2013 Sony World Photography Awards L’Iris d’Or and competition winners revealed

2013 Sony World Photography Awards
L’Iris d’Or and competition winners revealed

• Norwegian photographer Andrea Gjestvang wins L’Iris d’Or and $25,000 prize
• Professional category winners announced
• Hoang Hiep Nguyen, Vietnam, named Open Photographer of the Year
• William Eggleston receives Outstanding Contribution to Photography award
• Polish student wins Student Focus and Romanian photographer collects Youth Award
• Winners of KKF Book Awards for Best Photography and Moving Image Books revealed

Thirty-two year-old Norwegian photographer Andrea Gjestvang is tonight announced as the L’Iris d’Or/Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year.  Beating over 122,000 entries from 170 countries, the photographer collected her award plus Sony digital imaging equipment and $25,000 (USD) prize money at a gala ceremony held in London.

The judges voted unanimously for Gjestvang’s powerful series of portraits of children and youths who survived the July 2011 massacre on the island of Utoeya, outside Oslo.  Titled ‘One day in history’ the series captures the young survivors with immense sensitivity and honesty and are an enduring testament to the resolve of these young people in the face of this unspeakable tragedy.

Upon receiving her award Gjestvang commented: “I feel so honoured, grateful and proud to receive this fantastic recognition and prize.  I am grateful the important stories of these young people are reaching out and moving people the way they move me.»

Chair of the Honorary Jury, Catherine Chermayeff, Director of Special Projects at Magnum Photos, adds: “As the Jury Chairman I am delighted that Andrea Gjestvang has won the L’Iris d’Or prize. The entire jury was unanimous in selecting this body of work. «One Day in History» is a quiet, thoughtful and ultimately powerful voice for the children and survivors of the massacre in Norway. We were all moved by the dignity and beauty of these images.”

In just a few years, Andrea Gjestvang has established herself as one of the world’s most exciting young photographers.  Her work has been published in Newsweek, M Le Monde, Stern and D Republica, and exhibited worldwide. In 2010 she participated in the Joop Swart Masterclass, and in 2012 she was named one of PDN’s 30 New and Emerging photographers to watch.  Most recently she was awarded the Photo of the Year prize at the 2012 Norwegian Picture of the Year competition for her portrait of Utøya survivor Ylva Helen Schwenke.  Gjestvang winning series ‘One Day in History’ was published as a book in Norway in 2012. She is represented by Moment Agency.

The L’Iris d’Or winning series of work, alongside those of the other winners announced tonight at the awards, will be displayed as part of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House from 26 April – 12 May.  The images will also be published in the 2013 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards book, available to buy from worldphoto.org/2013book

Open Photographer of the Year – Hoang Hiep Nguyen, Vietnam
Also at the awards, a twenty-one year old amateur photographer from Hanoi, Vietnam, who incredibly only bought his first digital camera one year ago, was announced as the Open Photographer of the Year.

Hoang Hiep Nguyen was presented with a Sony α77 camera plus $5,000 (USD) for his winning image of a young girl in a storm.  The photograph beat entries from around the world in a competition that sought to find the world’s single best image taken by an amateur photographer or photography enthusiast. 

Presiding Chair of Judges for the Open competition, Damien Demolder, Editor of Amateur Photographer magazine in the UK, comments:  “Nguyen’s picture is the standout image of the Open competition with its intense romantic atmosphere and its sense of mystical fantasy. It is a delightful image that really sums up the amazing level of creativity and skill that today’s amateur photographers are capable of, and a supremely worthy winner of this globally prestigious competition.”

Professional category winners and finalists
The winners plus the 2nd and 3rd placed photographers of the Professional competition were also revealed at the awards ceremony.  All 15 Professional winners – from Australia to Peru – were flown to London to collect their award and received a Sony α99 camera.

