Deadline:
January 10, 2025
Location(s)
Online United Kingdom
Overview
The Professional competition is looking to reward and showcase the world’s most outstanding bodies of work. At the pinnacle of the competition is the title of "Photographer of the Year", one of the most distinguished and highly regarded awards in photography.
Details
The Professional competition rewards and showcases the world’s most outstanding bodies of work.
Judges are looking for series that are technically brilliant, exciting and offer a fresh perspective on what contemporary photography can do. They want to uncover work that would otherwise be unseen, and share it with a worldwide audience.
The Awards can open doors to publishing deals, gallery representation and worldwide exhibitions. The Professional competition offers established photographers a global platform to share and gain recognition for their personal projects.
Artists can enter multiple series of works to the following categories: Architecture & Design, Creative, Documentary Projects, Environment, Landscape, Natural World & Wildlife, Portraiture, Still Life, Sport, and Portfolio.
New for this year’s Professional competition is the Portfolio category. Photographers can enter five to 10 images taken in the past year that encapsulate their photographic practice. Images do not need to be related to each other in terms of narrative, subject matter or style. Here the judges will be looking at the quality and technical skills evident throughout the group of images. The Architecture category has been expanded for this year, asking entrants to also submit their best design related photographs.
Recognising outstanding bodies of work
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Professional is free to enter and open to all
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Judged on a body of work across 10 diverse categories
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Photographers must submit a minimum of 5 and maximum of 10 images
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1 overall winner, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place + up to 10 shortlisted photographers per category
“Winning the Photographer of the Year award has already led to many exciting opportunities. The exhibition at Somerset House draws huge crowds and the level of international exposure is incredible. It’s now much easier to connect with people in the industry, I’ve made some great new photographer friends and it has renewed my passion for pursuing the work I love to make.” - Alys Tomlinson, 2018 Photographer of the Year
Entries must be submitted by January 10, 2025 at 13.00 GMT.
3.2 A shortlist of up to ten photographers from each category will be selected and announced prior to April 2025 and category winners and overall winners will be announced in April 2024. The finalists will be notified by email.
Opportunity is About
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Description of Ideal Candidate
The Professional competition is judged on a body of work. Photographers must submit a minimum of five (5) and maximum of ten (10) images and all submissions must be accompanied by a series description.
Please note that if you enter the Professional competition you cannot enter the Open or Youth competitions.
Image Entry criteria:
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Un-published work entered into the competition must have been taken between the dates of January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024, or taken at any point in history but never been shown publicly. Once unpublished work has been entered, it cannot be entered again as published work in the future year of the Awards’ competition. For the portfolio category, images must be taken in the last three years, with a minimum number of 5 images from 2024.
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Published work may have been taken at any point in history, but must have been commissioned or acquired or first published between the dates of January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024. Eligible publications include books, magazines, newspapers, online and print editorial, self-publishing websites, including personal sites as well as commissioned gallery exhibitions. Images included in past photographic competitions, advertisements, marketing material, blogs, social media and all other visible platforms prior to January 1, 2024 will be considered published and not permissible within this competition.
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Images should be no smaller than 1MB and no larger than 5MB. Images should be JPEG files.
- All images must be saved in the RGB colour model and EXIF data must be left in the image file.
- All Entrants, if they are selected amongst the finalists, must be able to supply a high resolution image suitable for printing in exhibitions should the image be required.
Dates
Deadline: January 10, 2025
Cost/funding for participants
Prizes
- Photographer of the Year receives $25,000 (USD), a range of Sony digital imaging equipment and inclusion of their work in the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House, London
- Ten category winners receive flights and accommodation to the Awards ceremony in London, a range of Sony digital imaging equipment, publication in the Sony World Photography Awards book, inclusion in the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House, London
- Second and third place winners receive Awards ceremony ticket, publication in the Sony World Photography Awards book, inclusion in the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House, London
- Shortlisted photographers have works shown on digital screens at Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House, London
Un-save Opportunity
Internships, scholarships, student conferences and competitions.
