Sony World Photography Awards judges and first selection of images revealed

© Zuorong Li, China, Entry, Open, Motion, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards

2017 marks the 10th anniversary of the Sony World Photography Awards - the world's largest photography competition. Today, the first selection of images were revealed. Entries are said to capture all aspects of the world we live in from grand architecture, fascinating underwater scenes and cultural celebrations as well as spectacular shots from the animal kingdom and creative digital images. 

Judges include esteemed experts from across the photographic industry who will come together to uncover celebrate the best images shot in 2016 across categories including Professional, Open, Youth, National Award and Student Focus. 

The judges of the Professional competition are: Zelda Cheatle (Chair) Curator (UK); Allegra Cordero di Montezemolo, Curator and Head of Exhibitions, Centro de la Imagen (Mexico); Russ O'Connell, Picture Editor, The Sunday Times Magazine (UK); Aida Muluneh, Founder/Director, Addis Foto Fest (Ethiopia); Denis Curti, Creative Director, Tre Oci Foundation (Italy) and Françoise Callier, Program Director at Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops (France).

The Open and Youth competitions will be chaired by journalist / photographer Damien Demolder (UK), who will also judge the National Awards competition which runs across 61 countries worldwide. The Student Focus competition will be judged by a selection of judges including Andrea Kurland, Editor-in-Chief, Huck (UK), Dan Rubin, photographer / Creative Director (UK) and Jennifer Shaw, founder / Creative Director, PhotoNOLA (US). 

Photographers from all over the world, and all abilities and styles, are invited to enter their best images for free at www.worldphoto.org 

Competition Deadlines:

December 5, 2016 - Student Focus competition closes

January 5, 2017 -  Open, National Award and Youth competition close

January 10, 2017 - Professional competition closes

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on April 20, 2017. Prizes include the latest in Sony digital imaging equipment, inclusion in the 2017 awards' book plus cash prizes of $25,000 (USD) for the overall Professional winner and $5,000 (USD) for the overal Open winner. Awards' winners and shortlisted photographers will gain international exposure worldwide. 

All winning and shortlisted images will also be exhibited as part of the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House, London from April 21 to May 7, 2017. 

Visit the site to see the first images revealed and stay up to date with announcements: www.worldphoto.org