Sony World Photography Awards: OVERALL WINNERS 2023 PROFESSIONAL, OPEN, STUDENT AND YOUTH WINNERS ANNOUNCED

The World Photography Organisation introduced in the present day the general winners within the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards 2023 at a particular gala ceremony in London, hosted by broadcaster and artwork historian Kate Bryan.

The Photographer of the Year title has been awarded to the acclaimed photographer Edgar Martins (Portugal) for his collection Our War, a homage to Martins’ pal, photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who was killed throughout the Libyan Civil War in 2011.  Martins gained a $25,000 (USD) money prize and a variety of Sony digital imaging tools. Additionally, Martins receives a solo presentation of his work as a part of subsequent yr’s Sony World Photography Awards exhibition. This alternative permits photographers to additional develop their profitable venture or exhibit a model new physique of labor, gaining them further publicity for his or her observe.

Martins was chosen from the ten class winners of the Professional competitors who have been introduced in the present day alongside these in 2nd and third place in every Professional class. The total winners of the Awards’ Open, Youth and Student competitions have been moreover revealed.

Also introduced is Alessandro Cinque (Italy), the first-time winner of the Sustainability Prize – developed in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation and Sony Pictures’ Picture This initiative – this new $5,000 (USD) award recognises the tales, individuals and organisations whose actions spotlight one of many United Nations’ environmental Sustainable Development Goals.

The Sony World Photography Awards 2023 exhibition opens at Somerset House, London from 14 April – 1 May 2023, that includes over 200 prints and tons of of further photos in digital shows from profitable and shortlisted photographers. Also offered are works by this yr’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography, the esteemed Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi.

PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Our War by Edgar Martins (Portugal) is an unique and nuanced tribute to the photographer’s late pal the photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who was kidnapped and killed on 5 April 2011 by authorities militia, throughout the Libyan Civil War.

Frustrated by unsuccessful makes an attempt to establish the whereabouts of his pal’s final mortal stays, Martins took issues into his personal palms and travelled to Libya. He was introduced  in covertly by a petroleum smuggler and was instantly confronted with monumental challenges working in such a risky atmosphere. Realising that he wouldn’t have the ability to perform an intensive and unbiased investigation, Martins as a substitute selected to replicate on the query: ‘how does one tell a story when there is no witness, no testimony, no evidence, no subject?’

In Our War Martins conjures and alludes to the absent central determine via a collection of portraits of the individuals Hammerl had related with and people concerned within the combating (freedom fighters or their descendants, ex-militia, native residents, Gaddafi loyalists or lookalikes, and so forth). They have been chosen as a result of they both resembled him, had comparable concepts and beliefs, or reminded Martins of him at completely different phases of their friendship. The venture explores the thought of absence, of documenting, grieving, and honouring a topic in addition to reflecting on the function of images inside a battle zone. Martins’ strategy is to confront these questions head-on: to embrace the thought of the fragmentary and the various contradictions and ambiguities intrinsic to warfare.

Commenting on his win Martins says: ‘It is a huge honour to be recognised and although I am philosophical about awards and the subjective nature of someone’s selection, figuring out that there have been over 180,000 entries to this yr’s Professional competitors, could be very humbling. In this case, it’s also fairly an emotional expertise as a result of I get to honour my pal on a world stage and produce consideration to the household’s plight to search out his stays. There’s no award that has the attain of the Sony World Photography Awards.’

Commenting on Martins’ profitable venture, Mike Trow, Chair of the 2023 Professional competitors says: ‘Photography is so often about memory and its nature. Long-term memory is about the conscious recollection of past events and our knowledge of them – be it through direct experience or mediated through the myriad of media we use.  Our War by Edgar Martins has used memory and invention to give us a powerful, personal set of portraits that attempt to explain the last days of his friend, the photojournalist Anton Hammerl. His work highlights the lengths photographers will go to to tell a story and create meaning; each image giving a sense of the journey Anton took without ever being explicit about how his life ended. The entire jury this year was fulsome in their appreciation of the work and its narrative force.’

 PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY WINNERS

 Winning photographers within the Professional competitors have been chosen by a panel of professional judges for submitting an excellent physique of labor of 5 to 10 photos, starting from tales of warfare and reconciliation, to the empowerment of girls via schooling, and unique approaches to the genres of nonetheless life and sport.

All class winners obtain Sony’s digital imaging package. This yr’s winners are:

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

WINNER: Fan Li (China Mainland) for his collection Cement Factory

Finalists: 2nd place Servaas Van Belle (Belgium); third place Andres Gallardo Albajar (Spain)

CREATIVE

WINNER: Lee-Ann Olwage (South Africa) for her collection The Right to Play

Finalists: 2nd place Noemi Comi (Italy); third place Edoardo Delille & Giulia Piermartiri (Italy)

DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS

WINNER: Hugh Kinsella Cunningham (United Kingdom) for his collection The Women’s Peace Movement in Congo

Finalists: 2nd place Mohammed Salem (State of Palestine); third place Tariq Zaidi (United Kingdom)

ENVIRONMENT

WINNER: Marisol Mendez (Bolivia) & Federico Kaplan (Argentina) for his or her collection Miruku

Finalists: 2nd place Jonas Kakó (Germany); third place Axel Javier Sulzbacher (Germany)

LANDSCAPE

WINNER: Kacper Kowalski (Poland) for his collection Event Horizon

Finalists: 2nd place Bruno Zanzottera (Italy); third place Fabio Bucciarelli (Italy)

PORTFOLIO

WINNER: James Deavin (United Kingdom) for his submission Portfolio            

Finalists: 2nd place Marylise Vigneau (France); third place Marjolein Martinot (Netherlands)

PORTRAITURE

WINNER: Edgar Martins (Portugal) for his collection Our War

Finalists: 2nd place Ebrahim Noroozi (Islamic Republic of Iran); third place Jean-Claude Moschetti (France)

SPORT

WINNER: Al Bello (United States) for his collection Female Pro Baseball Player Succeeds in All Male Pro League

Finalists: 2nd place Andrea Fantini (Italy); third place Nicola Zolin (Italy)

STILL LIFE

WINNER: Kechun Zhang (China Mainland) for his collection The Sky Garden

Finalists: 2nd place Carloman Macidiano Céspedes Riojas (Peru); third place Jagoda Malanin (Poland)

WILDLIFE & NATURE:

WINNER: Corey Arnold (United States) for his collection Cities Gone Wild

Finalists: 2nd place Adalbert Mojrzisch (Germany); third place Sriram Mural (India)

To discover out extra about this yr’s profitable and finalist tasks please go to our on-line winners galleries

OPEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

The Open competitors celebrates the facility of a single picture. Winning pictures are chosen for his or her means to speak a outstanding visible narrative mixed with technical excellence. Chosen from the ten Open class winners, Dinorah Graue Obscura (Mexico) is Open Photographer of the Year 2023 and the recipient of the $5,000 (USD) money prize, Sony digital imaging tools and international publicity.

Graue Obscura gained for her arresting picture entitled Mighty Pair, entered within the Natural World & Wildlife class. The black and white {photograph} depicts a pair of crested caracara birds in Southern Texas, perched collectively upon a department, and staring fixedly in the identical route. The photographer felt as if the majestic birds of prey have been nearly posing for the digital camera, as they sat immobile and equivalent, gazing out past the body.

Speaking of her win, Graue Osbcura says: ‘It is an absolute honour to receive the Open Photographer of the Year 2023 award. I am absolutely certain that this recognition will contribute to the dissemination of my work as a wildlife photographer, which aims to transmit and show people the beauty I see in Nature.  I believe that photography is a very powerful tool that can be used to raise awareness about the fragility of our natural world.’

STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

For this yr’s Student competitors, college students have been invited to submit a collection of 5 to 10 photos responding to the transient In a Changing World, highlighting optimistic tales of improvement and progress from throughout the globe.

Long Jing (China Mainland) of Yunnan Arts University, has been awarded Student Photographer of the Year,  profitable Sony digital imaging tools value €30,000 for his college. Jing’s profitable collection Keep the Yunnan Opera goes behind the scenes to indicate the dwindling teams of performers and spectators of the opera in Yunnan. In vivid color the collection celebrates the multiculturalism of southwestern China mirrored within the performances.

