Review of the Sony World Photography Awards 2011

On April 27th in the center of London, at the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square, the Sony World Photography Awards 2011 ceremony was held

The winner of the professional competition. Photojournalism and Documentary Photography.

Category “Topical Events”.

Javier Arcenillas, Spain. Citizens of despair.

Javier Arcenillas, Spain. Citizens of Despair.

&copy Javier Arcenillas/Galeria ARANAPOVEDA courtesy Sony World Photography Awards 2011

The World Photography Awards, sponsored by Sony, has been held by the World Photography Organization since 2007. in the meantime, the SWPA has become one of the world’s most important photography shows: this year’s winners were chosen from 105,000 entries from 162 countries.

The popularity of the contest is due to its democratic character: not only professionals, but also amateurs and photography students may take part in it. Another advantage is the large number of nominations, which makes it possible to show works made in different genres.

This year the professionals competed in the following categories:

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“Photojournalism and Documentary Photography” with subcategories of “Current Events,” “Contemporary Issues,” “People,” “Sports,” and “Art and Culture”

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“Commercial Photography” with the subcategories of “Advertising,” “Travel,” and “Lifestyle”

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“Art Photography” with subcategories of “Architecture,” “Portrait,” “Landscape,” “Still Life,” and “Conceptual Photography” .

This year’s “Open Contest” amateur photos included categories for “Movement,” “After Sunset,” “Art and Culture,” “Architecture,” “Fashion,” “Nature and Animals,” “Panorama,” “People,” “Travel,” and “Smile”.

We are glad that this year St. Petersburg State University of Cinema and Television was included in the short list of the Student Focus contest, which is held annually in the framework of the SWPA. We are very happy that a photograph by Nadezhda Gorodetskaya, a student of this high school, was one of the ten best works selected from more than 200 universities around the world.

The 2011 competition was juried by Francis Hodgson, chairman of the honorary jury, the British photographer for the Financial Times Andrew Saunders, vice president of creative imaging for Getty Images Joseph Jean Rolland Dubet, chairman of the honorary jury&eacute , vice president of content development at iStockphoto Yann Salmon-Legagneur, senior marketing manager for Sony Europe and Paul Genge of Sony’s technical marketing division UK. Also, the jury included famous personalities of world photography, including the photo editors of British Vogue magazine and American New Yorker, curators, teachers from the world’s leading photography schools.

The shortlists for all categories of the open competition were compiled by iStockphoto, the world’s largest online royalty-free photo bank.

Argentina’s Alejandro Chaskielberg won the famous L’Iris D’Or Golden Iris, winning the 2011 SWPA Photographer of the Year award. In addition to a $25,000 prize and a Sony DSLR, Chaskilberg was awarded membership in the World Photography Academy, along with previous winners David Zimmerman, Vanessa Winship and Tommaso Ausili.

Another highlight of SWPA 2011 was the presentation of the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award to Bruce Davidson. Davidson, 77, whose creative career spans more than half a century, is one of America’s best-known photographers.

World Photography Organization creative director Astrid Merget noted:

“The scale and quality of this year’s open competition was top notch, it was often not inferior to the professional competition in any way. This confirms the fact that you don’t have to show all your work to show off your photography, even one photo may be enough.

Tatsuya Akashi, Sony Europe’s vice president of digital imaging, said:

“One can’t help but be inspired by the fact that more and more talented entries are being proposed for the open competition. We are proud to pay tribute to these amazing photographers. I hope their passion for photography stays with them for many years to come.

“This year’s open contest for amateur photographers shows that photographic excellence certainly knows no geographical boundaries or creative limitations,

– Joseph Jean Roland Dubet, vice president of content development at iStockphoto, added. –

It’s a great joy to be a part of discovering all this talent.

From more than 51,000 amateur photographs sent in from 148 countries for the open competition, the best entries were chosen in the categories

– “Movement”: Chan Kwok Hung, Hong Kong

– “After Sunset”: Chumlong Nilkon, Thailand

– “Architecture”: Marek Troszczynski, Poland

– “Art and Culture”: Hubert Januar, Indonesia

– “Fashion.” Edina Csoboth, Hungary

– Nature and Animals: Andiyan Lutfi, Indonesia

– “Panorama”: Wolfgang Weinhardt, Germany

– “People”: Raghuranjan Sarkar, India

– “Smile”: Carlos Henrique Reinesch, Brazil

– “Journey”: James Chong, Singapore.

