PRESS RELEASE
Sony World Photography Awards 2012 Shortlist announced
2 February 2012
Today, Thursday 2 February, the World Photography Organisation announces the shortlist for the 2012 Sony World Photography Awards. Billed as the global photographic event of the year, the Sony World Photography Awards celebrate the very best in photography from around the world, from the next generation of emerging photographers through to the established masters of the art.
The 2012 competition has garnered increased worldwide interest with over 112,000 entries from 171 countries, with the shortlisted images depicting the stories of extraordinary lives from around the world. The Professional competition reflects a turbulent year of global events with the war in Libya; the Greek and European economic crisis; the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan and the fall of Gaddafi, in the Photojournalism & Documentary categories. The shortlist for the Fine Art and Commercial categories gets to the very heart of daily life – a small sheep-farming community in Iceland; the rice harvest in South China; a religious pilgrimage in Poland and gold diggers in Chile.
This year the honorary jury found the quality of work exceptionally strong across all categories, discovering many photographers new to the Sony World Photography Awards roster. Manuel Geerinck (Belgium); Lee Chee Wai (China); Alejandro Cartagena (Mexico), Irina Werning (Argentina); Gwenn Dubourthoumieu (Republic of the Congo) and Simon Norfolk (UK), are but a few of the new names to place as finalists and shortlisted photographers.
Returning photographers from previous years, include 2010 Professional Landscape winner, Peter Franck (Germany); who this year is a finalist in three categories; 2011 Professional Contemporary Issues and Current Affairs winner, Javier Arcenillas (Spain); and Chan Kwok Hung (Hong Kong) whose stunningly dramatic image ‘Buffalo Race’ won the Overall Open Competition in 2011.
W M Hunt, Chair of the Honorary Judging Committee, commented: ‘As a judge, you bring an open mind and a passion for photography – its presence and its present, its past and its legacy. You are hopeful and hungry to see great work that is fresh and full, expecting the exceptional. The rewards are rich and delightful. It is a pleasure to present this year’s selections.’
Astrid Merget, Creative Director of the World Photography Organisation added: ‘Looking at the vast collection of shortlisted work across the categories, is truly gratifying this year. Within the Professional awards, the bodies of work are beautifully presented and distinctive, whilst in the Open categories, the single snapshots are diverse and demonstrate excellent skill within the amateur market. The new Youth competition also delighted us, as we were thrilled to find some exceptional budding talent.’
In being shortlisted for the Sony World Photography Awards, photographers can now look forward to the invaluable support of the World Photography Organisation, which includes having their work exhibited at a major exhibition at London’s Somerset House, to coincide with the award ceremony in April 2012.
The shortlist for the Professional Competition was selected by the Honorary Judging committee which was chaired by esteemed photographic consultant W.M. Hunt. This year the Open entries were judged by a pre-selection committee of inspectors from Shutterstock, WPO and representatives from Sony. The Youth Competition was judged by a WPO and Sony selection committee.
The annual Sony World Photography Awards ceremony and gala dinner will take place on 26 April at the Hilton Hotel in London’s Park Lane. The awards celebration will once again take place alongside World Photo, London, a month-long event which brings an eclectic mix of photographic events for all to enjoy. The opening weekend of World Photo London will be held at Somerset House from 27 – 30 April with selected events including portfolio reviews, workshops, symposiums and the Sony World Photography Awards winners’ exhibitions, which continue through to 20 May 2012. Honorary Judges for the 2012 Awards and other international industry experts will be leading many of the festival events.
>> View the gallery of shortlisted images here
Professional shortlisted photographers, quick links: Professional, Photojournalism & Documentary, Commercial, Fine Art, Open Competition, Youth Award.
Honorary judging committee:
Presiding Chair: W. M. Hunt (USA) Photographic Consultant.
Chairs: Michael Benson (UK) Director, Prix Pictet; James Reid (UK) Photography Director of Wallpaper*; Claudia Hinterseer (Netherlands) Managing Director and co-owner of NOOR.
Additional Jury: Jodi Bieber (South Africa) Photographer; Jon Jones (UK) Director of Photography Sunday Times Magazine; Rebecca Lewis (US) Vice-President and Senior Agent for Art+Commerce; Prabuddha Dasgupta (India) Photographer; Shizuka Yokomizo (Japan) Photographer.
