Iran’s Asghar Khamseh, who also works for Meher News Agency, has been named L’Iris d’Or or Photographer of the Year at Sony World Photography Awards in London for powerful portraits of acid attack victims.
Attracting more than 230,000 photos from 184 countries, the 2016 edition of the event introduced fourteen professional category winners and finalists on Thursday April 21 during the inauguration ceremony of an exhibition at London’s Somerset House.
The Honorary Judging Committee has selected Iranian photojournalist Asghar Khamseh as the recipient of the most coveted prize, the L’Iris d’Or Professional Photographer of the Year while Kei Nomiyama of Japan won Open Photographer of the Year.
Khamseh’s collection also won the Contemporary Issues category while Japan’s Kei Nomiyama came out on top as Open Photographer of the Year with her stunning photograph, ‘Enchanted Bamboo Forest’.
The Sony World Photography Awards has five competitions: Professional, Open, Youth, Student Focus as well as National Award.
Iran’s Sepehr Jamshidi who had submitted a single shot of Lake Urmia was placed among the three finalists at the Youth section though an American photographer won the main prize of the competition.
The Professional comprised 14 categories and was judged on a series of images aiming at serious photographers while the Youth competition offered 3 categories for photographers aged 12-19.
In addition to cash prizes worth 30,000 US dollars for the overall Professional and Open Photographers of the Year, category winners also receive the latest digital imaging equipment from Sony.
All the winning images will be part of the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London from 22nd April - 8th May and will be published in the annual Sony World Photography Awards book.
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