The latest announcement by Sony reveals that there will be new categories added to the Sony World Photography Awards that include an environmental category, opportunities for new and emerging photographers, and new grant recipients. The 2020 edition of the World Photography Awards by Sony introduces new categories to the professional part of the competition. The newly announced environmental category will allow fine art photography and photojournalism participants to take part in the competition by submitting their work addressing environmental concerns. The new category aims to raise even more awareness of environmental concerns and to promote discussion and change. All winning photos and their artists and creators will have the opportunity to access to a global platform and further showcase their work, inspiration while raising awareness to important environmental topics. Federico Borella, 2019 winner, comments: “Winning the 2019 Photographer of the Year title is one of the most important things for my career and my life.”
The new environmental photography category is the only new edition of the competition. The World Photography Awards by Sony will now focus on opening more opportunities for young and emerging photographers from all around the world. The new category is called Youth competition and welcomes entries and submissions from photographers aged 12 to 19. Between June to December, all participants in this category can submit up to three photos per month. Each monthly competition comes with a unique topic and theme of the month. One winner and one shortlisted photographer will be chosen for every one of the seven months the competition is running.
The new announcement by Sony also reveals the names of the recipients of 2019 students grants. There are three winners and each one of them is awarded $3,500 and commissioned to create a new series of photographs, working together as a team.
The Sony World Photography Awards has four separate competitions, including Professional, Open, Youth, and Student. In addition, the Professional competition comes in different sub-categories, including Architecture, Creative, Discovery, Documentary, Landscape, Natural World & Wildlife, Portraiture, Still Life, Sport, and the new one, Environmental.
The Open competition recognises the work of artists and photographers in the following categories: Architecture, Culture, Creative, Motion, Landscape, Natural World & Wildlife, Portraiture, Still Life, Street Photography, and Travel. Open competition is aiming towards rewarding exceptional standalone images.