San Diego, CA—The World Photography Organization revealed the winners for the Open, Youth and 3D categories of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards. With photographers from as far apart as Chile to Vietnam, the winning images capture a wide variety of subjects, from the moment before a couple got married to the Mangystau night sky in Kazakhstan and the Fung Shun fire dragon dance in Southern China.
Created by the World Photography Organization (WPO), the World Photography Awards, sponsored by Sony, launched in 2007. WPO supports professional, amateur and student photography, providing a global platform for the photographic industry to communicate, converge and showcase trends in photojournalism, fine art and commercial photography.
The 2013 Open category winners were judged on a single image taken by an amateur photographer. The winning photographers were selected from nearly 55,000 entries. The winners are:
• Architecture – Martina Biccheri, Italy
• Arts and Culture – Gilbert Yu, Hong Kong
• Enhanced – Hoang Hiep Nguyen, Vietnam
• Low Light – Elmar Akhmetov, Kazakhstan
• Nature & Wildlife – Krasimir Matarov, Bulgaria
• Panoramic – Yeow Kwang Yeo, Singapore
• People – Hisatomi Tadahiko, Japan
• Smile – Ming Hui Guan, China
• Split Second – Matías Gálvez, Chile
• Travel – Manny Fajutag, Philippines
The 10 Open category winners will now compete for the Sony World Photography Awards Open Photographer of the Year title. The winner of the $5,000 prize will be revealed at a gala ceremony on April 25, 2013.
All category winners receive a Sony SLT-A77 and will have their images exhibited at Somerset House, London, from April 26 through May 12, 2013 as part of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition. The photographs will also be published in the 2013 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards book.
“Amateurs constantly amaze me, not only with their determination, their passion and their internal drive, but also with the astonishing quality they are capable of achieving,” said Damien Demolder, presiding chair of the jury for the Open competition and editor of Amateur Photographer magazine (UK). “They can be extraordinarily creative and more than capable of working to their own brief to turn a wonderful idea or moment into a beautiful photograph. In so many ways there are heftier chunks of real life and soul in amateur images than there are in the professional categories—because amateurs do it for the love of taking pictures. And the shortlist and winners for this year's Open competition demonstrates that perfectly.”
The Youth category, open to photographers aged 19 and under, looks to uncover the next generation of photography talent. The Youth category winners are:
• Culture – Alecsandra Dragoi, Romania
• Environment – Xu Wei Shou, Taiwan
• Portraits – Berta Vicente, Spain
One Overall Youth Photographer of the Year will be selected from these three photographers and will be announced at the Sony World Photography Awards gala ceremony on April 25.
The 3D competition was won by Slovenian photographer Matjaž Tančič. A leading 3D fashion photographer who divides his time between Beijing and Ljubljana, Tančič’s work has been exhibited and featured in publications around the world. His image, Time Keeper, is inspired by the setup of Hui-style living rooms in the old village houses of Yixian, China.
Professional category winners and the L’Iris D’Or/Sony World Photography Awards Professional Photographer of the Year title will be announced at the ceremony in London April 25, 2013. The L’Iris D’Or winner will receive $25,000. worldphoto.org
