Created by the

World Photography Organisation

, the

Sony World Photography Awards

are one of the world's leading photography competitions.

This 11th edition of the Awards is marked by the introduction of two challenging new categories in the Professional competition, ‘

Creative

’ and ‘

Discovery

’, and an important new opportunity for award-winners to secure a grant to fund future photographic projects.

There are four competitions:

•

Professional

- 10 categories judged upon a body of work (

5-10 images

)

•

Open

- best single images across 10 categories

•

Youth

- young photographers aged 12-19 responding to a brief with a single image

•

Student Focus

- for those studying photography

The awards offer an unparalleled opportunity for exposure for photographers at all stages of their career and are known worldwide by industry leaders. The images are judged by the

World Photography Organisation

and a specially selected jury from the

World Photographic Academy

which is made up of the photographic industry's most esteemed individuals.

There is no entry fee

.

Eligibility

Open to professional, amateur, youth and student photographers from across the world.

Prize

The Awards have brought untold reward and recognition to those involved and each year offers a

30,000 USD

in cash prizes plus the latest Sony digital imaging equipment.

Moreover, from the winners of the

2018

Professional categories, Sony will award multiple grants of

7,000 USD

to selected photographers to pursue photographic projects of their choice. In addition, shortlisted photographers from the

Student Focus

competition will each be given

3,500 USD

to work together on a new photographic commission set by Sony and the World Photography Organisation.

All category winners plus many of the shortlisted Awards photographers will be exhibited at the annual

Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition

in London and then toured internationally. The images will also be published in the annual Awards winners’ book and all shortlisted and winning photographers are given global exposure via dedicated marketing and press campaigns.