Judges' insight: Rebecca McClelland on the 2019 Open competition

“While judging this award I noticed two distinct characteristics from all the submissions: that of the highest standard of production and complex level of storytelling present in each entry. The Open competition celebrates the power of the single image unlike any other award, which is exciting and refreshing."
Rebecca McClelland - Chair, 2019 Open competition
Imagery is our universal language and a single photograph has the power to inform, provoke and alter perceptions. The Sony World Photography Awards honours the single image in the Open competition, where photographers – both established and emerging from a vast range of backgrounds – are asked to submit a photograph into one of the ten thematic categories. The resulting images are rich and varied, celebrating the democratic nature of photography as it exists today. The Open Photographer of the Year not only receives $5,000 (USD) but ongoing support and global exposure from the World Photography Organisation.
Hear Rebecca McClelland give her thoughts about judging this year’s Open competition.
Harmony is an image from the artist’s Muses series that was inspired by the beauty and vulnerability of humankind. In this image Rogers has used the contrasts of light, dark, colour, movement and cascading underwater bodies to create an ethereal scene reminiscent of Baroque painting.
“It's an honor to be recognized as a photographer, as for so many years most people referred to me as a painter or something unknown. And I'm so grateful to be a part of the photography community and to win this beautiful award!”
- Christy Lee Rogers, Open Photographer of the Year
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