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Sony World Photography Awards 2009

Winners announced

The professional finalists and amateur winners of the 2009 Sony World Photography Awards were announced on Tuesday 17 March.

Each of the photographers on the list will be exhibited and honoured at the Sony World Photography Awards ceremony at the prestigious Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, on Thursday 16 April. Of the 12 professional category winners, one photographer will be the recipient of the L’Iris D’Or, the Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year. On the night they will be awarded $25,000 along with Sony camera equipment. The winning amateur photographer, selected from the eight category finalists, will receive a $5,000 cash prize and Sony camera equipment.

The Sony World Photography Awards aim to promote the work of photographers worldwide. As one of the main prizes, the professional category finalists and amateur category winners will be showcased in the Winners’ Exhibition inside the Rotonde Lerins which takes place alongside the Festival, a week-long celebration of photography. This winner’s exhibition will then be adapted for the 2009/2010 Global Tour, which exhibits throughout leading galleries and cities around the world.

On behalf of the Honorary Judging Committee Zelda Cheatle said: “It has been a joy to work with my fellow judges. We were most diligent in being fair, discussions were fruitful, and every entrant was given a serious viewing. It was an eye opener to see entries from all over the globe, of every standard from the most amateur of approaches to the sophisticated and experienced professional. It is with great pleasure that we present this year’s Sony World Photography Award winners.”

Astrid Merget, Event Director, adds: “Photography is a powerful medium that documents current social, political, environmental and cultural affairs. It has the ability to educate, inform, motivate, entertain, change views or simply share cultural and social trends. This year’s finalists beautifully highlight the ability of the still image to do all of this and more.”

Yoshiyuki Nogami, Vice President of Digital Imaging at Sony Europe, commented: “We’ve been honoured to once again lend our full support to this unique global showcase for professional and amateur photography talent and have been impressed by the inspiring diversity and quality of this year’s entries.”

Professional finalists

Photojournalism and Documentary

Current affairs

Winner : Wojciech Grzedzinski (Poland)

© Wojciech Grzedzinski, courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2009

2nd place : Dominic Nahr (France)

3rd place : Hui min Kuang (China)

Sport

Winner : Julian Abram Wainwright (Canada)

© Julian Abram Wainwright, courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2009

2nd place : Salvi Danés Vernedas (Spain)

3rd place : Li Fan (China)

Contemporary issues

Winner : Giulio Di Sturco (Italy)

© Giulio Di Sturco, courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2009

2nd place : Kosuke Okahara (Japan)

3rd place : Massimo Mastrorillo (Italy)

Amateur winners

Photojournalism and Documentary / Sport

Lorenz Holder (Germany)

© Lorenz Holder, courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2009

Commercial / Fashion

Christo Stankulov (France)

© Christo Stankulov, courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2009

Commercial / Music

Josef Hinterleitner (Austria)

© Josef Hinterleitner, courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2009

Fine Art / Portraiture

Claire Martin (Australia)

© Claire Martin, courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2009

Fine Art / Conceptual & Constructed

Vladimir Melnik (Russia)

© Vladimir Melnik, courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2009

Fine Art / Natural History

Vincent Foong (Singapore)

© Vincent Foong, courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2009

Fine Art / Landscape

Giuseppe Parisi (Italy)

© Giuseppe Parisi, courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2009

Fine Art / Architecture

David Watts (UK)

© David Watts, courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards 2009

The Honorary Judging Committee

Photojournalism and Documentary: Sue Steward, photography critic (UK); Jurgen Schadeberg, photographer (Germany); Adrian Evans, Director, Panos Pictures (UK) and Bruce Davidson, photographer (USA)

Commercial: Mark George, photographic agent (UK); Arnaud Adida, Founder Acte 2 Agence and Acte 2 Gallery (France); Gered Mankowitz, photographer (UK), and Grazia Neri, Founder and President of Grazia Neri Photo Agency (Italy)

Fine Art: Zelda Cheatle, portfolio manager and curator (UK); Mary-Ellen Mark, photographer (USA); Sarah Moon, photographer (France), and Philippe Garner, International Head of Photographs at Christie’s (UK)

Awards ceremony

The Sony World Photography Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner take place at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France on Thursday 16 April. Another major announcement on the night is the winner of the Prince’s Rainforest Project (PRP) Award. The prize for the winning photographer is a fully-funded project to document the rainforests of the world. The final presentation will go to the acclaimed French photographer, Marc Riboud, winner of the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award.

American photographer David Zimmerman wins L’Iris D’Or Award. (read more)

► Visit the 2009 Iris d'Or album

The next iperMeeting will take place in Cannes and Nice tomorrow and Sunday.

ipernity will offer to all the meeting participants a free pass to the Sony World Photography Festival exhibitions. Appointment to the ticketing office, Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France on Saturday April, 18 at 10:00 am.

► More information about the iperMeeting schedule and participants

[EN] Dear ipernauts,

No news from us since a long time. Now we can give you the reason: we are currently focused on a funds raising process to provide ipernity with more means, to increase its development and to make your favorite site one of tomorrow's leading Web services.

Rather than looking for venture capital, we decided to open up ipernity's share capital to French wealth taxpayers. Indeed, a new French law (named TEPA) allows French wealth taxpayers (ISF) to deduct up to 75% of their investment in small-and-medium sized companies from their total wealth tax payment.
What a great idea ;-)

Subscription (reserved for French wealth taxpayers only) is now open and will close by mid-June 2009.

In case of success, we plan to list ipernity on the NYSE-Euronext-Paris Free Market by July 2009. It will offer liquidity to shareholders and will contribute to the company's reputation.

Of course, we'll keep you informed about the results.

Crossing our fingers,

Greets from the French Riviera.

Team ipernity

[FR] Chers ipernautes,

Il y a deux ans, ipernity ouvrait grand ses portes avec le dessein d'accueillir durablement le patrimoine numérique (photos, écrits, vidéos…) de tout-un-chacun.

Ces deux années nous ont permis de franchir avec succès une première étape, couronnée par la nomination de « meilleur site de partage » aux Open Web Awards 2008, grâce à vos nombreux votes.

ipernity aborde aujourd’hui un nouveau challenge : celui de lever des fonds pour accélérer son développement et se hisser aux premiers rangs des services internet.

Pour cela, nous avons mis en place un montage original, dans le cadre de la loi TEPA, permettant aux contribuables français assujettis à l’Impôt de Solidarité sur la Fortune de défiscaliser jusqu’à 75% de leur impôt en investissant dans ipernity. Nous venons de lancer une souscription qui leur est réservée et qui sera close le 15 juin prochain.

La levée de fonds sera suivie d’une inscription en bourse sur le Marché Libre de NYSE-Euronext-Paris, apportant ainsi aux investisseurs toute transparence et une facilité de liquidité à terme.

Voici donc une opportunité, pour ceux qui paient de l’ISF parmi votre entourage, de contribuer directement à l’essor économique d’une entreprise innovante et d’œuvrer pour l’émergence d’un concept noble : le patrimoine numérique.

Nous disposons d’une notice d’information et d’une analyse financière réalisée par Arkéon Finance, la société de bourse en charge de l’opération. Nous les adresserons sur demande aux personnes intéressées. Pour nous contacter, c'est par ici.

Merci par avance de relayer cette information et de concourir ainsi au succès d’ipernity.

Bien cordialement,

Team ipernity