La World Photography Organisation ha comunicato  i fotografi finalisti del concorso Student e ulteriori informazioni sui progetti fotografici dei vincitori del Sony Student Grant 2019, oltre a fornire tutti i dettagli sui candidati alla vittoria nel concorso Youth. I lavori firmati dai finalisti Student e Youth e dai destinatari del Sony Grant saranno esposti nell’ambito della mostra dei Sony World Photography Awards 2020, che si terrà da aprile a maggio presso la Somerset House.

Finalisti del concorso Student

Image Name: Chip Skingley, United Kingdom, Student Shortlist, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards Photographer Name: Chip Skingley Year: 2020 Image Description: Series Name: Walk Series Description: (University of the West of England) The simplicity of ‘the walk’ can be used as a tool to break away from everyday life, focusing on the present and to improve health both physically and mentally. Copyright: © Chip Skingley, United Kingdom, Student Shortlist, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Name: Ashley Tofa, New Zealand, Student Shortlist, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards Photographer Name: Ashley Tofa Year: 2020 Image Description: Series Name: ‘Fa’amoemoega’ (Expectation) Series Description: (The University of Auckland, New Zealand) My practice revolves around the cultural pressures of fulfilling the migrants dream – where the hopes and dreams of my family played an influential role in how I was raised. Through my experiences, artwork has become an outlet for my frustrations.This series of photographs shows me biting or having my mouth covered by different objects. My clasped jaw and gritted teeth are a metaphor for being silenced. This act creates an uncomfortable pressure around my head, showing my inability to voice my opinions. Copyright: © Ashley Tofa, New Zealand, Student Shortlist, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Name: Reyad Abedin, Bangladesh, Student Shortlist, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards Photographer Name: Reyad Abedin Year: 2020 Image Description: Series Name: The name of my city is dust and smoke and life Series Description: (Counter Foto-A center for visual Arts) There is no thinking, no seeing and no living not shaped by the infrastructural reality that we live in. As a photographer, what I see, what I think of worth capturing and what I feel important, are all determined by the concrete and ever-changing reality of the city I live in, i.e. Dhaka. I have been a witness to the transformation of this city, of how open fields have turned into multi-storied buildings, and now, I have been witnessing how fields once filled with catkin flowers have mutated into an urban jungle. For us, the Homo sapiens, there is a continuous interaction with the nature, which makes us what we are, and at the same time, decides what the non-human domain will be like. The influence of nature in the form of the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the flow of energy and information. Any unmediated intervention or radical change in the environment does not only result in devastating effects but also pose a threat to the human race itself. We do not and, possibly, cannot exist in absolute isolation. Behind the masquerade of rapid development, through which Dhaka is going now, secretly lies a crucially problematic understanding of our ecosystem. Dhaka, the city I live in, has a history with a legendary past. It possesses a distinct ‘cultural identity’. Over the time, the city has gradually turned into a hub of cultural, political and commercial activities, resulting in the rapid growth of population. Dhaka is the most populated city in Bangladesh, and it is one of the most populated cities in the whole world. Dhaka city has a population of 19.84 million as of 2018 and the population density is 46,997 people per square kilometer. At present, Dhaka is going through major infrastructural changes without any proper planning and without considering the ecological impact this rapid change is going to cause. Dhaka’s trend in rapid development has created a different problem altogether in another direction. It has already left a devastating effect on the ecological balance of the environment in and around the city itself. Copyright: © Reyad Abedin, Bangladesh, Student Shortlist, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Name: Chip Skingley, United Kingdom, Student Shortlist, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards Photographer Name: Chip Skingley Year: 2020 Image Description: Series Name: Living Light Series Description: (University of the West of England) The images documented at The Lammas Eco Village and Brithdir Mawr Community serve as an example of people playing their part in preserving our planet. Their life in the wild landscapes of Wales can be used to show us all how we can protect the environment for ourselves and future generations. These images capture the every day atmosphere and tasks experienced by these people, living off the land communally, creating their own electricity, growing their own produce and constructing their own living spaces. Thank you to both The Lammas Eco Village and Brithdir Mawr Community for allowing me to follow their daily routines and also those of their friends and families. Copyright: © Chip Skingley, United Kingdom, Student Shortlist, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Name: Tobia Faverio, Italy, Student Shortlist, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards Photographer Name: Tobia Faverio Year: 2020 Image Description: Series Name: Tenenda Innanzi Frutta Series Description: (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, NABA) With the intention of documenting human attempts to safeguard biodiversity, I decided to focus on the work of an Umbrian agronomist, Ms. Isabella Dalla Ragione. We are in San Lorenzo di Lerchi (Umbria, Italy) inside a beautiful and surreal Romanesque church, that was converted into a small convent during 1500. Here, religion and agriculture lived together until the Thirties of the Twentieth century. The priest left back then, leaving the parish and the farmer behind. In the past, the upper Tiber valley was the border between the Papal States and the Florentine Duchy. Today, it still is a border however between the regions of Umbria, Tuscany and Marche. This geographical peculiarity has an interesting aspect if analyzed from the point of view of what we now call biodiversity. Pilgrims, shepherds and merchants used to cross this valley during their travels (or transhumances in the case of shepherds) which imposed a tight rhythm of exchange, contacts and influences that generated important practical and cultural consequences onto the local populations.  Isabella, following her father’s footsteps, is passionate about peasant culture, seeking ancient varieties of fruit trees within those orchards that have allowed the maintenance of peasant families since the Sixteenth century. The immense research is articulated through the observation of local archives and vegetable gardens of the convents, as well as visiting ancient farms, known today as ruins. Stories were told; stories of elderly farmers and few others who remained witnesses of a world that has remained intact for centuries, but in a few decades was rapidly disappearing under the blows of agro-industry and social-economic changes. During an afternoon in the Palazzo Bufalini, studying on the archives, Isabella raised her head and this is when she noticed the frescoes. The frescoes filled all of the ceilings of these secular rooms, illustrating some fruits from those of local culture. For instance, we can see the muse, the cotogna or the rosa apple. Isabella connected this precise detail to a quote by the great Giorgio Vasari, who, in the middle of the Renaissance, advised his collaborators (including Gherardi, painter of the frescoes in Palazzo Bufalini) to paint: “Tenendo innanzi frutte naturali per ritrarle dal vivo” (Holding in front natural fruits to portray them live). Therefore, art becomes a vehicle for research to safeguard biodiversity. Isabella’s incredible work does not only consist of endless research and efforts, she takes care as well of all the practical part of the recovery work. Research, grafting, pruning and maintaining the San Lorenzo collections of orchards, are just some of the daily activities this woman does. More than 120 species of fruit plants owe their rescue to her. As evidence of the importance and validity of the mission of Archeologia Arborea, the non-profit foundation established by Isabella in 2014, note the participation of important institutions and celebrities. Isabella, smiling, claims that the hard and hostile country work is fully rewarding with happiness by seeing a recovered plant, bloom again, as if in way they are telling her “Thank you for saving me”. Copyright: © Tobia Faverio, Italy, Student Shortlist, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Name: Amy Davis, South Africa, Student Shortlist, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards Photographer Name: Amy Davis Year: 2020 Image Description: Series Name: Barriers Between Worlds. Series Description: (CityVarsity Cape Town) Every day while sitting in one’s vehicle at Cape Town’s traffic lights, one experiences the lines between poverty and privilege. I tried to capture these invisible lines. This series of images are taken from the point of view of the car passenger looking through the window. The window acts as a barrier between the exposed and the protected. Look closely at the scene, and the invisible lines start to become visible. Copyright: © Amy Davis, South Africa, Student Shortlist, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

