• 2011 competition open for entries

• London to host Sony World Photography Awards ceremony

• World Photography Festival expands to Mexico, San Francisco, Shanghai and London

• Student Focus programme partners with Young Tate Online

• World Photography Organisation website re-launched – www.worldphoto.org

On the day that the Sony World Photography Awards opens for entries, the World Photography Organisation announces a number of exciting new changes for 2011.

Building upon the success of the annual World Photography Festival in Cannes, the festival will expand to four major cities across the globe throughout 2010 and 2011. It will visit San Francisco, Mexico, Shanghai and London, bringing the World Photography Organisation’s passion for imagery to thousands more people each year. The tour will finish in London where the Sony World Photography Awards ceremony will be hosted for the first time.

The World Photography Festival is an opportunity for photographers from around the world to meet and discuss the latest trends, challenges and innovations in photography today. Each festival will showcase the Sony World Photography Awards winners and will feature practical workshops, exhibitions, talks, portfolio reviews and a photography symposium presented by leading international industry figures.

The World Photography Organisation also announces a new competition and additional categories for the 2011 Sony World Photography Awards.

The Open competition, which replaces the amateur competition, has been created for the growing number of people with a love of photography. It has eleven categories including Nature & Wildlife, Travel and After Dark, and is judged on a single image.

Professional and ‘serious enthusiast’ photographers are invited to join the Professional competition and will be judged on a body of work. The 14 professional categories are arranged into three genres - Commercial, Fine Art and Photojournalism & Documentary - and new categories include Lifestyle, Still Life, and People.

Winners of the Professional and Open categories will each receive their trophies at the Sony World Photography Awards ceremony in London on 27 April 2011. The winner of the L’Iris d’Or / Sony World Photographer of the Year will also be revealed and will be presented with $25,000 (USD) plus Sony’s Alpha digital SLR camera equipment. The overall Open competition winner will receive $5,000 plus Sony’s Alpha digital SLR camera equipment.

The World Photography Organisation strives to support and connect the next generation of photographers via Student Focus, its global education programme and competition. In an exclusive partnership with Young Tate Online, the 2011 Student Focus programme will tie in with Tate Modern’s new photography exhibition in London, Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera. Inspired by this exhibition, ‘Surveillance’ will be the theme of the 2011 Student Focus competition.

For the first time, Student Focus is open to all universities from across the world, that hold a photography programme. Ten shortlisted students and their tutors will be flown to London in April 2011 to conduct their final assignment as part of the World Photography Festival. 45,000 Euros worth of Alpha digital SLR camera equipment has been donated by Sony and the overall Student Focus winner will be announced at the Sony World Photography Awards Ceremony on 27 April alongside the Professional and Open category winners.

To coincide with the opening of the 2011 competition, the World Photography Organisation has re-launched its website – www.worldphoto.org. The website is a hub for the photographic community and, in addition to showcasing the entries to the Sony World Photography Awards, it will provide the latest news from the world of imaging. The website will also include exclusive interviews and podcasts with the World Photography Academy, a members section, a dedicated student section, forums, videos and blogs.

Scott Gray, Managing Director of the World Photography Organisation, commented: “The World Photography Organisation provides a global platform for imagery and the dynamic new website and festival schedule allow us to take photography to an even greater international community . We are very excited about bringing the Sony World Photography Awards ceremony to London and celebrating the very best of international photography in one of the most culturally vibrant cities in the world."

Yoshiyuki Nogami, Vice President of Digital Imaging at Sony Europe, said: “At Sony we believe in the power of imaging and the ability to inspire, entertain and educate through the medium of photography. We are excited to once again continue with our support of this important contest and the incredible photographic talent it showcases from across the globe.”

The 2011 competition closes for entries on 5 January 2011.

Full details about the World Photography Organisation and the Sony World Photography Awards can be found at www.worldphoto.org

For professionals and serious ‘amateurs/enthusiasts’. Submissions must be based on a body of work and contain a minimum of three images and maximum of 10. Both published and unpublished work can be considered.

• Commercial – photography that has primarily been commissioned for commercial intent, the purpose of which is to sell products or services

• Travel

• Lifestyle

• Still Life

• Fashion

• Fine Art – photographs that are created in accordance with the creative vision of the photographer as an artist

• Architecture

• Portraiture

• Landscape

• Still Life

• Conceptual

• Photojournalism & Documentary – the creation of imagery to tell a story; from capturing current news and global issues, chronicling historical and worldwide events and popular culture

• Current Affairs

• Contemporary Issues

• People

• Arts & Culture

• Sport

Open competition categories
Open to everyone and is judged on a single image.

• Action

• After Dark

• Architecture

• Arts & Culture

• Fashion

• Panoramic

• Nature & Wildlife

• People

• Travel

• Smile

Notes to editors:

• The competition will open on Friday 28 May and will close on Wednesday 5 January 2011 at 23.59GMT.

• The competition is free to enter and all images submitted must have been shot in 2010. Photographers may enter either the Professional or Open competition, it is not possible to enter both.

• The 2010 L’Iris d’Or was awarded to Italian photographer Tommaso Ausili. The competition attracted over 80,000 entrants from 148 countries.

• Created by the World Photography Organisation, the World Photography Awards, sponsored by Sony, launched in 2007. The World Photography Organisation 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 under the “World Photography” brand, 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. Also currently included within the World Photography portfolio are the World Photography Student Focus Competition; the World Photography Festival, the World Photography Focus Programme and the World Photography Collection.

• The World Photography Organisation website - www.worldphoto.org - features an online gallery and news section. It also includes comprehensive information about the awards, the categories, a current list of World Photographic Academy members and key dates.

• The Student Focus programme and competition is now open to students aged 18-28. To enter the competition institutions must register at www.worldphoto.org

• The World Photography Festival will go to San Francisco (October), Shanghai (November), Mexico (December) and London (April). Full details can be found at www.worldphoto.org

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 television, Cyber-shot™ digital camera, Handycam® camcorder, “α” (pronounced Alpha) digital SLR camera, and Walkman® MP3 player as well as its VAIO™ personal computers and high-definition (HD) professional broadcast equipment, highlighted by the XDCAM® HD. Offering a complete end-to-end HD value chain and with its electronics, music, pictures, game and online businesses, Sony is one of the world’s leading digital entertainment brands, employing approximately 170,000 people worldwide.

Through its long-term football partnerships as an official sponsor of the UEFA Champions League until 2012, Official FIFA Partner until 2014 and global sponsor of the FIFA World Cup™ in 2010 and 2014, Sony is inspiring a sense of excitement for the millions of football fans around the world.

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

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

About Young Tate Online and Tate Media
Tate Media aims to attract new audiences by providing innovative ways to engage with Tate. Tate Media operates across different platforms including online, social media and continues to work closely with various partners to create new opportunities to engage. Tate Online is a key part of this development and is widely recognised as among the best museum websites in the world.

Young Tate Online is aimed at younger audiences and represents a progression towards Tate’s key remit of connecting the younger generation. Young Tate Online continues to form innovative partnerships to engage a global audience of young people. The Exposed Student Focus photography programme and online competition marks a new and exciting collaboration between Young Tate Online and Sony World Photography Awards.