June 2, 2011 /Photography News/ The Sony World Photography Awards is comprised of two competitions: the Open Competition, geared towards amateurs and keen photography enthusiasts, and the Professional Competition for the serious professional photographer, both of which are open for entries annually from 1st June – 4th January.
Professional competition categories
• Campaign
• Travel
• Lifestyle
• Fashion
• Architecture
• Portraiture
• Landscape
• Still Life
• Conceptual
• Current Affairs
• Nature & Wildlife (new category)
• Contemporary Issues
• People
• Arts & Culture
• Sport
For professionals and serious ‘amateurs/enthusiasts’:
Commercial:
• Campaign
• Travel
• Lifestyle
• Fashion
Fine Art:
• Architecture
• Portraiture
• Landscape
• Still Life
• Conceptual
Photojournalism & Documentary:
• Current Affairs
• Nature & Wildlife (new category)
• Contemporary Issues
• People
• Arts & Culture
• Sport
Open competition categories
Open to everyone and judged on a single image:
• Nature & Wildlife
• People
• Travel
• Low-light (new category)
• Architecture
• Panoramic
• Arts & Culture
• Smile
• Split second (new category)
• Enhanced (new category)
Youth competition (new competition for 2012):
• Environment
• Portrait
• Culture
Moving Image Awards:
• Nature & Wildlife (new category)
• People (new category)
• Extraordinary / Ordinary (new category)
• Commercial (new category)
• Fine Art (new category)
• Documentary (new category)
Prizes:
The vast majority of winners will be presented with their trophies at a ceremony in London in late April 2012. The winner of the L’Iris D’Or Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year Award will also be revealed and presented with $25,000 (USD) plus Sony digital SLR camera equipment. The overall Open competition winner will receive $5,000 plus Sony digital SLR camera equipment.
A display of entries and winning work – the Sony World Photography Awards Winners’ Showcase – will be exhibited at Somerset House in April and May 2012 as part of the World Photography Festival 2012.
Eligibility: Photographers of all ages, backgrounds and experience levels
Copyright:
All entrants understand that any image submitted to the competition may be used by WPO, and its Event Partners, for marketing and promotional purposes of the event only, for a maximum of three years after the awards ceremony. You hereby grant WPO a non-exclusive, irrevocable licence in each Entry throughout the world for three years in all media for any use connected to the promotion of the SWPA event and/or competition, including, but not limited too:
(a) judging the Competition
(b) displaying the winning entries and runners up at public exhibitions promoting WPO and organised by WPO
(c) inclusion within the Website, a World Photography Awards book, magazine or similar
(d) inclusion within any materials promoting of the Competition and / or any exhibition organised by WPO, in the promotion of the WPO
(e) inclusion on Competition- and exhibition-related products to be sold by the WPO or any third party following the individual agreement by the author
(f) sub-licencing the Entries to the press for reproduction in connection with the Competition and any exhibition
(g) allowing viewers of the Website to view images on a computer screen, PDA or mobile telephone and store such pages in electronic form on disk or on a PDA or mobile telephone (but not on any server or other storage device connected to a network) for their personal, non-commercial use only.
Any photograph used by WPO shall carry a credit line.
Deadline: January 4, 2012
Website: Sony World Photography Awards