La rosa finale del concorso Student comprende i corpora di dieci studenti che frequentano autorevoli istituti di istruzione superiore in ogni parte del mondo. Ai partecipanti è stato chiesto di inviare una serie di minimo cinque e massimo dieci immagini ispirate a due diversi temi. I dieci candidati selezionati hanno già ricevuto in premio un’attrezzatura fotografica digitale di Sony per completare il loro progetto, mentre il vincitore del titolo Student Photographer of the Year ritirerà, a nome della sua accademia, un kit fotografico di Sony del valore di 30.000 euro.

Il primo tema, Invisible Lines, verte sulle storie di persone che stanno lottando per abbattere barriere e strutture invisibili di qualsiasi tipo – naturali, sociali o intellettuali. La serieThe Name of My City is Dust and Smoke and Life di Reyad Abedin (Bangladesh, Counter Foto – A Center for Visual Arts) si compone di alcune immagini della città natale dell’autore, Dhaka, dove il rapido sviluppo delle infrastrutture e il dissolversi dei confini tra opere naturali e artificiali ha prodotto effetti devastanti sull’equilibrio ecologico e ambientale, dentro e fuori dalla città. Per il progetto The Truth is in The Soil, Ioanna Sakellaraki (Grecia, Royal College of Art) accompagna lo spettatore sulla penisola greca della Maina, soffermandosi sulle comunità tradizionali di prefiche, donne pagate per piangere ai funerali. Cariche di un senso di dolore e perdita personale, le immagini di Sakellaraki ritraggono le silhouette delle donne in pianto su sfondi astratti per indagare sul rapporto dell’uomo con la morte e sull’elaborazione del lutto.

