Photography; Gwen Lee, Director, Singapore International Photography Festival and Brent Lewis, Photo Editor, The New York Times / Co-Founder, Diversify Photo.
The 2020 Sony World Photography Awards Professional Jury will be chaired for the third consecutive year by picture editor, curator and consultant Mike Trow, bringing huge knowledge of the Awards’ history and development to the proceedings. Trow will also curate the 2020 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition.
Mike Trow, editor, photographer, consultant (UK)
Meanwhile, the Open and Youth competitions will be chaired by Gisela Kayser, Managing Director and Artistic Director, Freundeskreis Willy-Brandt-Haus e.V., Berlin . Tim Clark, curator, writer and Editor in Chief 1000 Words completes the 2020 jury as the chair of the Student competition.
Gisela Kayser, Managing Director & Artistic Director, Freundeskreis Willy-Brandt-Haus (Germany)
Tim Clark, curator, writer and editor–in–chief, 1000 Words (UK)
All entries are free at www.worldphoto.org and the deadlines are:
- Youth competition: Last day of each month from June – December 2019
- Student competition: November 29, 2019
- Open competition / National Awards: January 7, 2020
- Professional competition: January 14, 2020
The jurors will meet in London in January 2020 to debate the work, and the first of the shortlists will be announced February 4, 2020. All work is judged anonymously. The 2019 edition received 327,00 entries from 195 countries and territories.
Federico Borella – Photographer of the Year and 1st Place, Documentary Photo © Federico Borella, Italy, Photographer of the Year, Professional competition, Documentary, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
2020 Awards evolve to provide four new initiatives to photographers
Now in its 13th year, the Sony World Photography Awards continue to evolve and develop to connect photographic communities across the world and offer more opportunities to those working in photography, particularly in the emerging markets.
Christy Lee Rogers, United States, Open Photographer of the year, Open competition, Motion, 2019 Sony World Photography Awards
As such, the 2020 edition will see four new initiatives. Firstly, the works of Latin American photographers will be celebrated in a new Latin America Professional Award. Open to all photographers from Latin American countries entering bodies of work to the 2020 Professional competition, one winner and selected finalists will receive Sony digital equipment and an exhibition of their work in Mexico in 2020.
To mark the launch of this new award, an exhibition of work from across the 2019 Sony World Photography Awards, including a special curation of never before seen images by Latin American photographers, will open at the Foto Museo Cuatro Caminos, Mexico City from October 3 to 31, 2019. For more information go to www.worldphoto.org/latin-america-professional-award.
Zelle Westfall, United States, Youth Photographer of the Year, Youth, Diversity
In conjunction with Sony China, the Awards have also launched the China National Student Photography Award. Open to all academic institutions across mainland China with photography programs, this new competition will seek to recognise the next generation of photographers. Ten emerging Chinese students will be shortlisted, and one winner will be flown to London to compete for the Student Photographer of the Year title against young photographers from across the world. For more details go to www.worldphoto.org/china-national-student-photography-award.
Young photographers aged 12-19 will also have more opportunity to be spotted in the refreshed Youth competition. Photographers are now challenged to enter up to 3 images per month to different themes. Running from June – December, one winner will be chosen each month and will go on to compete for the Youth Photographer of the Year title.
Samuel Bolduc, Canada, Student Photographer of the Year
Lastly, a new Environment category has been introduced to Professional competition in recognition of the growing importance of this topic in both fine art photography and photojournalism.
2019 touring exhibition
The work of the 2019 Sony World Photography Awards winners and shortlisted artists, including the 2019 Photographer of the Year Federico Borella, continues to inspire audiences worldwide.
Providing a unique insight into contemporary photography from the last year, the 2019 exhibition opened in London to 25,000 people and moved to Spain and Korea. It will now travel to Japan, France, Italy and Germany. For the full touring schedule please go to www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/travelling-exhibition.
Joining the 2020 Sony World Photography Awards is free. The photography competition created by the World Photography Organisation is an awesome way for winners and shortlisted artists to be recognized and gain exposure in different parts of the world. It presents a very good opportunity for all levels of photographers from the around the world to be seen, appraised, and rewarded. Pasts winners and shortlisted photographers has went on to secure gallery representation, publishing deals, and widespread press coverage.