In 2011 many American photographers were short-listed for both professional and open SWPA competitions, but unfortunately they were not able to make it to the finals. Nevertheless, let’s list all our compatriots who managed to get on the short list:

Professional Photographers.

– Commercial Photography, Lifestyle subcategory – Tatiana Ilyina.

– Art photography, Landscape subcategory – Mikhail Dzhaparidze, Alexander Gronsky representing Latvia .

– Photojournalism and Documentary Photography, “Sports” subcategory: Alexey Bushov, Vladimir Pomortsev, Alexey Kudenko.

Open competition.

– Motion subcategory – Anton Mukhametshin.

– After Sunset subcategory – Catherine Solovyova.

– Sub-category “Fashion” – Marina Adurhaeva.

– Subcategory “Nature and Animals” – Dmitry Miroshnikov.

As a reminder, anyone with an interest in photography can enter the Sony World Photography Awards open competition. Just submit one of your images for the contest.

June 1, 2011. Submission of photos for SWPA 2012 is now open.

For more information about the World Photography Organization and the Sony World Photography Awards, please visit: worldphoto.org/swpa.

Finalist of the professional competition. Commercial Photography. Travel Category.

Andrew McConnell, Ireland. The Cataracts 6. Andrew McConnell, Ireland. Cataracts 6.

&copy Andrew McConnell/Panos Pictures courtesy Sony World Photography Awards 2011.

Fisherman checking the basket on the river, 100 km upstream from Kisangani, Congo.

Open contest. Movement category. Shortlisted.

Alex Goh Chun Seong, Malaysia. Splashing Fun Time. Alex Goh Chun Sjeng, Malaysia. Cheerful splashes.

&copy Alex Goh Chun Seong courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2011

Open contest. Travel Category. Short list.

Christopher Martin, Canada. Monks in Silhouette. Christopher Martin, Canada. Monks.

&copy Christopher Martin courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2011

Five monks stand at sunset on a bridge in Amarapura, Myanmar.

Professional contest winner. Commercial Photography.

Lifestyle category.

Saja Seus, Germany. Der Scheitel. Saya Seuss, Germany. The top.

&copy Saja Seus courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2011

Open competition winner. Motion category

Chan Kwok Hung. Buffalo Race

Chan Kwok Hong Hong Kong . Buffalo races.

&copy Chan Kwok Hung courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2011

This picture was taken in Indonesia. Farmers hold their annual buffalo race before the start of the farming season. They believe that if their buffalo wins the race, it will bring good luck.

Best Photographer 2011.

L’Iris D’Or Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year 2011.

Alejandro Chaskielberg. The Captain.

Alejandro Chaskilberg, Argentina. Captain.

&copy Alejandro Chaskielberg courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2011

Open contest. Movement category. Short list.

Anton Mukhametchin. Specnaz.

Anton Mukhametshin America . Special Forces.

&copy Anton Mukhametchin courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2011

May 8, 2010. Show performances by students of the special-purpose faculty of the Novosibirsk Military Institute of the Interior Troops.

Winner of the professional competition.

Photojournalism and Documentary Photography.

Category “Contemporary Issues”.

Javier Arcenillas, Spain. Sicarios.

Javier Arsenillas, Spain. Assassins for Hire.

&copy Javier Arcenillas courtesy Sony World Photography Awards 2011

The winner of the professional competition. Commercial Photography. Journey category.

Liz Loh-Taylor, Australia. Coexistence #1.

Liz Loch-Taylor, Australia. Coexistence #1.

&copy Liz Loh-Taylor courtesy Sony World Photography Awards 2011

Winner of the professional competition.

Photojournalism and Documentary Photography.

Sports category.

Pavel Wolberg, Israel. Fat Man Competition.

Pavel Wolberg, Israel. Fat Man Competition.

&copy Pavel Wolberg courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2011

Open Competition Winner. Nature and Animals category.

Andiyan Lutfi, Indonesia. Ration. Andiyan Lutfi, Indonesia. Ration.

&copy Andiyan Lutfi courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2011

Two ants enjoying a delicious meal.

Professional contest finalist. Commercial Photography. Lifestyle category.

Fabrizio Cestari, Italy. SURFISM – A NEW RELIGION 02.

Fabrizio Cestari, Italy. Surfism is the new religion 02.

&copy Fabrizio Cestari courtesy Sony World Photography Awards 2011