Gli studenti che hanno scelto il secondo tema, Sustainability Now,si sono invece confrontati con la rappresentazione visiva della sostenibilità ambientale. Fra i lavori di maggior rilievo spicca Guardians di Fangbin Chen (Cina continentale, Qilu University of Technology), che ritrae gli sforzi profusi dalla comunità del fotografo per contenere la diffusione del coronavirus. Additando il consumo di animali selvatici come la probabile fonte dell’epidemia, le immagini di Chen spingono il pubblico a riconsiderare il legame fra uomo e natura. Nella serie Roots of Cause, Arantza Sánchez Reyes (Messico, LCI Monterrey) riflette sul tentativo dei residenti di Monterrey, in Messico, una delle città più inquinate dell’America Latina, di trovare un nuovo equilibrio con la natura, adottando uno stile di vita più sostenibile.

Gli altri studenti finalisti sono: Micaela del Sol Angulo (Perù, Centro de la Imagen), Robin Ansart (Francia, École Nationale Supérieure Louis-Lumière), Amy Davis (Sudafrica, CityVarsity Cape Town), Ashley Tofa (Nuova Zelanda, The University of Auckland), Tobia Faverio (Italia, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) e Chip Skingley (Regno Unito, University of the West of England – Bristol). Quest’anno i candidati del concorso Student sono stati giudicati da Tim Clark, curatore, scrittore e caporedattore di 1000 Words.

Sony Student Grant 2019

Joel Davies, United Kingdom, Sony Student Grant, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards Photographer Name: Joel Davies Year: 2020 Image Description: Series Name: We Reap What We Sow Series Description: Islington, London, is the most densely populated district in the UK, with 16,097 people per square kilometre compared to the country’s average of 274. It is also the London borough with the least green space, in a city struggling with stress, depression and isolation. However, tucked within this very borough is a charity that has been tackling these urban issues for over four decades: Freightliners Farm. A small city farm and open access space, Freightliners uses its humble 2.5 acres caring for rare and traditional breeds, growing a bountiful garden and orchard, and most crucially, cultivating a community. The farm relies on donations, grants, and volunteers; all critical for the survival of the space. But what Freightliners takes, it gives back. Volunteers find skills, fitness, friendship, purpose and pride. Visitors welcomed with tranquility, charm, green space, familiar faces and conversation. It is a place to belong to. A community, for those needing one. But one only existing if it is supported. And so in the future, as cities become larger, denser, and more expensive, it is vital that we increasingly value and fund spaces like Freightliners Farm. For the thousands per square kilometre, and for our own sakes. After-all, we reap what we sow. Copyright: © Joel Davies, United Kingdom, Sony Student Grant, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Name: Tobias Kobborg Kristensen, Denmark, Sony Student Grant, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards Photographer Name: Tobias Kobborg Kristensen Year: 2020 Image Description: Series Name: Green Copenhagen Series Description: Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, is home for more than 600.000 people. The city has a goal to become the first carbon neutral capital by 2025. Since 2005 there has been an economic growth of 24%, meanwhile the city and its inhabitants has accomplished to reduce the carbon emission by 42%. Two thirds of the emission is caused by the production of energy for the city; electricity, heat, etc. The last third is emission created in relation to transport. To reach the final goal the city and its inhabitants has to work together to bring down emissions on both large and small scale.  Copyright: © Tobias Kobborg Kristensen, Denmark, Sony Student Grant, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Scelti tra i finalisti del concorso Student dei Sony World Photography Awards 2019, i nuovi vincitori del Sony Student Grant sono Joel Davies (Regno Unito), Sam Delaware (Stati Uniti) e Tobias Kobborg Kristensen (Danimarca). Ogni fotografo si è aggiudicato un premio di 3.500 dollari ed è stato incaricato di realizzare, con la fotocamera assegnata da Sony, un progetto ispirato al tema Changing Cities, dedicato alle iniziative green negli spazi urbani.

I tre progetti finali, esposti alla mostra dei Sony World Photography Awards 2020, sono: We Reap What We Sow di Joel Davies, che segue gli operatori della Freightliners Farm, un’associazione benefica attiva a Islington, un quartiere di Londra fra i più densamente popolati del Regno Unito. Le immagini di Davies documentano l’attività di volontari e visitatori, per i quali la fattoria rappresenta sia un indispensabile spazio verde sia un sostegno per la comunità. Cellular Culture di Sam Delaware punta i riflettori su un’innovativa ricerca intrapresa dalla JUST Inc., un’azienda alimentare di San Francisco che intende sfruttare la carne sintetizzata in laboratorio per limitare l’impatto delle società sulle risorse naturali della Terra. Green Copenhagen di Tobias Kobborg Kristensen, infine, mostra l’impegno delle autorità e dei residenti della città danese per raggiungere l’obiettivo di diventare la prima capitale a emissioni zero del mondo entro il 2025.