In each category the judges could select up to three finalist photographers and up to seven additional shortlist photographers. From the finalists, the winners plus 2nd and 3rd place will be chosen and announced at the awards ceremony on 26 April.
Photographers are listed alphabetically.
PHOTOJOURNALISM & DOCUMENTARY
Current Affairs
Finalists:
- Fernando Alfonso Brito Lizárraga Mexico
(El Debate de Culiacan)
- Rémi Ochlik (IP3 Press) France
- Donald Weber (VII PHOTO) Canada
Shortlisted:
- Javier Arcenillas Spain
- Fabio Bucciarelli Italy
- Pietro Masturzo Italy
- Giorgos Moutafis Greece
- Goran Tomasevic United Kingdom
Contemporary Issues
Finalists:
- Kasia Bielska Poland
- Alessandro Grassani Italy
- Gustavo Jononovich Argentina
Shortlisted:
- Francesco Giusti Italy
- Sebastian Liste Spain
- Ivor Prickett Ireland
- Jose Luis Rodriguez Maldonado Columbia
- Natasha Shulte Ukraine
- Anastasia Taylor-Lind United Kingdom
- Donald Weber (VII PHOTO) Canada
People
Finalists:
- Alejandro Cartagena Mexico
- Maja Daniels Sweden
- Simon Norfolk United Kingdom
Shortlisted:
- Philippe Leroux France
- Kerry Mansfield United States
- Francesca Oggiano Italy
- Huage Shang China
- Salvi Danés Vernedas Spain
Sport
Finalists:
- Pawel Kopczynski (Thomson Reuters) Poland
- Andrew McConnell Ireland
- Palmer + Pawel United Kingdom
Shortlisted:
- Delfosse Colin Belgium
- Alvaro Deprit Italy
- Mikhail Domozhilov Russian Federation
- Adam Pretty Australia
- Scott Robin Barbour New Zealand
- Robin Utrecht Netherlands
Nature & Wildlife
Finalists:
- David Chancellor (Institute) United Kingdom
- Jacek Kusz Poland
- Palani Mohan India
Shortlisted:
- Salil Bera India
- Terence du Fresne Switzerland
- Barbara Leven United States
- Suren Manvelyan Armenia
- Tapash Paul Bangladesh
Arts and Culture
Finalists:
- Rob Hornstra Netherlands
- Anastasia Taylor-Lind United Kingdom
- Mattia Vacca Italy
Shortlisted:
- Javier Arcenillas Spain
- Jacek Swierczynski Poland
- Yannick Cormier France
- Alvaro Deprit Italy
- Susana Girón Spain
- Davide Monteleone Italy
- Andrea Santolaya Spain
COMMERCIAL
Campaign
Finalists:
- Javier Arcenillas Spain
- Peter Franck (Büro stoltenhoff) Germany
- Laura Pannack United Kingdom
Shortlisted:
- Michael Blann United Kingdom
- Felipe Cantillana Chile
- Jan von Holleben Germany
- Miguel Navarro United Kingdom
- Michelle Siu Canada
- Roberto Soares-Gomes Brazil
- Daniele Testa Italy
Travel
Finalists:
- Jan Brykczynski Poland
- Luis Henry Agudelo Cano Colombia
- Peter Franck Germany
Shortlisted:
- Giancarlo Ceraudo Italy
- Andrea Hamilton United Kingdom
- Cristina De Middel Spain
- Yurian Quintanas Nobel Spain
- Gianluca Pulcini Italy
- Lisa Wiltse United States
Fashion
Finalists:
- Peter Franck Germany
- Elizaveta Porodina Germany
- Jayden Tang United Kingdom
Shortlisted:
- Michelle Beatty United Kingdom
- Susi Belianska Italy
- Romano Decker Dejan Kutic Croatia
- Filippo Del Vita Italy
- Alice Pavesi Italy
- Dasha Ketsko Ukraine
- Frauke Thielking Germany
FINE ART
Architecture
Finalists:
- Igor Chirikov Russian Federation
- David Ibernón Boria Spain
- Simon Norfolk United Kingdom
Shortlisted:
- Robin Broderick Canada
- Riccardo Budini Italy
- Tamas Bujnovszky Hungary
- Alejandro Cartagena Mexico
- Paula Gortazar United Kingdom
- David de Jong Netherlands
- Michael Joseph United States
Portraiture
Finalists:
- Lei Liu China
- Paolo Marchetti Italy
- Irina Werning Argentina
Shortlisted:
- Gwenn Dubourthoumieu The Democratic Republic of Congo
- Lavinia Parlamenti Italy
- Johann Rousselot France
- Javier Arcenillas Spain
- George Mayer Russian Federation
Landscape
