The winners of the 2018 World Photography Awards, the largest photo competition in the world with over 320,000 entries from over 200 countries, have been revealed.
The World Photography Awards is now in its eleventh year, and continues its long-standing partnership with headline sponsor Sony. The aim of the awards is to recognize the very best contemporary photography captured over the last year.
British photographer Alys Tomlinson was named Photographer of the Year at the awards ceremony in London for her portfolio titled 'Ex-Voto'. Tomlinson’s photographs were chosen from the winners of the competition's 10 Professional categories.
Ex-Voto is a personal project, encompassing formal portraiture, large-format landscape and detailed still-life images of the ‘ex-votos’ (offerings of religious devotion) found at pilgrimage sites of Lourdes (France), Ballyvourney (Ireland) and Grabarka (Poland).
Tomlinson's work was praised by the jury for its "beautiful production, technical excellence and sensitive illustration of pilgrimage as a journey of discovery and sacrifice to a greater power". Tomlinson receives $25,000 and a selection of Sony photography kit.
The category winners of the Professional competition were also announced at the ceremony, along with the overall winners of the Open, Youth and Student competitions.
German photographer Candida Höfer was honored with the Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize. One of the world’s foremost contemporary photographers, Höfer is renowned for her precise methodology and technique. Her powerful portraits of vast, empty interiors are held in collections around the world.
The Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize has previously been awarded to Mary Ellen Mark, William Eggleston, Eve Arnold, Bruce Davidson, Marc Riboud, William Klein, Elliott Erwitt, Phil Stern and Martin Parr.
An exhibition of all the winning and shortlisted work will run at Somerset House, London until May 6. The 2019 Sony World Photography Awards open for entries on June 1 2018.
To see all the winners and finalists, and for details of how to enter the contest, visit the World Photography Organisation website.