The wining series of works showcase the very best in international contemporary photography, from stunning black and white portraits of the Matterhorn mountain to a witty set shot in the back of an Argentinian limousine to a wry look at the secret life of the people of North Korea.  The winners are:

• Architecture – Fabrice Fouillet, France
• Arts and Culture – Myriam Meloni, Italy
• Campaign – Christian Åslund, Sweden
• Conceptual – Roman Pyatkovka, Ukraine
• Contemporary Issues – Valerio Bispuri, Italy
• Current Affairs – Ilya Pitalev, Russia
• Fashion – Klaus Thymann, Denmark
• Landscape – Nenad Saljic, Croatia
• Lifestyle – Alice Caputo, Italy
• Nature & Wildlife – Satoru Kondo, Japan
• People – Andrea Gjestvang, Norway
• Portraiture – Jens Juul, Denmark
• Sport – Adam Pretty, Australia
• Still Life – Vanessa Colareta, Peru
• Travel – Gali Tibbon, Israel

The full list of winning, 2nd and 3rd place photographers are in the notes to editors.

Outstanding Contribution to Photography – William Eggleston
Iconic American photographer William Eggleston was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize.    Collected by Winston Eggleston on behalf of their father, the award was presented to William Eggleston for his influence on colour photography and, in turn, the influence he has on many of today’s most revered working photographers.

To mark the award, rarely-seen images from Eggleston are published in the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards book and a further selection at on show at Somerset House from 26 April -12 May.  The Outstanding Contribution Award has previously been given to William Klein, Eve Arnold, Bruce Davidson, Marc Riboud and Phil Stern.

Student Focus Photographer of the Year – Natalia Wiernik, Poland
In a programme that now includes over 230 universities worldwide, the Student Focus award is the largest of its kind.   Polish photographer Natalia Wiernik, who competed for the Student Focus Photographer of the Year title on behalf of her university, the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, Krakow, Poland, was announced as the winner and presented with €35,000 worth of Sony digital imaging equipment for her university.

Youth Photographer of the Year – Alecsandra Dragoi, Romania
A striking image of a New Year festival in Romania won nineteen year-old Alecsandra Dragoi the title of Youth Photographer of the Year.  From Romania and currently at university in the UK, Dragoi image was chosen as the single best photograph taken by a photographer under the age of 20.

2013 Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards winners
The Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards are a proud partner of the Sony World Photography Awards.  Two stunning books share the awards’ £10,000 prize for the best photography and best moving image books of the year.  They are:

• Best Photography Book Award – War / Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath by Anne Wilkes Tucker, Will Michels and Natalie Zest (Yale University Press)
• Best Moving Image Book Award – Hollywood Costume by Deborah Nadoolman Landis (V&A Publishing)

The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation also presented Thames and Hudson Chairman Thomas Neurath with their Outstanding Contribution to Publishing award at the ceremony.

Notes to editors:

• 122,665 images were entered in total to the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards – 62,654 Professional entries, 54,851 Open entries and 5,160 Youth entries images.

Honorary Jury

• The Presiding Chair of the 2013 Honorary Jury is Catherine Chermayeff (USA), Director of Special Projects at Magnum Photos
• Chairs: Caroline Metcalfe (UK), Director of Photography, Conde Nast Traveller; Tim Paton (UK), Managing Director, Balcony Jump; Francesca Sears (UK), Director, Panos Profile at Panos Pictures and Andrew Sanigar (UK), Commissioning Editor, Thames & Hudson
• Additional Jury: Juana de Aizpuru (Spain), Gallery Director, Galeria Juana de Aizpuru; Chien-Chi Chang (Taiwan) Magnum Photographer; Edmund Clark (UK) Photographer, Brandei Estes (France), Assistant Director, Galerie Nelson Freeman; Macduff Everton (USA), Photographer; Fiona Shields (UK), Picture Editor, The Guardian and Monica Suder (Germany) Photographic Consultant and Coach

Professional competition results

 
Architecture
• Winner: Fabrice Fouillet, France
• 2nd Reinis Hofmanis, Latvia
• 3rd Christof Pluemacher, Germany

Arts & Culture
• Winner Myriam Meloni, Italy
• 2nd Niccolo Rastrelli, Italy 
• 3rd Danish Siddiqui/Reuters, India

Campaign
• Winner: Christian Åslund, Sweden
• 2nd Scout Tufankjian, USA
• 3rd Spencer Murphy, UK