Commenting on his win Jing says: ‘A picture is worth a thousand words, and my goal has always been to give warmth to images and to uncover the stories behind them. Being chosen as the Student Photographer of the Year 2023 has given me the confidence to believe that I can create even more warm and engaging works in the future.’

YOUTH PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

This yr entrants to the Youth competitors have been invited to reply to the theme Your Everyday and share their distinctive view of the world round them. Selected from a shortlist of seven photographers below the age of 19, Hai Wang (China Mainland, 17 years-old) is the Youth Photographer of the Year, receiving Sony digital imaging package and international publicity.

Wang’s profitable {photograph} depicts seemingly limitless rows of abandoned brightly colored chairs at a faculty ceremony cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sturdy composition and hanging framing spotlight the sense of vacancy and provides a surreal high quality to the picture.

Commenting on his win Wang says: ‘I appreciate all the attention and support the public gives to global teenage photographers. As a member of this age group, I can say that we are trying to make a change throughout the world in a brand-new way, to try not to waste a single second of our lives.’

 SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE

Alessandro Cinque (Italy) is introduced because the first-time winner of the Sustainability Prize, receiving a $5,000 money prize and a presentation of his venture as a part of the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition in London. This model new prize, developed in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation and Sony Pictures’ Picture This initiative, recognises the tales, individuals and organisations whose actions spotlight one of many United Nations’ environmental Sustainable Development Goals.

Cinque gained for his collection Atrapanieblas (Fog Nets) which paperwork an modern answer serving to to deal with persistent water shortages in Lima, Peru. Cinque exhibits how fog nets are used to catch droplets of airborne moisture and may gather about 200 litres (53 gallons) of water per day for native residents.

Commenting on his win Cinque mentioned: “I am very honoured and happy to have won this prize. I like to think that, through my photography and thanks to the wide reach of this award, we are helping give a voice to people who struggle daily with water scarcity, a problem that affects more than 40% of the world’s population according to the United Nations. It is important to highlight the efforts in Lima to combat this shortage, in the hope that these stories will stir consciences and that, finally, we will understand the importance of joining together to address climate change and create a fairer world for all.”

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO PHOTOGRAPHY

This yr’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography has been awarded to the celebrated photographer Rinko Kawauchi. One of a very powerful Japanese photographers working in the present day, Kawauchi has achieved worldwide renown for her intimate and luminous photos, capturing ephemeral moments of on a regular basis life.

More than 20 photos by the photographer will probably be proven on the Sony World Photography Awards 2023 exhibition. The choice, made by the artist, spans over 20 years of her profession and highlights important milestones and themes throughout a few of her most iconic collection: Illuminance (2011), AILA (2004), Utatane (2001), and Ametsuchi (2013).

ADAM FERGUSON | SOLO PRESENTATION

In addition to the work of this yr’s total and class winners the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition encompasses a solo presentation by the 2022 Photographer of the Year winner Adam Ferguson (Australia).

The acclaimed photographer presents a collection of photos from his collection Silent Wind, Roaring Sky, documenting the distant lives of communities in Australia’s Outback. The exhibition charts repeated journeys deep into rural Australia, revealing a panorama and a neighborhood in a state of dramatic transition.

PROFESSIONAL COMPETITION 2023 WINNERS AND SHORTLIST

OPEN COMPETITION 2023 CATEGORY WINNERS AND SHORTLIST

STUDENT & YOUTH COMPETITIONS 2023 WINNERS AND SHORTLIST

PRESS CONTACTS

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Inbal Mizrahi / Polly Brock on media@creoarts.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

ABOUT SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS

Produced by the World Photography Organisation, the internationally acclaimed Sony World Photography Awards is among the most necessary fixtures within the international photographic calendar. Now in its sixteenth yr, the free-to-enter Awards are a world voice for images and supply a significant perception into modern images in the present day. For each established and rising artists, the Awards supply world-class alternatives for publicity of their work. The Awards moreover recognise the world’s most influential artists working within the medium via the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award; the famend Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi is the 2023 recipient of this award, becoming a member of a distinguished listing of iconic names together with Martin Parr, William Eggleston, Candida Hofer, Nadav Kander, Gerhard Steidl, Edward Burtynsky and Graciela Iturbide. The Awards showcase the works of profitable and shortlisted photographers at a prestigious annual exhibition at Somerset House, London. worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards-exhibition

