Calling all keen photographers: You have one week to enter the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards
This is one of the world's biggest, most prestigious photography competitions, with a big cash prize on offer, and the chance to show your work in London. And it's free to enter.
Calling all keen photographers: You have just one week left to enter the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards. This is one of the world's biggest, most prestigious photography competitions, with a big cash prize on offer, as well as the chance to show your work at a hugely popular exhibition in London. And it's free to enter.
Amateur and professional photographers worldwide have until 13:00 GMT on Thursday 4 January 2018 to enter their best single photographs into the Open competition, which has ten categories: Architecture, Culture, Enhanced, Motion, Landscape & Nature, Portraiture, Still Life, Street Photography, Travel and Wildlife.
To give you an idea of what you'd be up against, IBTimes UK presents a selection of images already entered into this year's Open competition, from stunning landscapes to intimate portraits and animals in the wild.
Stay: Carlos M Almagro, Spain, Enhanced (Open competition). 'Porís lighthouse, Canary Islands. This image is the result of two different shots taken with an approximately 75 minutes difference in time, without moving the camera or tripod, to get the milky way and the sunrise in the same image.'Carlos M Almagro/Sony World Photography Awards 2018Redivine: Sphiwo Hlatshwayo, South Africa, Portraiture (Open competition). 'A portrait of a woman who caught my eye at an event. I had to bring her into the studio so I could capture every single freckle.'Sphiwo Hlatshwayo/Sony World Photography Awards 2018Exodus: Bjorn Persson, Sweden, Wildlife (Open competition). 'A herd of elephants on a march through a rainy landscape.'Bjorn Persson/Sony World Photography Awards 2018Gas station: Chul-ui Song, Korea, Travel (Open competition). 'In November, 2017 in Iceland, I accidentally found a gas station in the middle of driving in the snow for over four hours.'Chul-ui Song/Sony World Photography Awards 2018The Labyrinth: Jassen Todorov, United States of America, Architecture (Open competition). 'The town of Cadiz, Spain, from above is as fascinating as it is from ground level – charming streets, narrow alleys, beautiful architecture, fun markets and people, glorious churches. It has got it all. Now go visit and get lost for a while. Aerial image (shot from a plane during the golden hour).'Jassen Todorov/Sony World Photography Awards 2018Whiteout: Tine Poppe, Norway, Street Photography (Open competition). First snowy day in OsloTine Poppe/Sony World Photography Awards 2018Teatro Cervantes de Tánger: López Lumeras, Spain, Still Life (Open competition). 'In the beginning of the 20th century,Esperanza Orellana from Seville inherited a vast fortune from her grandfather. As they were living in Tanger and her husband was an architect, they decided to build a great theatre. Opera singers as Maria Callas or Enrico Caruso used to perform here in the 1920s. However, in the middle sixties it fell into disuse and it became a cinema. In rainy days Tangerians used to take umbrellas with themselves to cope with the leaks. In the middle eighties the theatre was closed, the chairs were piled on the stage and it has today the same appearance. Thirty years of still life.'López Lumeras/Sony World Photography Awards 2018Colourful Umbrellas: Makoto Nishikura, Japan, Street Photography (Open competition). 'My idea was good contrast of colourful umbrellas and black-and-white stripe image. I took this photo on a rainy day from the top of a building in Ginza Tokyo looking down at the crossing.'Makoto Nishikura/Sony World Photography Awards 2018Portrait 1: Keiny Andrade, Brazil, Portraiture (Open competition). 'São Paulo is known for being huge and with few recreational areas for the population on the periphery. These portraits were made on the artificial beach of Sitio do Borges, in Itapevi, where locals go to enjoy the hot days. This is nursing technicians Marco Afonso Aires, 53, and Lilian de Matos Batista, 31, with daughter Larissa Ayres, 10.'Keiny Andrade/Sony World Photography Awards 2018Waterfall: Witold Ziomek, Poland, Landscape & Nature (Open competition). Skogafoss, IcelandWitold Ziomek/Sony World Photography Awards 2018Watch your back: Pedro Jarque Krebs, Peru, Wildlife (Open competition). Curious red flamingo.Pedro Jarque Krebs/Sony World Photography Awards 2018Image Name: Every breath you take: Klaus Lenzen, Germany, Enhanced (Open competition). 'This picture is composed of 35 individual swimmers from the Triathlon in Duesseldorf (Germany)'Klaus Lenzen/Sony World Photography Awards 2018River, Ice, Bird: Peter Csakvari, Hungary, Landscape & Nature (Open competition). Taken from the Margit bridge over the Danube in Budapest in a very cold day.'Peter Csakvari/Sony World Photography Awards 2018Galaxies above the winter forest: Ales Krivec, Slovakia, Landscape & Nature (Open competition). 'For this image, I simply put the camera directly in the middle of the road at Pokljuka Plateau in Slovenia. Trees are illuminated by the nearby car on the road.'Ales Krivec/Sony World Photography Awards 2018Natural Identity in Fjord: Carlos Alejo, Spain, Wildlife (Open competition). 'I took this photo in August 2017 in the north of Iceland. This beautiful whale gave a majestic presence, showing me the natural tattoo-like symbols in her tail, while swimming in a fjord.'Carlos Alejo/Sony World Photography Awards 2018
This is the 13th year of the Sony World Photography Awards, run by the World Photography Organisation. Many previous shortlisted and winning photographers have gained global exposure and recognition. Last year's Photographer of the Year, Frederik Buyckx (Belgium) said, "Being named Photographer of the Year has given me more exposure than I could ever have imagined. It has opened lots of new doors but, just as importantly, the award has also encouraged me to keep on working on my personal projects." Past shortlisted photographer Simon Butterworth (UK) said "It's impossible to overstate the importance of this achievement to my career, the global coverage was amazing, in fact, interest in my work as a direct result of the awards continues to this day."
The shortlist will be announced on 28 February 2018, and the winners of the Open competition will be revealed on 20 March 2018. Prizes include $5,000 (£3,728) for the overall Open competition winner, and the latest Sony Digital Imaging equipment for all category winners. In addition, the winning and shortlisted images will be exhibited at Somerset House in London from 20 April to 6 May 2018.
So... what are you waiting for? You have until 4 January 2018 to submit your work at www.worldphoto.org/swpa. All entries to the awards are free. (There is also a Professional competition, for best photography series, which is open for entries until 13.00 GMT on Thursday 11 January 2018.)