Finalisti del concorso youth

Photographer Name: Soumarghya Dhara Year: 2020 Image Description: I have taken this in the Early Morning at Kolkata in India . I have taken this shot because scenario is superb with sunrising and people are playing and exercising . I have taken this shot without flash with my Canon EOS 1500D Copyright: © Soumarghya Dhara, India, Entry, Youth, Street photography, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Name: Race Photographer Name: Jan Piszczatowski Year: 2020 Image Description: I captured that image on an escalator using long exposure to create an impression of fast movement. The photo, is for me the personification of the fast paced city life with all its haste and beauty. Copyright: © Jan Piszczatowski, Poland, Entry, Youth, Open Call, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Photographer Name: Jane Botova Year: 2020 Image Description: This river is polluted due to the fact that upstream is the development of peat. The water is very cloudy, the fish is no longer here, you can not swim, the river became shallow. With this photo I want to show the beauty of the place, so that people stop littering such wonderful places. Copyright: © Jane Botova, Russian Federation, Entry, Youth, Environment, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Photographer Name: Hanlin Bi Year: 2020 Image Description: I took this aerial shot during my trip to Dolomites about three days ago. I flew my drone above the Carezza Lake but I found the many trees were cut down there. Modern civilization create so much things, also what we did are influenced the fragile nature environment. Copyright: © Hanlin Bi, China, Entry, Youth, Environment, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Quest’anno, la World Photography Organisation ha rinnovato con successo il format del concorso Youth per dare ad ancora più giovani fotografi l’opportunità di partecipare, registrando ben il 50% di candidature in più. Fra giugno e dicembre 2019, gli aspiranti vincitori hanno inviato, ogni mese, fino a tre immagini relative a una categoria sempre diversa, tra cui Paesaggio, Viaggio, Ritratto e Fotografia di strada. Al termine del mese, la giuria ha decretato un vincitore di categoria, che ora è in lizza per il titolo di Youth Photographer of the Year 2020.

Questi i finalisti del concorso Youth 2020: L’immagine di Jason Chen (Stati Uniti, 17 anni, Paesaggio, giugno 2019) ritrae il maestoso spettacolo del fiume e della cascata del Grand Canyon nel parco di Yellowstone. Con il suo scatto, Dita Suci Putri Rahmawati (Indonesia, 18 anni, Ambiente, luglio 2019) vuole far conoscere le condizioni di vita precarie e il pesante stato di inquinamento della discarica di Piyungan, nella Reggenza di Bantul, a Yogyakarta. Bruce Bai (Cina continentale, 17 anni, Natura e animali, agosto 2019) ha presentato uno scorcio in bianco e nero delle placide acque del lago Qinghai, in Cina. Ram Kaushalyan (India, 17 anni, Viaggio, settembre 2019) ha scelto come soggetto il volto di una giovane donna durante i preparativi per il Maha Shivaratri Festival di Kaveripattinam, una festa annuale in onore del dio Shiva. La foto che è valsa la finale a Kolton Almany (Stati Uniti, 16 anni, Ritratto, ottobre 2019) ritrae la modella in una biblioteca, a rappresentare i vari capitoli e le storie della vita. Hsien-Pang Hsieh (Taiwan, 19 anni, Street Photography, novembre 2019) ha presentato l’immagine di un uomo che sembra correre affannosamente, ma è in realtà immobile – uno spunto di riflessione sul nostro stile di vita troppo frenetico e un invito a rallentare di tanto in tanto. Liam Moynihan (Stati Uniti, 17 anni, Tema libero, dicembre 2019) ha optato per una fotografia in bianco e nero ad alto contrasto, che lascia intravvedere i profili scuri di tre ragazzi intenti a giocare a “roofball” a un campo estivo di Worton, nel Maryland.

La giuria che assegnerà il titolo di Youth Photographer of the Year è presieduta da Gisela Kayser, direttrice generale e artistica della Freundeskreis Willy-Brandt-Haus e.V. di Berlino. Oltre a ottenere una visibilità internazionale e incontrare le figure di spicco del panorama fotografico attuale, il vincitore riceverà un set di attrezzature fotografiche digitali di Sony per continuare a coltivare la propria visione.