Conceptual
• Winner: Roman Pyatkovka, Ukraine
• 2nd Florian Ruiz, France
• 3rd Edurne Aguinaga, Spain

Current Affairs
• Winner: Ilya Pitalev/RIA Novosti, Russia
• 2nd Paolo Pellegrin/ Magnum Photos. For Postcards from America project and ZEIT Magazine, Italy
• 3rd Fabio Bucciarelli, Italy

Contemporary Issues
• Winner: Valerio Bispuri/Echo Press, Italy
• 2nd Samuel James, USA
• 3rd Daesung Lee/SIPA Press, Republic of Korea

Fashion & Beauty
• Winner: Klaus Thymann/Adamsky, Denmark
• 2nd Thierry Bouët, France
• 3rd Alice Pavesi, Italy

Landscape
• Winner: Nenad Saljic, Croatia
• 2nd Regis Boileau, France
• 3rd Arjen Schmitz, Netherlands

Lifestyle
• Winner: Alice Caputo, Italy
• 2nd Kuni Takahashi, Japan
• 3rd Fausto Podavini, Italy

Nature & Wildlife
• Winner: Satoru Kondo, Japan
• 2nd Ernest Goh, Singapore 
• 3rd Hudson Garcia, Brazil

People
• Winner: Andrea Gjestvang, Norway
• 2nd Balazs Gardi, Hungary
• 3rd Pete Muller, US

Portraiture
• Winner: Jens Juul, Denmark

Sport
• Winner: Adam Pretty/Getty Images, Australia
• 2nd Ryan Pierse/Getty Images, Australia 
• 3rd Isabela Pacini, Brazil

Still Life
• Winner: Vanessa Colareta, Peru

Travel
• Winner: Gali Tibbon, Israel
• 2nd Daniel Duart, Spain
• 3rd Johannes Heuckeroth, Germany
 

• The Honorary Jury were required to choose a minimum of three and a maximum of 10 photographers per category.  Photographers entering the Professional competitions entered a minimum of three and maximum of 10 images per category and were judged on a body of work.  All images must have been taken in 2012 or first published in 2012. 

• About World Photography Organisation 
  WPO supports professional, amateur and student photography, lending a global platform for the photographic industry to communicate, converge and showcase current trends in Photojournalism, Fine Art and Commercial photography. Delivering various initiatives and programmes across this global community, these programmes involve the photographer in commercial, cultural and educational activities within the many industry sectors, whilst also creating cultural activities for the public to participate in. Currently included within the WPO portfolio are: the Sony World Photography Awards; the World Photography Student Focus Competition and Youth on Assignment. In addition the WPO have recently launched Photo Shanghai, Asia-Pacific’s premiere international Art Fair focused on photography.
   
• About Sony
  Sony is a leading global innovator of audio, video, communications and information technology products for both the consumer and professional markets. Sony is renowned for its audio-visual products, such as the BRAVIA™ LCD high-definition (HD) television, Cyber-shot™ digital camera, Handycam® camcorder, “α” (pronounced Alpha) digital SLR camera, Sony Tablet and Walkman® MP3 player as well as its VAIO™ personal computers and 3D HD professional broadcast equipment.

  For more information on Sony Europe, please visit http://www.sony-europe.com. For more information on Sony Corporation please visit http://www.sony.net.

  “Sony”, “WALKMAN”, “VAIO”, “Cyber-shot”, “Handycam”, “α”, “Exmor”, “BRAVIA” and “XDCAM” are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sony Corporation. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
   

• The Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards celebrate excellence in photography and moving image publishing. They were founded in 1985 by the prolific Hungarian publisher and founder of Focal Press, Andor Kraszna-Krausz. Two separate prizes are awarded for photography books and for moving image books (including film and television) published in the UK between 1 January and 31 December. All eligible submissions join the Kraszna-Krausz collection of photography and moving image books in the library of the National Media Museum in Bradford. www.kraszna-krausz.org.uk
  The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation was established in 1985 by Andor Kraszna-Krausz, founder of the influential publishing house Focal Press. The charitable organisation presents the annual book awards for photography and the moving image and provides year-round grants for the advancement of photography and the moving image in the UK.