Sony World Photography Awards 2010: Amateur winners announced ~ Photography News

Sony World Photography Awards 2010: Amateur winners announced

The amateur category winners for the 2010 Sony World Photography Awards are announced today, Monday 22 March.
The nine outstanding photographers, who beat off competition from 43,745 amateur submissions from 144 countries, are:

Architecture - Marianna Marcantonini, Italy

Conceptual & Constructed - Jake Lowe, Australia

Documentary - Fredrik Jalhed, Sweden

Fashion - Alex Chebotar, Russia

Landscape - Hayri Kodal, Turkey

Music - Vitali Seitz, Germany

Natural History - Alex Goh, Malaysia

Portraiture - Richard Brocken, The Netherlands

Sport - Maksym Gorbatskyi, Ukraine

The winners were chosen by the Honorary Judging Committee, comprising world-renowned photographers, curators and representatives from leading international photo agencies, from a shortlist that was pre-selected by inspectors from iStockphoto.

Kelly Thompson, COO from iStockphoto, said: "This is our second year helping review this category and we continue to be delighted with the creativity and skill we see manifested in these rising stars. We are excited to continue watching them grow.”

The amateur category winners will be showcased at the Winners’ Exhibition as part of the World Photography Festival, a five day celebration of the craft of photography held in Cannes from 22-27 April. Each photographer will have their work published in the Sony World Photography Awards Winners’ Book and will then be exhibited around the world throughout 2010 and 2011 as part of the Sony World Photography Awards Global Tour.

The overall Sony World Photography Awards, Amateur Photographer of the Year will be chosen from the nine category winners and announced at the Sony World Photography Awards ceremony and gala evening in Cannes on Thursday 22 April. The overall winning amateur photographer will receive a $5,000 cash prize as well as Sony camera equipment.

The 2010 professional category winners and the winner of the L’Iris D’Or, the Sony World Photography Awards, Photographer of the Year, will be also announced in Cannes on 22 April.
The awards showcase will take place inside the Grand Lumier Theatre of the Palais des Festivals and is open for the public to attend. Tickets are available through www.worldphotographyawards.org/festival

Astrid Merget, Creative Director of the World Photography Organisation said:
“Each year the quality of Amateur photographers impresses us and the jury more, showing that the line between a true amateur – a lover of the craft – and a professional photographer is very often blurred. We are indeed very proud to have received such fantastic entries.”

Yoshiyuki Nogami, Vice President of Digital Imaging at Sony Europe, said: “When digital imaging technology is placed in the right hands, it can evoke a profound emotional response unmatched by any other media. This year’s entries into the amateur categories have once again uncovered an amazing wealth of emerging talent which we are proud to nurture and support.”

All the winning and shortlisted amateur images can be viewed at http://www.worldphotographyawards.org/

Diana Topan