Before you do anything else this week, look through your photo albums. If you see anything so brilliant that you think it should be shared with the world, submit it into the World Photography Organisation’s 2015 Sony World Photography Awards‘ “Open” category, where amateurs are invited to participate. The entry window is coming to a close on January 5, and the WPO has revealed the judges of the competition and allowed the public to browse the entries for the Open category. (See the samples above to get inspired.)
Anyone can enter the competition, and it is free. There are three categories: Open (any amateur who is 20 or older), Youth, and Professional. Within the Open category, there are the following subcategories: Architecture, Arts & Culture, Enhanced, Low Light, Nature & Wildlife, Panoramic, People, Smile, Split Second, and Travel.
Winning the worldwide competition gives you not just an award to make into your Facebook profile picture: Your photo will be shown across the competition website, published in Sony’s annual award book, and be subject to international media coverage during the award night and following exhibition in London from April 23 to May 10.
The only caveat is that you can only enter one category. You can, however, enter more than one picture, but there are specific regulations surrounding that. Check out the FAQ page for more information and rules (note that the cutoff date for the Professional category is January 8).
The judges announced include international experts. The 2015 Honorary Judging Committee consists of Joanna Milter, deputy photo editor for The New York Times Magazine (U.S.); Matthew Leifheit, photo editor for VICE Magazine (U.S.); Enrica Viganó, freelance curator and writer (Italy); Xingxin Guo, vice director of New Media Department of Photo Center of Xinhua News Agency and editor-in-chief of CICPHOTO (China); Oliver Schmitt, photo editor for Spiegel Online (Germany); Maria Pieri, editorial director for National Geographic Traveller (U.K.); and Sasha Erwitt, photo editor at Vanity Fair (USA).
The Youth and Professional category entries cannot be viewed, but anyone can see more from the open category entries here.
(Images via World Photo Organization)
