I am so pleased and thrilled to formally announce another embargoed news!

Syabas! Syabas!

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT BY SONY WPO

Malaysian photographer wins Youth Photographer of the Year

at 2015 Sony World Photography awards, the world’s largest photography competition

Fellow Malaysian awarded 3^rd place in Professional Still Life category

L’Iris d’Or/Professional Photographer of the Year plus other Professional category winners and overall Open and Student winners also announced – see all at http://www.worldphoto.org

Images available at press.worldphoto.org or Image.net

23 April: The Honorary Jury of the world’s largest photography competition today names 19 year old Malaysian Yong Lin Tan as the 2015 Sony World Photography Awards’ Youth Photographer of the Year.  In addition, Mong-Young Sim is awarded 3^rd place in the Professional Still Life category.

Yong Lin Tan, from Penang Island, was selected as the overall Youth winner from the three Youth category winners who were revealed in March.  The Youth competition is open to all photographers aged 19 and under and is judged on a single shot. 

Tan won for an image titled “Back alley”.  The photograph was taken during Chinese New Year in 2014 and was shot in a passageway in his grandmother’s house in Alor Setar, Kedah.

Talking about his win Tan comments: “I am very thankful and appreciate this recognition; all my hard work and dedication over the years of my photographic journey have paid off.  The journey is never easy but I believe that winning this award gives me more opportunities to share my works, especially those of my country – Malaysia – and my mom’s hometown – Alor Setar – to the world.  It feels incredible to know that the story of my mother’s hometown is able to be shared with a wider, international audience.  I will continue to produce works and tell more stories form my country that deserve more attention and try to bring them to the international stage.”

Tan was flown to London and presented his award and the latest Sony digital imaging equipment at a gala ceremony attended by industry leaders. 

Fellow Malaysian Mong-Yong Sim was selected from over 87,000 entries to the Professional competition for a series called “Greenvironment”.  It was awarded third place in the Still Life category.

Describing the series Sim comments: “From new life bursting out from the cracks on concrete walls to moulds that lay quietly against red bricks. You’ll be amazed how much “green” you have missed in your everyday life. If you pay more attention to your surroundings, you’ll notice the tubes underneath a pot of hanging plants actually makes a nice stand for it. You’ll also find that branches struggle to get away from the glossy window so that you’ll get to see them greeting you. Greenvironment wishes to send out a friendly reminder so that we all cherish the green around our environment.”

The work of both Malaysian photographers will be shown at the 2015 Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House, London and will be published in the 2015 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards book.

Now in its eighth year, the Sony World Photography Awards annually presents the world’s best contemporary photography across a range of genres and is the world’s largest photography competition.  Free to enter and open to photographers of all abilities, it is an authoritative voice in the photographic world and attracts both emerging talent and established artists. 

The awards’ international judging juries are comprised of esteemed industry experts and the competition offers incredible exposure, credibility and recognition not only to its winners, but also those on its shortlist.  The 2015 awards attracted recording breaking entries, with 173,444 images submitted from 171 countries, confirming its position as the world’s biggest photography competition.

Here are all the winners of the 2015 Sony World Photography Awards announced on 23 April :

Open Photographer of the Year – Armin Appel, Germany
Youth Photographer of the Year – Yong Lin Tan, Malaysia
Student Focus Photographer of the Year – Svetlana Blagodareva, Saint Petersburg State Polytechnic University, Russia
Outstanding Contribution to Photography – Elliott Erwitt

Professional competition category winners

• Architecture- Cosmin Bumbuț, Romania
• Arts & Culture- Aristide Economopoulos, United States
• Campaign- Sebastian Gil Miranda, France (lives in Argentina)
• Conceptual- Rahul Talukder, Bangladesh
• Contemporary Issues – Scott Typaldos, Switzerland
• Current Affairs- John Moore, United States
• Landscape- Simon Norfolk, United Kingdom
• Lifestyle – Li Fan, China
• People- Giovanni Troilo, Italy
• Portraiture- Ruben Salgado Escudero, Spain (lives in Myanmar)
• Sport – Riccardo Bononi, Italy
• Still Life- Donald Weber, Canada
• Travel – Bernhard Lang, Germany