Finalists :
- Rona Chang United States
- Lee Chee Wai Malaysia
- Mitch Dobrowner United States
Shortlisted:
- Regis Boileau France
- Ximena Etchart Argentina
- Jeroen Hofman Netherlands
- Zhang Kechun China
- Matthias H. Risse Germany
- Chaoliang Shen Taiwan, Province of China
- Stephen Wilkes United States
Still Life
Finalists:
- Renan Cepeda Brazil
- Rena Effendi (INSTITUTE) Azerbaijan
- Helen Thompson United Kingdom
Shortlisted:
- Michal Cole United Kingdom
- Peter Franck Germany
- Martina Geccelli United Kingdom
- Miri Mor Israel
- Song Nian Ang Singapore
- Gicheol Shin Republic of Korea
Conceptual
Finalists:
- Manuel Geerinck Belgium
- Luis Mallo United States
- Cristina De Middel Spain
Shortlisted:
- Carlo D’Orta Italy
- Photographer Hal Japan
- Giuseppe Parisi Italy
- Carlos Henrique Reinesch Brazil
- Sanne Maloe Slecht Netherlands
- Frauke Thielking Germany
- Patricia van de Camp Netherlands
Open shortlisted photographers
In each category judges were able to select up to ten images.
Architecture
- Babul Bhatt India
- Patrice Carré France
- Filippo Di Rosa Italy
- Fabrizio Intonti Italy
- Francisco Mendes Portugal
- Rui Nunes United Kingdom
- Fulvio Pellegrini Italy
- José Ramón Montes Spain
- Thai Son Huynh Vietnam
Arts & Culture
- Dovile Dagiene Lithuania
- Levi Fanan Brazil
- Kushal Gangopadhyay India
- Antonio Iubatti Italy
- Sanket K India
- Klaartje Lambrechts Belgium
- Oliver Mezger Germany
- Tan Nono Rahardian Indonesia
- Samanta Sollima Italy
- Paul Störm Australia
Enhanced
- Alexandr Afonin Russian Federation
- Sandra Cifo United States
- Paul Irving United Kingdom
- Milan Makarský Czech Republic
- Frank Martin Eisele Germany
- Rodolfo Mejías Venezuela
- Jochen Resch Germany
- Oren Shved Israel
- Victor Vargas Villafuerte Canada
- Antonios Vlachou Slovakia
Low Light
- Elmar Akhmetov Kazakhstan
- Edoardo Brotto Italy
- Ignasi cunill Spain
- Teng Hin Khoo Malaysia
- Sergey Kochmak Russian Federation
- Christoph Krüger Germany
- Belentsova Natalia Russian Federation
- Pansiri Pikunkaew Thailand
- Derrick Woo Hong Kong
- Heng Zee Kek Singapore
Nature & Wildlife
- Nadav Bagim Israel
- Anita Erdmann Canada
- Handri Fitrido Indonesia
- Felicitas Frei Switzerland
- Giovanni Frescura Italy
- Peter Krejzl Czech Republic
- Chan Kwok Hung Hong Kong
- William Lee United States
- Kuntal Paul India
- Petar Sabol Croatia
Panoramic
- Pramiga Aditya Indonesia
- Ionut Hrenciuc Romania
- Istvan Nagy Netherlands
- Noel Plaszkó Hungary
- Matthew Post Australia
- James Rider United Kingdom
- Terry Soo Australia
- Ian Taylor United Kingdom
- steve Williams United Kingdom
- Denise Worden United States
People
- Victoria Bolshemennik Israel
- Tommy Braxton United Kingdom
- Thomas Dymond United Kingdom
- Mehmet Fatih Yaldiz Turkey
- Ana Gregorič Slovenia
- Paul MacKinnon United Kingdom
- Christine Pearl United States
- Fulvio Pellegrini Italy
- Zulkifli Thalib Indonesia
- Игорь Лобанов Russian Federation
Smile
- Ricky Alexander Indonesia
- Nguyen Duc Tri Vietnam
- Gerold Guggenbuehl Switzerland
- Arnold Jumpay Philippines
- Anom Manik Agung Indonesia
- Kivera Mara Réunion
- Diana Mrazikova Slovakia
- Meghann Prouse United States
- Nick Redman United Kingdom
- Piotr Stasiuk Poland
Split Second
- Cemhan Biricik United States
- Tobias Bräuning Germany
- Samuel Chan China
- Andrzej Chrobot Poland
- Alessandro Falco Italy
- Don Horne Ireland
- Johnny Joo United States
- Gustavo Magnavacca Argentina
- Greg Parker United Kingdom
- Peter Prazenka Slovakia
Travel
- Krzysztof Browko Poland
- Krzysztof Browko Poland
- Marco Lachmann-Anke Germany
- John Lai Teck Kee Malaysia
