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World Photography Organisation – Overall winners revealed: 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

We are delighted to reveal the overall winners of the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards. All the winners, including those from the Professional, Open, Student and Youth competitions, were announced at a prestigious award ceremony in central London.

The successful images will now go on display at the 2018 Exhibition, London, until 6th May. Don’t miss one of the most diverse and exciting photography exhibitions of the year! 

All winners were flown to London for the ceremony and received Sony digital imaging equipment, publication in the winners’ book and get to see their work shown as part of the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition.

Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient Candida Höfer was also at the ceremony to collect her prize.

Photographer of the Year – Alys Tomlinson, UK

The coveted Photographer of the Year title was presented to British artist, Alys Tomlinson (age 43), for her series ‘Ex-Voto’, winning her the $25,000 (USD) prize fund. The work was praised by the jury for its beautiful production, technical excellence and sensitive illustration of pilgrimage as a journey of discovery and sacrifice to a greater power. Upon winning the prize, Tomlinson said “I am very surprised to have won, there is so much amazing photography in this competition. This is a huge boost both personally and professionally. It’s a project I invested so much in, so this recognition makes it all worth it.”  

Tomlinson was selected from the 10 category winners of the Professional competition who were  announced today alongside those in 2nd and 3rd place in each Professional category. The overall winners of the Awards’ Open (best single image), Youth and Student Focus competitions were also revealed.

Open Photographer of the Year – Veselin Atanasov, Bulgaria

Bulgarian photographer, Veselin Atanasov, was selected from 10 category winners as the best single image in the world in the Open competition. Atanasov is recognised for his image ‘Early Autumn’ and receives the $5,000 (USD) prize. An IT specialist, Atanasov is a self-taught photographer who began shooting in 2014. 

Youth Photographer of the Year – Megan Johnson, USA, Age 16

Megan Johnson, aged 16 and from the USA, was announced as the Youth Photographer of the Year, for her image ‘Still’. Shot on the cliffs near her house in Connecticut, the black and white image captures the complex and intricate solitude the photographer faces in everyday life.

Student Photographer of the Year – Samuel Bolduc, Canada

The Student Photographer of the Year was revealed as Samuel Bolduc, from Canada, age 20. Bolduc was chosen by the judges from students worldwide for his photographic series ‘The Burden’. He represented College de Matane, Quebec and has won €30,000 (Euros) worth of Sony photography equipment for the institution.

Produced by the World Photography Organisation, the Sony World Photography Awards is the world’s most diverse photography competition. The 11th edition saw a record breaking 320,000 submissions by photographers from more than 200 countries and territories, presenting some of the world’s finest contemporary photography captured over the past year. The Awards’ annual London exhibition brings together the best established and emerging talent from around the world, providing winning and shortlisted photographers the opportunity to showcase their work on an international stage.

Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]