Sony World Photography Awards: 2023 National Awards Winners

The World Photography Organisation is delighted to reveal the National Award winners for the Sony World Photography Awards 2023.

The National Awards program is an initiative set up by the World Photography Organisation and Sony to support local photographic communities around the world, with 55 countries taking part this year.

Over 415,000 images from over 200 countries and territories were submitted to the Sony World Photography Awards 2023 and over 200,000 were entered to the Open competition (from which the National Awards winner was selected).

New to this year’s Awards are four new Regional Awards set up by the World Photography Organisation and Sony Europe. The new Awards spotlight the breadth of photographic talent from a range of countries across Europe and are divided into four categories: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the Romania & Moldova Regional Award; the Latvia, Estonia & Lithuania Regional Award; the Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia & Herzegovina Regional Award; and the Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria & North Macedonia Regional Award.

All National Award winners receive Sony digital imaging equipment and will be included in the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition and book.

The overall winners in the Student, Youth, Open and Professional competitions of the Sony World Photography Awards 2023 will be announced on 13 April 2023 and will go on display as part of the exhibition at Somerset House, London (14 April-1 May 2023). For more information about upcoming announcements and winners please visit www.worldphoto.org

Portrait of a Girl © Maria Guțu, Moldova, Republic Of, Shortlist, Regional Awards, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

This year’s National Awards winners are:
Austria - Fabian Jung, Bangladesh - Protap Shekhor Mohanto, Cambodia - Chan Sithy Heng, Egypt - Abdelrahman Gabr, France - Samia Berbiche, Germany - Andreas Mikonauschke, India - Pradeep Kodimana Ramakrishnan, Indonesia - Mawaruddin Mawaruddin, Japan - Hajime Hirano, Winner, Japan - Kazutoshi Ono, 2nd Place, Japan -Takahiro Toh, 3rd Place, Republic of Korea - Gyu Seob Shim, Winner, Republic of Korea - Kyujin Jeong, 2 nd Place, Republic of Korea - Lee Jongkee, 3 rd Place, Kuwait - Adil Javed, Malaysia - Eng Tong Tan, Myanmar - Si Thu Ye Myint, Nepal - Rabik Upadhayay, Nigeria - Nukabari Opuama, Pakistan - Yawar Abbas, Philippines - Donell Gumiran, Poland - Mateusz Żurowski, Qatar - Abdulla AL-Mushaifri, Saudi Arabia - Mansoor Mohsen, Singapore – Huazheng Hong, South Africa - Tshabalala Bongani, Sri Lanka - Rajeev Abeysekara, Switzerland - Sandra Handschin, Taiwan - Leo Huang, Thailand - Saravut Vanset, Turkey - Erhan Coral, United Arab Emirates - Oday Shanshal, United States - Angela Perez, Vietnam - Thiện Nguyễn Ngọc

Natalia and Ksenia © Vladimir Zivojinovic, Serbia, Shortlist, Regional Awards, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

European Regional Awards
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania & Moldova:
Cristina Băzăr (Romania), Winner, Ivana Dostálová (Czech Republic), Shortlist, Dávid Balogh (Hungary), Shortlist, Maria Guțu (Moldova), Shortlist, Filip Hrebenda (Slovakia), Shortlist

Latvia, Estonia & Lithuania:
Milda Vyš niauskaitė (Lithuania), Winner, Uku Sööt (Estonia), Shortlist, Niks Freimanis (Latvia), Shortlist

Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia & Herzegovina:
Roberto Pavić (Croatia), Winner, Armin Durgut (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Shortlist, Suer Celina (Kosovo), Shortlist, Ivana Todorović (Montenegro), Shortlist Vladimir Zivojinovic (Serbia), Shortlist, Andrej Tarfila (Slovenia), Shortlist

Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria & North Macedonia:
Sima Bivolarska-Stoyanova (Bulgaria), Winner, Elena Georgiou (Cyprus), Shortlist, Alexandros Othonos (Greece), Shortlist, Vlatko Rafeski (North Macedonia), Shortlist