2023 JUDGES

Professional competitors: Mariama Attah, Head of Exhibitions at Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, UK; Tandazani Dhlakama, Assistant Curator at Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa; Elisa Medde, Editor in Chief, FOAM Magazine, Netherlands; Ioana Mello, Independent Curator and Photo Editor; Directing Member, FotoRio, Brazil; Sujong Song, Senior Curator, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Republic of Korea; and Mike Trow, Independent Curator and Photo Editor and Chair of the Jury.

Open and Youth Competition: Eric Schlosser, Art Director, Tbilisi Art Fair, Georgia

Student Competition: Eliza Williams, Editor at Creative Review.

EDGAR MARTINS

Photographer of the Year

Edgar Martins (b. 1977) was born in Évora, Portugal. He has exhibited internationally and his work is represented in a number of museums, company and personal collections. Between 2002 and 2022 Martins revealed 15 separate monographs, which have been acquired with crucial acclaim and he was chosen to symbolize Macau (China) on the 54th Venice Biennale. www.edgarmartins.com

Dinorah Graue Obscura

Open Photographer of the Year

Dinorah Graue Obscura is a Mexican nature photographer primarily based in Costa Rica. Dinorah’s artwork is famend internationally, extra not too long ago by receiving the Alpha Female Award on the Sony World Photography Awards 2022. Her work has been displayed internationally and she or he is at the moment a part of the Mexican Portfolio that may compete on the Singapore 2023 World Photographic Cup.

LONG JING

Student Photographer of the Year

Long Jing is a images scholar and practitioner, he began his photographic research in highschool earlier than persevering with at college. He’s a member of the Yunnan Photographers Association and has participated in a number of native artwork exhibitions. His work has been collected by the Yunnan Literature and Art Museum and Yunnan Provincial Grand Theater.

HAI WANG

Youth Photographer of the Year

A sixteen-year-old scholar in China, Hai Wang had his first contact with images when he was in junior highschool, when his father supported him to purchase his first digital camera. After two and a half years of self-learning images, he fell in love with minimalist artwork and have become eager to file on a regular basis life and dedicated to decoding the extraordinary world from completely different views.

RINKO KAWAUCHI

Outstanding Contribution to Photography

Born in 1972 in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, Kawauchi lives and works in Chiba. Kawauchi concurrently launched a collection of three photographic books in 2001 – Utatane, Hanabi, and Hanako, and was awarded the distinguished twenty seventh Kimura Ihei Award the next yr. She acquired the eminent Infinity Award in 2009 within the Arts Category by the International Center of Photography, and in 2012 the 63rd Ministry of Cultural Affairs Newcomer of the Year Award, and the twenty ninth Shashin no Machi Higashigawa Native Japanese Artist Award. Kawauchi’s work has been the main target of a number of solo exhibitions each in Japan and internationally, together with AILA + Cui Cui + the eyes, the ears on the Fondation Cartier pour l’artwork contemporain in 2005 and at The Photographers’ Gallery in 2006, Illuminance at Gallery at Hermès, New York, in 2011, Illuminance, Ametsuchi, Seeing Shadow at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in 2012, and Kawauchi: The river embraced me at Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto in 2016. She has additionally hosted and took part in a mess of group exhibitions, together with the Rencontres d’Arles in 2004, New Documents on the Brighton Photo Biennial in 2010, and the Prix Pictet on the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2017. Most not too long ago, she opened her solo exhibition M/E: On this sphere Endlessly interlinking in late 2022 at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery. www.rinkokawauchi.com

ADAM FERGUSON

Adam Ferguson is an Australian photographer whose work explores battle and demanding social points. Ferguson holds a B.A from the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University Australia and at the moment lives in Lutruwita / Tasmania (Australia). He is at the moment enrolled in a Master of Fine Arts on the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology School of Art. He is engaged on two monographs – a warfare diary that examines his time in Afghanistan and a long-form photograph essay about colonial legacy within the Australian bush. www.adamfergusonstudio.com

