In their two-decade-long history, the Sony World Photography Awards have become the definitive platform for contemporary photography, setting the standard for visual storytelling. With their unparalleled reach and global programming, the Awards celebrate the remarkable innovation, creativity and dedication of photographers across the globe, and the photography capturing our world today.

The 2027 edition of the Awards brings new developments across its competitions. The flagship Series (previously Professional) and Single Image (previously Open) competitions are re-named, further defining and clarifying their scope. Photographers are welcome to enter different projects to both competitions, enabling those with diverse portfolios to enter work from across their practice, be it a series or a striking single photograph. Marking this milestone 20th edition, the Awards also introduce new categories to the Series and Single Image competitions.

Organised by Creo, the Awards form the core part of its photography programming strand, the World Photography Organisation. Sony supports the Awards to push forward the global discourse on photography and to champion the artists working in the medium today. ​

Photographers worldwide are invited to submit to the Awards’ four competitions:

Additional initiatives include the National & Regional Awards, the Alpha Female Award, and the Sustainability Prize.

Entry to the Awards is free and works are judged anonymously by a panel of industry leading experts. Awarded photographers receive exceptional prizes, exposure and career-defining opportunities.

NEW TO 2027

New Series Competition Category: Histories

This category invites photographers to explore how histories - personal, cultural, and collective - shape our world today, from traditions and everyday rituals to the events and forces that have left their mark on nations and peoples. This category is for projects that engage, explore, or re-examine the past, as well as work that looks at the contemporary through a historical lens. We welcome archival and found image interventions that revisit, re-contextualise, or breathe new life into the past.

New Single Image Competition Category: Animal Portraits

This category celebrates the beauty, personality, and spirit of animals through portraiture. Judges are looking for images that capture the subject’s expression and character, from beloved pets to majestic wildlife and marine life, to reptiles and insects. Photographers are invited to show us portraits that honour and showcase the remarkable diversity of the animal kingdom.

Student Competition Brief: Journeys

Journeys are a universal theme across cultures and languages can take many shapes. They have been explored in countless works of art, fiction and non-fiction, and in photography. For this year’s brief, we invite students to explore the theme of Journeys from their own perspective.

Considering the idea of Journeys in its broadest sense, we encourage students to interpret this theme in a way that feels meaningful to them. From the rites of passage that shape a child’s coming of age, to the transformations that shape our cities, to the small, day-to-day changes within a particular community, to migrations of animals across continents, life across the globe is marked by movement and change. We invite student photographers to depict a journey of their choice, through a photographic series of five to 10 images.

2027 PRIZES AND DEADLINES

The Sony World Photography Awards is open to submissions from 1 June 2026. Full competition and category descriptions can be found at worldphoto.org.

Deadlines for submission across the Awards’ four competitions are:

Series: 12 January 2027, 13:00 GMT

Single Image: 5 January 2027, 13:00 GMT

Student: 27 November 2026, 13:00 GMT

Youth: 5 January 2027, 13:00 GMT

All category winners of the Series, Single Image, Youth and Student competitions will receive Digital Imaging equipment from Sony. In addition, cash prizes of $25,000 (USD) will be presented to the Photographer of the Year, $5,000 (USD) to the Single Image Competition Winner and $5,000 (USD) to the winner of the Sustainability Prize. The winner of the Photographer of the Year title will also be rewarded with a solo presentation of their work as part of the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition in London the following year. All winning and shortlisted photographers’ works will be exhibited at the annual Sony World Photography Awards exhibition in London and will then be toured internationally. The winning images will also be published in the annual Awards’ book.

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For press inquiries, please contact:

Claire.laverick@sony.com

SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS

Produced by Creo under its photography strand the World Photography Organisation, the internationally acclaimed Sony World Photography Awards are one of the most important fixtures in the global photographic calendar. Now in their 20th edition, the free-to-enter Awards are a global voice for photography and provide a vital insight into contemporary photography today. For both established and emerging artists, the Awards offer world-class opportunities for exposure of their work. The Awards additionally recognise the world’s most influential artists working in the medium through the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award; past winners include William Eggleston (2013), Mary Ellen Mark (2014), Martin Parr (2017), Graciela Iturbide (2021), Sebastião Salgado (2024), Susan Meiselas (2025) and Joel Meyerowitz (2026). The Awards showcase the works of winning and shortlisted photographers at a prestigious annual exhibition at Somerset House, London. worldphoto.org/exhibition

WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY ORGANISATION

World Photography Organisation is a leading global platform dedicated to the development and advancement of photographic culture. Its programming and competition initiatives provide valuable opportunities for artists working in photography and help broaden the conversation around their work. The Sony World Photography Awards is World Photography Organisation’s principal programme. Established in 2007, it is one of the world’s biggest and most prestigious photography competitions; celebrating the work of leading and emerging practitioners and attracting tens of thousands of visitors annually to its exhibitions worldwide. World Photography Organisation is the photography strand of Creo, which initiates events and programming across three sectors: photography, film and contemporary art. worldphoto.org

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CREO

Creo initiates and organises events and programming across three key strands: photography, film and contemporary art. Established in 2007 as World Photography Organisation, Creo has since grown in scope, furthering its mission of developing meaningful opportunities for creatives and expanding the reach of its cultural activities. Today, its flagship projects include the Sony World Photography Awards, Sony Future Filmmaker Awards, PHOTOFAIRS and Photo London. Working in partnership with Angus Montgomery Arts, Creo helps deliver the group’s ventures, comprising some of the world’s leading art fairs. Taking its name from the Latin for ‘I create’, it is in this spirit that Creo sets out to empower and give agency to creative voices. creoarts.com

SONY GROUP CORPORATION

Sony Group Corporation is a creative entertainment company with a solid foundation of technology. From Game & Network Services to Music, Pictures, Electronics Products & Solutions, Imaging & Sensing Solutions and Financial Services - Sony's purpose is to fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology. For more information, visit: sony.com/en

SONY CORPORATION

Sony Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation and is responsible for the Entertainment, Technology & Services (ET&S) business. With the mission to “create the future of entertainment through the power of technology together with creators,” we aim to continue to deliver Kando* to people around the world. For more information, visit: sony.net

*Kando is a Japanese word that roughly translates to the sense of awe and emotion you feel when experiencing something beautiful and amazing for the first time.