This year, Canon EMEA expanded its world-renowned Ambassador Program, with an additional 59 professionals joining. Canon’s EMEA Ambassador Program, the first of its kind, was created to support existing and future generations of photographers and videographers. Ambassadors share their passion for visual art and technical knowledge with fellow enthusiasts and amateurs who are eager to develop their skills.
Canon ambassadors share Canon’s passion for storytelling. Photojournalist Finbarr O’Reilly is one of Canon’s new ambassadors for 2020 – this image with models in Dakar, Senegal, earned him first prize in the “Portraits, Single Images” category at the 2019 World Press Photo competition. Taken with Canon EOS 5D Mark III and EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM and the following parameters: 24mm, 1/320 sec., f/4 and ISO 250. © Finbarr O’Reilly
The new enrollment is the largest ever, with 115 ambassadors from across EMEA now participating in the program, making it the company’s most impressive and inclusive initiative to date. Seventeen incredibly talented young photographers have joined the program as ambassadors, including graduates of Canon’s student program and winners of the young photographers competition, Ksenia Kuleshova and Michelle Spatari.
The competition has never been greater, with a panel of 13 respected judges reviewing more than 450 photographers and judging more than 20,000 images in genres such as reportage, documentary, wildlife, weddings, portraits, sports events and many more. The Canon EMEA Ambassador Program brings together some of the photo industry’s top professionals who share the company’s love of creating visual stories that resonate with audiences.
Susie Donaldson, Marketing Director, Imaging Technology Group ITCG , Canon EMEA, says: “The Ambassador Program gives us the opportunity to collaborate with amazing, courageous and inspiring photographers, filmmakers and print professionals across EMEA. Through it, we can encourage, inspire and equip them with the right tools to tell their most important stories.
We are constantly improving the program to attract photographers and filmmakers of all ages, genders and nationalities working in different genres. The number of ambassadors under 30 has increased significantly this year, with 17 now, up from just two before. It demonstrates the amazing evolution of the industry and our commitment to supporting new talent, including through our training programs. We hope that this set will allow us to redefine the program, paving the way for a new generation of visual storytellers.”.
This is great news! I’m curious to know how Canon EMEA selects the photographers and filmmakers for their Ambassador Programme. Do they look for specific qualities or criteria? And how do they ensure a diverse and inclusive representation from around the world?