Sony World Photography Awards Adds a Smartphone Category for 2015

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Another sign of the times: the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards has announced that they will be launching an entirely new award today dedicated to mobile photography. Organizers say that the new award recognizes “how mobile photography has helped redefine the way in which photographers approach their art.”

“The latest camera technology within mobile phones has created increased accessibility for photographers,” the contest says. “Moments can be captured in just about any circumstance or location and everyone with access to a phone can visually document day-to-day life.”

If you’re interested in submitting your own photo as an entry, you can do so by signing up for an account on the contest website and submitting up to three smartphone photos before February 27th, 2015.

Your photo will need to be relevant to the following brief:

You get out of life what you put in. Push past the obvious and see the inspiration all around you. Discover the extraordinary by using your mobile phone to view the world through a different lens.

The 20 best photos will be shortlisted by a panel of 5 judges that includes HuffPo photo director Anna Dickson and 500px co-founder Evgeny Tchebotarev.

Those 20 photos will then be displayed on the World Photography Organisation website from March 10 through 17 for the public to vote on.

Whoever wins will be flown to London to attend the awards gala ceremony on April 23rd, 2015. Prizes for the win include a Sony Xperia smartphone and tablet.

“With today’s incredible technology at our fingertips we have ability to capture the everyday events that actually form part of the unique fabric of our lives,” says WPO creative director Astrid Motsenigos. “Most of us document our own history every day with our mobile phones and think nothing of it. This category allows us to look a little closer at those otherwise ordinary moments.”


Image credits: Header graphic made with photo by Kārlis Dambrāns

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