Stellenbosch Academy of Design And Photography, South Africa has been accepted as one of the 120 institutions for the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards Student Focus 2010.The Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA) has further expanded its student initiative creating a truly global competition to discover tomorrow’s professional photographers.
                                         
Building on the success of the 2008 and 2009 competitions, Student Focus incorporates students and photography institutions across six continents – North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia.  This year’s programme welcomes an incredible 120 institutions all competing with the hope of reaching the final stage of the competition in Cannes, France in April 2010.

The competition’s brief is for the students to create an image which encapsulates ‘War and Peace’, as reflected in their country.

Students from 120 institutions, will submit their work online. A shortlist of two students from one institution on each continent will then be selected by the esteemed judging panel chosen from the World Photographic Academy.

Judges include:
Adrian Evans, Director of Panos pictures agency
Adrian Boot, Music photographer and co-founder of www.urbanimage.tv
Jonathon Torgovnik, widely exhibited documentary photographer and co-founder of NGO, Foundation Rwanda
Idris Khan, artist
Sue Steward, photography critic, writer, radio broadcaster, photo-editor and journalist for a variety of national newspapers

The twelve shortlisted students, along with their tutors, win a trip to Cannes in April 2010, where, as part of the World Photography Festival, finalists will conduct their final assignment. They will also participate in a series of lectures, talks and master classes led by the judging panel, industry figureheads and Academy members.
 
The overall winner will be announced, along with the winners of the professional and amateur categories, at the Sony World Photography Awards ceremony at the Palais des Festival. The Student Focus prize represents approximately 50,000 Euros’ worth of photography equipment for the individual students and their institution department, courtesy of the sponsor, Sony.
 
A highlight of the festival in Cannes will be a showcase of photographs selected from the student submissions from all of the 120 participating institutions. When presented together, the photographs are expected to create a moving and truly global picture of the world today through the eyes of the student population.
 
Scott Gray, World Photography Awards founder, comments: “Student Focus is an integral part of our programme It provides a platform for both students and educational institutions from across the globe to compete, interact and develop through the medium of photography as well as providing us with the opportunity to support those students in taking their first steps into a professional career.”
 
This year also sees the launch of the new Student Focus Facebook fan page which will be an opportunity for students and tutors to share their ideas as the competition progresses. Please visit http://www.facebook.com/WPAStudentFocus
 
 
 
For further information contact: Kiri Gillespie or Veronique Norton
Colman Getty
T: 020 7631 2666
E: kiri@colmangetty.co.uk <mailto:kiri@colmangetty.co.uk> or veronique@colmangetty.co.uk <mailto:veronique@colmangetty.co.uk>

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