2016 Sony World Photography Awards: Entries to Be Submitted by 11:59:59pm (GMT) on 4 Dec. 2015 for Student Focus, by 11:59:59pm (GMT) on 5 Jan.2016 for Open, Youth & National, by 11:59:59pm (GMT) on 12 Jan 2016 for Professional

This silent video presents Sony world photography awards 2015: the winners.

World Photography Organisation (WPO) announced that the FREE-to-enter 2016 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards, the world’s largest photography competition, is now open for entries.

Benefits and Prizes for Shortlisted and Winning Photographers

• All submitted images are seen by juries made up of leading experts from across the photographic industry.
• Global exposure and recognition.
• The opportunity to promote and sell their work via the World Photography Organisation.
• The awards’ prizes include: the latest Sony digital imaging equipment; inclusion in the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House, London; inclusion in the 2016 awards’ book and $30,000 (USD) for the overall winners.
• Professional Category: Winner of  the “L’iris d’Or” will receive:
  • Title of “Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of The Year“
  • $25,000
  • Membership to the “World Photography Academy”
  • Exhibition showcase of entire winning series at the Sony World Photography Awards 2016 exhibition and winners book
  • International exposure on the WPO website
  • Global media coverage
  • Flights to London, 2 nights accommodation in a hotel and VIP tickets to attend the Sony World Photography Awards gala ceremony, April 2016
  • Digital SLR camera equipment from Sony

  Winners of each Professional category will receive:

  • Recipient of the title “Sony World Photography Awards Professional category name Winner“
  • Flights to London, 2 nights accommodation in a hotel and VIP tickets to attend the Sony World Photography Awards gala ceremony, April 2016
  • Winning images showcased in the London exhibition and the winners book
  • International exposure in the winners galleries on the WPO website
  • Global media coverage
  • Digital SLR camera equipment from Sony

  Finalists of each Professional category will receive:

  • Images showcased as part of the official Sony World Photography Awards 2016 exhibition in London
  • Images published in the winners book
  • Announced to international press
  • International exposure in the winners galleries on the WPO website
• Open Category Winner of the best overall photograph will receive:
  • Title of “Sony World Photography Awards Open Photographer of The Year”
  • $5,000
  • Winning image showcased in the London exhibition and the winners book
  • International exposure on the WPO website
  • Global media coverage
  • Flights to London, 2 nights accommodation in a hotel and VIP tickets to attend the Sony World Photography Awards gala ceremony in April 2016
  • Digital SLR camera equipment from Sony
• Youth Winner of the best overall photograph will receive:
  • Title of “Sony World Photography Awards Youth Award Winner”
  • Winning image showcased in the London exhibition and the winners book
  • International exposure on the WPO website
  • Global media coverage
  • Flights to London, 2 nights accommodation in a hotel and VIP tickets to attend the Sony World Photography Awards gala ceremony, April 2016
  • Digital SLR camera equipment from Sony
  • Youth Photographer of the Year – Flights and accommodation to awards in London. Category winners – Sony product; Publication in winners’ book; Exhibition. Shortlist – Digital exhibition; Publication in winners’ book
• National Awards: All winning and shortlisted photographers will be included in a global press campaign, featured across the WPO website and exhibited at Somerset House, London in April 2016. Additional prizes vary according to country but include:
  • Sony product
  • Flights and accommodation to awards in London
  • Advance and Premium WPO membership
• Student Focus: On top of receiving €30,000 (32786.10 US Dollar at the current exchange rate) worth of Sony photography equipment for his or her university, the winning Student Focus photographer will receive an online feature showcasing a body of work on the BJP (British Journal of Photography) website and will have the opportunity to take over the magazine’s Instagram feed for one weekend.

Five Competition Categories

Free to enter at www.worldphoto.org, photographers of all abilities are invited to submit work to the following five competition categories of the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards:

Open Award– open to all, 10 categories judged on a single shot: Entries must be submitted by 11:59:59pm (GMT) on 5 January 2016. 

1. Architecture,
2. Arts & Culture,
3. Enhanced,
4. Low Light,
5. Nature & Wildlife,
6. Panoramic,
7. People,
8. Smile,
9. Split Second, and
10. Travel.

• If you are under 16, you have Your parent’s or legal guardian’s consent to participate in the Competition. If WPO does not receive a valid signed parental or legal guardian consent form for any winner under the age of 16 within 7 clear days of the contestant being declared a winner (excluding the day on which such declaration is made by WPO) WPO will be entitled to select an alternative winner from among the contestants.
• Basic Member – up to 3 photographs for free, submitted into one category or spread across multiple categories. Increase your chances by upgrading to Advanced Membership (enter up to 8 images) or Premium Membership (enter up to 20 images). Find out more about upgrading your membership here.

• Please note once you enter this competition you will not be able to enter the Youth or Professional Competitions.

• By entering the Open competition you are automatically entered into the National Awards competition.  Please ensure your nationality is filled in correctly when you enter otherwise you will not be entered into your local National Award competition.

….(h) incorporation by WPO and SWPA Event Partners in SWPA Galleries and or SWPA Gallery Applications on Event Partner devices for a period of three (3) years after the applicable award ceremony date.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, You hereby acknowledge and agree if Your image is included in such SWPA Galleries or SWPA Gallery Applications Your image will remain perpetually in the device royalty free….

• Full instructions and rules as well as entry into this competition category can be found at: https://www.worldphoto.org/competitions/sony-world-photography-awards-2016-open-competition/ .

