Photo: © Max van Son, Winner, Netherlands, National Award, 2016 Sony World Photography Awards
Amsterdam-based Dutch photographer Max van Son was named the winner of the Netherlands National Award at the Sony World Photography Awards. Van Son’s winning image, ‘Late Afternoon Fight,’ was selected as the best photograph submitted by a Dutch photographer in one of the ten Open categories.
Van Son is an architect and a well-known photographer. The award earned him a Sony ILCE-7M2K. His winning image was also included in the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House in London, held from April 22 through May 8, and published in the annual Sony World Photography Awards book.
The exhibition also featured the international winners and shortlisted entries in the Professional, Open and Youth categories. It coincided with the first major European exhibition by the artistic photography duo RongRong & inri (China/Japan), recipients of the Awards’ Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize.
I feel even more inspired to continue working in this category
Van Son said of the winning photograph: "I took this photo in the summer of 2015 in the dunes of North Holland. I had been photographing all afternoon when I suddenly heard foxes fighting in the bushes. I carefully followed the sound and saw two foxes fighting just before sunset. At one point, the sunlight fell beautifully into the two foxes’ wide-open mouths. That was the right moment to take several photos.”
Van Son responded to the news of his win: “It is fantastic to hear that I have won the national award! The fact that the image is in the Nature & Wildlife category is especially motivating to me. Nature photography gives me a welcome sense of balance alongside architecture. I feel even more inspired to continue working in this category.”
The other Netherlands National Award prizewinners were:
- Second prize — Carina Dumais for her photograph titled ‘Fun at City Beach on the Quay’
- Third prize — Max van Son for his photograph titled ‘Roll Over.’
The National Awards program recognizes the best photograph taken by a local photographer. The program operates in sixty countries worldwide and is open to both professional and amateur photographers.
The winners of all sixty National Awards were announced that day. All winning photographs can be viewed at worldphoto.org.