Latin America Awards
Mexico - Pável Vélez, Winner, Ecuador - Kevin Moncayo, 2nd Place, Peru - Alejandra del Carmen Elías Zambrano, 3rd Place, Argentina - Solange Avena, Bolivia - Reynaldo San Martín, Chile - Oscar Seguel Mangiola, Colombia - Hernan Jaramillo, Costa Rica - Manuel Rodríguez, Guatemala - Andres Novales

Imperfect © Angela Perez, United States, Winner, National Awards, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

Imperfect © olange Avena, Argentina, Shortlist, Latin America National Awards, Sony World Photography Awards 2023

Michael Joseph: Lost & Found

By Michael Joseph

Publisher : Kehrer Verlag

2024 | 144 pages

Lost & Found documents a contemporary American subculture of young Travelers through raw, striking portraiture and intimate storytelling. These Travelers abandon home to move around the country by hitchhiking and freight train hopping in a nomadic, transient existence outside of mainstream society. Along their personal journey driven by wanderlust, escapism, or a search for transient jobs, they find a new family in their traveling friends.

The high of freedom, however, does not come without consequence. The black and white portraits are made in public, on the street, using natural light. Individual stories, as a collection, form a greater narrative. Over ten years in the making, Joseph’s portraits reveal the human condition. They capture courage, tenderness, and determination in his subjects that have been largely ignored and unseen.

An incredible book that we highly recommend! All About Photo

All About Michael Joseph

Nick Brandt: Sink / Rise, The Day May Break: Chapter Three

By Nick Brandt

Publisher : Hatje Cantz

2024 | 120 pages

Through his widely acclaimed work, English photographer Nick Brandt (1964) addresses pressing environmental issues, consistently highlighting mankind’s impact upon the natural world. His work is truly a fusion of artistry and activism, and he is best known for capturing the majestic landscapes of Africa as well as intimate portraits of its wildlife. Sink / Rise is the third chapter of The Day May Break, an ongoing global series portraying ecological degradation and destruction. This chapter adopts a slightly different approach than its predecessors: taking humans, rather than animals or landscapes, as his subjects. Sink / Rise focuses on South Pacific Islanders impacted by rising oceans from climate change. The people in these photos, photographed underwater in the ocean off the coast of the Fijian islands, are local representatives of the many people whose homes, land and livelihoods will be lost in the coming decades as the water rises. In Brandt’s images, the Islanders sit down at tables, stand on chairs and embrace―all the while, their pinched expressions reveal the desperation of their asphyxiating condition.

All About Nick Brandt

Lisa McCord: Rotan Switch

By Lisa McCord:

Publisher : Kehrer Verlag

2024 | 204 pages

Rotan Switch is the first monograph by Lisa McCord, documenting life on her grandparents’ cotton farm in the Arkansas Delta community of Rotan. It takes its name from the community’s central landmark—the railroad switch where farmers loaded their cotton bales onto trains headed out of the Delta. Although it hasn’t been used in years, it remains a potent symbol of the complex intersections of industry and agriculture, of race and injustice. Collected over the last forty-four years, these images and stories are a reflection on the people and places that have taught McCord the meaning of the word home. It is also a self-exploration into her inherently complicated role in this community as both the photographer and the granddaughter of the farm owner.
This publication is a long-term project, constructed from McCord's analog photographs, family snapshots and ephemera. Including, monochrome photographs, color polaroids, and recipes.

Christer Strömholm

By Christer Strömholm

Publisher : Dewi Lewis Publishing

2024 | 296 pages

Christer Strömholm is recognised as one of the major figures of 20th century European photography. Strömholm captured his surroundings in black‐and‐white images that display his integrity, understated humour and a highly personal aesthetic. With an unmistakable sensitivity to human suffering, based on his personal experience, he took photography in a new direction. Sean O’Hagan, writing in The Guardian, has described him “as the father of Swedish photography both for his abiding influence and for his role as a teacher.”

Sony World Photography Awards: 2023 National Awards Winners

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