Professional Award – for all serious photographers entering a body of work, 14 categories in two genres judged on a series of work: All entrants must be over 18; Entries must be submitted by 11:59:59pm (GMT) on 12 January 2016.

1. Art Genre- Architecture, Conceptual, Landscape, Portraiture, Staged, Still Life, Candid.
2. Documentary Genre – Campaign, Current Affairs, Contemporary Issues, Daily Life, Environment, People, Sport.

• Important points to note:
  • Images must have been completed or first published in 2015 (see rules below).
  • Basic, Advanced and Premium Members must enter a body of work of between 3 to 10 images.
  • You may enter as many categories as you wish; however you cannot enter the same series or images into more than one category.
  • Once you enter this competition you will not be able to enter the Open or Youth Competitions.
• Full instructions and rules as well as entry into this competition category can be found at: https://www.worldphoto.org/competitions/sony-world-photography-awards-2016-professional-competition/ .

Youth Award- for young photographers aged 12-19, three categories judged on a single image: Entries must be submitted by 11:59:59pm (GMT) on 5 January 2016.

• Culture, Environment, Portraits.
• All submitted images must have been taken in 2015.
• To enter the Youth competition you must be aged between 12-19 on their closing date 5 January 2016.

• Basic Members – up to 3 photographs for free, submitted into one category or spread across multiple categories. Increase your chances by upgrading to Advanced Membership (enter up to 8 images) or Premium Membership (enter up to 20 images). Find out more about upgrading your membership here.
• Please note, once you have entered the Youth competition you will not be able to enter the Open or Professional competitions.

….(h) incorporation by WPO and SWPA Event Partners in SWPA Galleries and or SWPA Gallery Applications on Event Partner devices for a period of three (3) years after the applicable award ceremony date.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, You hereby acknowledge and agree if Your image is included in such SWPA Galleries or SWPA Gallery Applications Your image will remain perpetually in the device royalty free….

• Full instructions and rules as well as entry into this competition category can be found at: https://www.worldphoto.org/competitions/sony-world-photography-awards-2016-youth-award/ .

National Awards– looking for the best single shot by a local photographer from over 50 countries.

• Working across over 50 countries, from Australia to Argentina, the judges are looking for the single best shot taken by a local photographer.  For full list of participating countries, please see www.worldphoto.org .
• Please ensure your nationality is correct on your entry otherwise your image will not be considered for your local National Award.
  Please click here to find out if your country is taking part.
• To enter the National Award you must submit your work to any of the ten Open categories. All entries are taken from the 10 categories of the Open competition.
• All submitted images must have been taken in 2015.
• Basic Members – up to 3 photographs for free, submitted into one category or spread across multiple categories. Increase your chances by upgrading to Advanced Membership (enter up to 8 images) or Premium Membership (enter up to 20 images). Find out more about upgrading your membership here.
• Please note, once you enter this competition you will not be able to enter the Youth or Professional Competitions.
• More details can be found at: http://worldphoto.org/national-award-2016/ .

Student Focus Award- for emerging photographic talent studying any degree level photography course: Entries must be submitted by 11:59:59pm (GMT) on 4 December 2015.

• World Photography Organisation and British Journal of Photography invite registered universities from across the world to submit entries to the 2016 Student Focus competition, one of the world’s leading programmes for photography students.
• Info about this year’s brief “Millennials” and how to register your academic institution can be found at: http://worldphoto.org/student-focus/ .

Key Dates

• 4 December 2015 – Student Focus competition closes
• 5 January 2016 – Open, Youth, National Awards competitions close
• 12 January 2016 – Professional competition closes
• 23 February 2016 – Shortlist for Professional, Open, National Award and Youth competitions revealed
• 1 March 2016 – Student focus shortlist revealed
• 15 March 2016 – National Award winners revealed
• 29 March 2016 – Open and Youth winners revealed
• 21 April 2016 – L’Iris d’Or/Photographer of the Year plus Professional category winners and Open, Youth and Student Focus Photographers of the Year revealed at gala ceremony held in London
• 22 April – 8 May – 2015 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London

The Sony World Photography Awards shortlist will be announced on 23 February and overall winners on 21 April, with an exhibition at Somerset House, London running from 22 April – 8 May 2016.

….WPO recognises You, the author of the image, retain full ownership of the copyright in each Entry.

7.2 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 You the author and the event only, for a maximum of three years after the awards ceremony in April 2016. 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 You the author and 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. Please also refer to clause 9.

7.3 All entrants understand that the image information, including image name and description, may be shared with Event partners and media as per clause 7.1, 7.2 and 8. For the avoidance of doubt the “image information” does not include any personal information of You the author.

8. Any photograph used by WPO shall carry a credit line. Any failure to provide such credit line shall not be deemed to be a breach, as long as WPO uses its reasonable endeavours to rectify such failure within a reasonable period from the date of notice of such failure.

9 You acknowledge that it is your responsibility for protecting any Entry against image misuse by any third party, for example, but not limited to the insertion of a watermark. WPO and its Event Partners assume no responsibility and are not liable for any image misuse…..

You agree to participate in related publicity and to the use of Your name and likeness for the purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity without additional compensation….

Good Luck! / Bonne Chance!

PRESS RELEASE

2016 edition of the world’s largest photography competition opens for entries

Jun 01, 2015 08:00 GMT