Winners of the American National Award in the world’s largest photography competition Sony World Photography Awards 2016

American photographer Andrey Narchuk New York was named the winner of the American National Prize in the Sony World Photography Awards, the world’s largest competition in photography, on March 15. Andrey Narchuk’s “Child of the Sea” was named the best picture of all American photographers in ten categories of the SWPA Open contest.

&copy Andrey Narchuk. “Navy SEAL.”.

1st place, America National Award. Sony World Photography Awards 2016

– Best photo by a American photographer at the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards,

– The winning works will be on display at Somerset House from April 22 to May 8,

– Photos for publication are available at press.worldphoto.org.

Andrey Narchuk, editor of Wild-Magazine and an avid photography enthusiast, will receive a Sony ILCE-7R camera with an FE 24-70 lens as a prize. His work will be featured at the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards at London’s Somerset House from April 22 to May 8 and published in the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards book. The exhibition will feature the work of the winners and finalists of the Professional, Open and Junior competitions, as well as the work of art photographer duo RongRong & inri China/Japan , winners of the award for significant contribution to the field of photography.

Talking about the winning work Andriy Narchuk recalls: “Almost all the sea mammals we shot were free-diving. That is, without using a scuba diver. In such a form the human is more similar to pinnipeds and therefore disturbs them less. When photographing seals the situation was complicated by the fact that we had to go into the water at a large distance from the rookery, so the animals could not see us on the surface. Otherwise there could have been a panic among them, and the pups would have suffered. Accordingly, it took almost an hour in the cold water of the Bering Sea just to swim there and back. It took another 2-3 hours for the entire shoot, with no opportunity to go ashore. But it was worth it. Amazing acquaintance with seals and sea lions, many of which, like the hero of my photo, have never seen a human being before”.

On the news of the win Andrey replied: “I’m very surprised and happy at the same time. As far as I know, this is the first time the national contest is held in America. It is very encouraging and gives a strong impetus for new shoots. It’s also great that I was able to share with everyone a piece of the amazing underwater world of the Far East. A huge thank you to the organizers of the contest and Sony for this!”.

Besides Andrei the top three winners of the American National Prize are:

– 2nd place – Egor Nikiforov

– 3rd place – Dmitry Ivanov

National competition takes place in 60 countries around the world, from Argentina to Australia, and rewards the best individual shots by local photographers. Photographers of any level can compete for the award. This year the national contest for American SWPA participants is held for the first time.

The names of the winners of all 60 National awards were announced today. Photos of the winners are available at worldphoto.org

&copy Egor Nikiforov. “The Nine Blossom.”.

2nd place, America National Award. Sony World Photography Awards 2016

&copy Dmitry Ivanov.

3 place, America National Award. Sony World Photography Awards 2016