Shortlists for Sony World Photography Awards announced

They are here! The long-expected 2013 Sony World Photography Awards shortlists for the Professional, Open and Youth categories have arrived, as announced by The World Photography Organization.

The Sony World Photography Awards proved to be a hit this year, as they received an impressive number of entries, with photographs taken worldwide. A major event for photography professionals and enthusiasts, the ceremony rewards dedicated and talented artists who seek appreciation at a high level.

Thousands and thousands of entries have been submitted in 2013. The judges have to choose the finalists before announcing the winners and this is exactly what they have done. The shortlist is here and it filled with amazing photos that are all winners in our book.

Sony will reveal the winners soon, but until then, here are some details about the contest that you need to know!

A six year old tradition

Sponsored by Sony, The World Photography Awards is a long-expected event put together by The World Photography Organisation (WPO) and is part of the World Photography Festival.

The short history of only six years should not fool you into giving it less importance than it deserves. Although relatively new, the ceremony rapidly gained a significant number of fans and contestants and is easily one of the most important events in the world of photography.

The awards took place in Cannes from their beginning in 2007, until 2011, after which they moved to London. The Sony World Photography Awards competition has three major categories: Professional, Open and Youth, each of them with a rather large number of subcategories: Architecture, Landscape, People, Lifestyle, Culture or Portraits, to name just a few.
The winner of the Professional category receives the Iris d’Or award, a cash prize and, probably most importantly for their photographic self esteem, the “Sony World Photographer of the Year” title.

The Awards in 2013

This year, the competition received 122,000 entries from 170 countries, a number that confirms the success of the event, this being the largest number of entries so far. As expected, the entries included many talented first timers, but the competition also welcomed back some of the awarded participants from past editions, such as Javier Arcenillas or Paolo Pellegrin.

2012 was surely an eventful year, something that can be seen through the lenses of so many passionate photographers eager to share their originality, talent and vision with the world, in a shortlist that will not cease to impress.