In the eight short years that the Sony World Photography Awards has been around it’s become the biggest photography competition in the world, and its growth seems to be exponential. The 2015 competition saw 173,444 entries from 171 different countries - a 24% increase on 2014 - and we're sure to see a further rise this year.
The awards were born out of our love for great photography, and it was this that led us to collaborate with the World Photography Organisation. We wanted to celebrate the people behind the camera - irrespective of where they are from and their preferred style - and SWPA is a platform to do so. It costs nothing to take part, and the four entry levels - Youth, Open, Professional and Mobile Phone - mean that photographers of all abilities are welcome to take part. This is still the goal of SWPA today - to recognise and reward photographers at all stages of their careers, and to simply celebrate what is a powerful and influential art form.
Each entry is judged by a specially selected panel from the World Photography Academy, and the shortlisted photographers are invited to celebrate their work at a gala dinner and awards ceremony in London. This is also where we announce the overall winner of the Professional category, who is awarded the L’Iris d’Or, a cash prize and the title of ‘Sony World Photographer of the Year’. All winning and shortlisted photographers are also honoured with a two-and-a-half week exhibition at Somerset House.
With over 740,000 articles about SWPA and its photographers published in 2015 alone, it's no surprise that the competition has become a great way for photographers to get their work noticed by key figures figures in the industry. Spanish photographer Daniel Duart started delivering workshops and master classes for Sony after coming 2nd place in the Professional Travel category in 2013, and Natalia Wiernik won the 2013 Student Photographer of the Year award and has since been featured in some of the world’s biggest photography magazines.
If you fancy yourself as the next Daniel or Natalia then now's the time to prove yourself, because the 2016 competition is now open for entries. Simply visit the official Sony World Photography Awards page to take part, and who knows, you could be the name on everyone's lips in just a few months!