ABOUT WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY ORGANISATION

World Photography Organisation is a number one international platform devoted to the event and development of photographic tradition. Its programming and competitors initiatives present beneficial alternatives for artists working in images and assist broaden the dialog round their work. The Sony World Photography Awards is World Photography Organisation’s principal programme. Established in 2007, it is among the world’s largest and most prestigious images competitions; celebrating the work of main and rising practitioners and attracting tens of 1000’s of holiday makers yearly to its exhibitions worldwide. World Photography Organisation is the images strand of Creo, liable for delivering initiatives and programming throughout three sectors: images, movie and modern artwork. Follow the World Photography Organisation on Instagram (@worldphotoorg), Twitter (@WorldPhotoOrg) and LinkedIn/Facebook (World Photography Organisation). Our hashtags to observe are #sonyworldphotographyawards #swpa #swpanews.

CREO

Creo initiates and organises occasions and programming throughout three key strands: images, movie and modern artwork. Established in 2007 as World Photography Organisation, Creo has since grown in scope, furthering its mission of growing significant alternatives for creatives and increasing the attain of its cultural actions. Today, its flagship tasks embrace the Sony World Photography Awards, Sony Future Filmmaker Awards, PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai, Photo London and the forthcoming PHOTOFAIRS New York (Sep 2023). Working in partnership with Angus Montgomery Arts, Creo helps ship the group’s ventures, comprising a number of the world’s main artwork festivals. Taking its identify from the Latin for ‘I create’, it’s on this spirit that Creo units out to empower and provides company to inventive voices. www.creoarts.com

ABOUT SOMERSET HOUSE

​Somerset House is London’s working arts centre and residential to the UK’s largest inventive neighborhood. Built on historic foundations, we’re located within the very coronary heart of the capital. Dedicated to backing progress, championing openness, nurturing creativity and empowering concepts, our cultural programme is formidable in scope. We insist on relevance, however aren’t afraid of irreverence, and are as eager on leisure as enrichment. We embrace the most important problems with our occasions and are dedicated to oxygenating new work by rising artists. Where else are you able to spend an hour ice-skating whereas listening to a specifically commissioned sound piece by a leading edge artist?  ​

It is that this inventive pressure – the best way we harness our heritage, put the too-often missed on our central stage and use our neo-classical backdrop to showcase ground-breaking modern tradition – that conjures up our programme. Old and new, historical past and disruption, artwork and leisure, high-tech and do-it-yourself, mixed with the truth that we’re residence to a continuously shape-shifting working inventive neighborhood: that is our level of distinction. It is what we’re pleased with. And it’s what makes the expertise of visiting or working in Somerset House inspiring and energising, pressing and thrilling. somersethouse.org.uk

VISITOR INFORMATION

Sony World Photography Awards 2023 Exhibition

Dates: 14 April – 1 May 2023

Opening Times: Mon – Fri, 11am – 9pm / Sat & Sun, 11am – 8pm / Bank Holiday (1 May), 11am – 6pm

Address: Somerset House, London, WC2R 1LA

General Admission: £15 / £11 Concessions

Booking Info: www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards-exhibition

About Sony Corporation

Sony Corporation is a completely owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation and is liable for the Entertainment, Technology & Services (ET&S) enterprise. With the imaginative and prescient of “continuing to deliver Kando and Anshin to people and society across the world through the pursuit of technology and new challenges,” Sony will create services and products in areas comparable to residence leisure & sound, imaging, and cellular communications.

For extra data, go to: http://www.sony.net/

* Both Japanese phrases, Kando means emotion and Anshin has varied meanings comparable to peace of thoughts, reassurance, reliability and belief.

About Sony Europe B.V.

Sony Europe B.V. is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation and is headquartered in UK. We drive Sony’s main Entertainment, Technology & Services enterprise for client {and professional} markets, in addition to Imaging & Sensing Solutions enterprise throughout Europe. From R&D and engineering, design, to gross sales, advertising, distribution and customer support, we work to ship Sony’s objective to fill the world with emotion via the facility of creativity and know-how.

For extra data, go to: www.sony.eu/presscentre