Katherine Young is flying the South African flag high, all in a flash!
London, United Kingdom – Katherine Young is proving to be one of South Africa’s top exports, by bagging a nod in the 2019 Sony World Photographer Awards. The annual event celebrates those who tell stories – through a lens.
The World Photography Organisation today reveals the shortlisted photographers for the Open and Youth competitions of the 2019 Sony World Photography Awards, recognising the world’s best single images from 2018. As one of the world’s largest and most prestigious global photography competitions, the Awards annually celebrate and promote the best contemporary photography from the past year across a wide variety of photographic genres.
Over 326,000 entries were submitted across the four competitions of the 2019 Awards, the highest ever number to date. The judges were impressed by the high standard of submissions and noted a wide range of creative approaches, influences and techniques throughout the shortlists.
Across the competitions, the highest volume of entries were submitted by photographers from the UK, Italy and USA, with Mexico, India, Korea and the UK seeing the greatest increase in entry numbers. The Landscape and Portraiture categories across the competitions proved their enduring popularity and newer categories such as Creative proved photographers real opportunity to push the boundaries of what photography can do.
Katherine Young, the only South African short listed, is an award winning fine art photographer currently based in London. Having lived on three continents, Katherine has a keen interest in travel and has shot in many parts of the world.
Her image, Hubris Part 1, beat thousands to be nominated in the Open Architecture category, in a year which has seen the competition receive its highest number of entries – 326,997 from 195 countries.
Talking about her image, which depicts the new United States’ embassy in the UK, the London-based photographer says:
“I have visited this location twice since the construction has been completed with my most recent visit in February 2018. I found this building utterly fascinating and decided to capture the unusual facade. My intention was to create an image that encapsulates the uniqueness of this building.”
Whoever scoops the coveted award walks away with the latest Sony camera equipment, flights and accommodation to London (where the ceremony is held) and $5000 USD. The awards are judged by well-renowned industry experts including representatives from international museums, publishing and the media.
The first batch of honours in the Open category will be handed out on 26 February 2019 while the overall awards are set for 17 April. All the shortlisted shots will be shown at the 2019 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London before going on a global tour. The work will also be published in the annual Awards’ book.
We’ll be watching out so see if Katherine scoops a win!
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