- Carlos Macedonio Brazil
- N S Ng Singapore
- Keith Pace Malta
- Suprijanto Suprijanto Indonesia
- George Turnbull United Kingdom
- Malte Wittmann Germany
Youth shortlisted photographers
Culture
- Hanne Grannestad Norway
- Lam Ka Ho Hong Kong
- Sahil Lodha India
- Merijn Mulder Netherlands
- Carolina Paltrinieri Italy
- Adrian Pelegrin Bonet Spain
- Kolyaskin Sergey Russian Federation
- Benedek Varga Hungary
Environment
- Alla Aliokhina Ukraine
- Kolyaskin Sergey Russian Federation
- Thamyres Matarozzi Brazil
- Adrian Pelegrin Bonet Spain
- Bernard Pieterse South Africa
- Imanuel Thallinger Austria
- Kazi Sudipto Bangladesh
- Kseniya Sovenko United States
Portraits
- Tertious Alio Russian Federation
- Hadi Asgari Iran
- Lidia K United Kingdom
- Darya Kasyanova Russian Federation
- Samujjwal Sahu India
- Karina Sembe Ukraine
- Kolyaskin Sergey Russian Federation
- Felicia Simion Romania
- Marina Tkhorzhevskaya Russian Federation
- Berta Vicente Spain
Key dates 2012
07 February Student Focus finalists announcement
20 March Open (amateur) category winners announced
26 April Sony World Photography Awards, gala ceremony held London Hilton
27 April Sony World Photography Award Winners and World Photo, London exhibitions open at Somerset House London
Notes
- In selecting the shortlist, jury members are required to choose a minimum of 3 photographers with a maximum of 10 in each category
- Photographers entering the Professional competition may enter a minimum of 2 and maximum of 10 images per category, being judged on a body of work; those entering the Open category, are judged on a single snapshot in any category.
- Images submitted must have been taken in 2011 for the Open Competition, whilst Professionals may have taken their images in 2011, or first published their work in 2011.
- The Youth Award is open to any photographer under the age of 20.
- Created by the World Photography Organisation (WPO), the World Photography Awards, sponsored by Sony, launched in 2007. WPO supports professional, amateur and student photography, lending a global platform for the photographic industry to communicate, converge and showcase current trends in Photojournalism, Fine Art and Commercial photography. Delivering various initiatives and programmes across this global community, these programmes involve the photographer in commercial, cultural and educational activities within the many industry sectors, whilst also creating cultural activities for the public to participate in. Currently included within the WPO portfolio are the World Photography Student Focus Competition; the World Photo international festivals and events, and the World Photography Focus Programme.
- The WPO website – www.worldphoto.org features an online gallery and news section. It also includes comprehensive information about the Awards, the categories, a current list of World Photographic Academy members, and key dates.
- About Sony
Sony is a leading global innovator of audio, video, communications and information technology products for both the consumer and professional markets. Sony is renowned for its audio-visual products, such as the BRAVIA™ LCD high-definition (HD) television, Cyber-shot™ digital camera, Handycam®, camcorder, “α” (pronounced Alpha) digital SLR camera, and Walkman® MP3 player as well as its VAIO™ personal computers and 3D HD professional broadcast equipment. Offering a complete end-to-end 3D value chain and with its electronics, music, pictures, game and online businesses, Sony is one of the world’s leading digital entertainment brands, employing approximately 170,000 people worldwide.
