PHOTO
- All shortlisted images available at worldphoto.org/press
- Nearly 320,000 images were submitted from across the world, a 40 per cent increase in entries compared to 2017
- Final winners will be revealed on 19 April (23.00 GMT)
- All winning entries will be on display at a specially curated exhibition from 20 April – 6 May at Somerset House, London
Dubai, UAE: Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA), the world’s most diverse photography competition, announced the shortlisted photographers for the 2018 edition who have brought tremendous depth of perspective and stunning imagery to this year’s edition of the competition.
Photographers from over 200 countries and territories entered nearly 320,000 images across the Awards’ competitions, the highest ever number of entries till date, reflecting a 40 per cent increase from 2017.
The judges were particularly impressed with the high quality of entries, which captured some of the foremost trends and contemporary concerns of photographers working today.
In the Middle East & Africa region, photographers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt were among those commended by SWPA judges, and were part of the top 50 best single images in the world in the Award’s Open competition.
The Open competition, which rewards the best single image across ten categories, features two UAE photographers on the shortlist, with one also being commended. Furthermore, four UAE artists have also been commended and placed among top 50 in the world.
Recognizing a huge diversity of work, the judges shortlisted and commended the following UAE-based photographers:
- Manny Fajutag’s image ‘Spiral’ showing the Al Fursan Aerobatic team of the UAE performing an amazing air show during National Day was shortlisted in the Open Motion category.
- Don Ferdinand Tabbun’s ‘Challenge’, taken during the Al Dhafra Camel and Heritage Festival in Abu Dhabi, was shortlisted in the Open Culture category, while the photo ‘Take Off’, was commended in the Motion category showing a young man caring for birds.
- Monica Flannery’s ‘His Hole World’ was commended in the Open Architecture category. The photo was taken at the coastal town of Fujairah in May 2017 while his son climbed a hole in an abandoned wall to look at the view of the Al Hajar mountains.
- Zulfikhar Ahmed’s ‘Happy Hours’, showed young children in the border district of Kargil, India travelling long distances in the rugged mountains to reach school, was commended in the Open Portraiture category.
- Baber Afzal was commended in the Open Architecture category with his image ‘Prism’ that captured stunning reflections across the Burj Khalifa, caused by rare fog rolling past.
- Riyas Muhammed was commended in the Open Motion category with his image ‘Amazing Flyboard’ capturing a flyboard performance at the Dubai Marina.
Saudi photographers Khalid Alsabt and Nather AlAsyf were recognised in the Open Travel category and Open Culture categories respectively. Alsabt’s The Way of the Camel taken along a road in the desert of Dahana in central Saudi Arabia, and AlAsyf’s Bread Carrier showing a girl from Ladakh-Kashmir carrying bread for her family early in the morning, both received a commendation in the Open competition.
Omani photographers Abdulla Al-Mushaifri and Hamed AlGhanboosi were recognised in the Open Landscape and Nature and Open Street Photography categories respectively. Al-Mushaifri’s Milky Way Flower taken in Oman’s Wadi Bini Khaled, a natural resort and tourist site for many foreign travellers, and AlGhaboosi’s Playing Time, a joyful shot of young kids playing football at the playground in Naryn, Kyrgyzstan, both received honours in the competition.
Lastly, Egyptian photographer Bassam Allam’s work was honoured in the Award’s Open Portraiture Category. Among his two images that were shortlisted were the Portrait of Adima and Through the Glass.
The works of the shortlisted photographers will be exhibited at the Sony World Photography Awards 2018 Exhibition in London from 20 April to 6 May. The Open competition winners will be announced on 20 March, while winners in the overall and professional categories will be revealed on 19 April.
Produced by the World Photography Organisation, the Sony World Photography Awards are now in their 11th year of partnership with their headline sponsor, Sony. The Awards’ shortlist (top 10 per category) and commended list (top 50 per category) comprise some of the world’s finest contemporary photography captured over the past year.
The international range of entries displays a huge diversity of imagery in terms of genre, style and subject matter across the Awards’ 4 competitions, Professional, Open, Youth and Student Focus. The Professional competition includes 10 categories such as Architecture, Contemporary Issues, Landscape, Natural World & Wildlife, Portraiture and two new categories for this year; Creative and Discovery, while the Open competition offers 10 categories including Culture, Enhanced, Motion, Street Photography and Travel.
The Sony World Photography Awards are judged anonymously by internationally acclaimed industry professionals. The 2018 Professional competition jury was chaired by Mike Trow (ex Picture Editor, British Vogue) with representatives from international museums, publishing and the media.
Commenting on this year’s awards, Scott Gray (CEO, World Photography Organisation) notes: “The quality of this year’s submissions has been very impressive, with outstanding works of art entered across the competitions. The Sony World Photography Awards has celebrated photographers and photography throughout its 11-year history, and we continue to work to ensure photography is recognised as a dynamic, exciting, and accessible medium.”
All shortlisted and winning images will be exhibited as part of the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London. Tickets are available at www.worldphoto.org/2018exhibition.
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For further information please contact:
Jill Cotton/Emma Double, World Photography Organisation press@worldphoto.org / +44 (0) 20 7886 3043 / 3049
Notes
Further press information and all shortlisted and commended images are available to download for publication at www.worldphoto.org/press
The 2018 Awards received 319, 561 entries from 201 countries and territories across its 4 competitions, which is 40% higher than the 2017 Awards (227,596 entries).
The Professional competition of the Sony World Photography Awards is judged by an independent panel of industry experts selected by the World Photography Organisation. The headline sponsor of the awards, Sony, is not involved in the image selection of judging of this competition.
About World Photography Organisation
The World Photography Organisation is a global platform for photography initiatives. Working across more than 180 countries, our aim is to raise the level of conversation around photography by celebrating the best imagery and photographers on the planet. We pride ourselves on building lasting relationships with both individual photographers as well as our industry-leading partners around the world. The World Photography Organisation hosts a year-round portfolio of events including the Sony World Photography Awards, one of the world’s leading photography competitions, and PHOTOFAIRS, international art fairs dedicated to photography with destinations in Shanghai and San Francisco. For more details
see www.worldphoto.org.
About Sony Middle East and Africa:
Sony Middle East and Africa FZE is a 100% subsidiary of Sony Corporation and is the regional headquarters for the Middle East and Africa regions. The company is engaged in the business of Sony Consumer Electronics, Recording Media and Energy, Mobile Electronics (Car Audio) and Computer Entertainment (PlayStation) products in more than 40 countries in the region.
Apart from stock operations in the Jebel Ali Free Zone Establishment in Dubai, Sony Middle East and Africa leads execution of various logistics, sales, marketing, advertising and customer services activities through its business partners and representative offices. A representative office in Kenya and Pakistan, in addition to 262 accredited third party service centers reinforces Sony’s presence in key markets in the region.
For media inquiries, please contact:
BPG Cohn & Wolfe
Mustafa Hashim
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Mob: +971 55 480 5200
Email: Mustafa@bpgcohnwolfe.com
Sony Middle East and Africa FZE
Neha Gandhi
Corporate Communications
Mob: +971 50 656 6016
Email: Neha.gandhi@ap.sony.com
