Today the World Photography Organization announced the shortlisted photographers for the student and youth competitions of the Sony World Photography Awards 2024. Winners of Student Photography of the Year and Youth Photographer of the Year will be announced on April 18 and will be shown at the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 exhibition at Somerset House in London.
The Student shortlist features the work of ten students from leading higher education institutions from around the world. Students were challenged to submit a series of five to ten images within the theme Home.
Family relationships and personal history are key themes in some of the nominated series, as are explorations of community and the ways in which one feels at home within a larger group.
Elsewhere, the shortlisted photographers looked at how introspection helps individuals feel grounded, while projects from still other photographers explore the challenges of creating a home in precarious circumstances.
Brayan Enriquez - My mother:
My mother sits alone. Just before I pressed the shutter button, I asked, “What are you thinking about?” Her answer was simply “home.”
Twenty-six years ago my parents emigrated to the United States. As a child, I could imagine my parents' odyssey in rudimentary terms: walking, loving, and being brave. However, over the years I have managed to contextualize the reality of our situation and now use words like treacherous, lonely and fearful. When asked, my father replays the moment when his group lay flat on their stomachs, hiding from an unconscious ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officer sitting nearby. My mother remembers trekking through knee-high mud in the Arizona desert, thousands of miles from her home in Acapulco, Mexico. My sister, on the other hand, can't remember much; she was only five years old at the time. This project navigates this complicated history and highlights how this experience is not entirely unique to my family. The photos were all taken in our home, due to its function as a refuge for undocumented immigrants across the country.
This year's shortlist consists of photographers from all over the world, including Belgium, South Africa, Argentina, Bangladesh and the USA. The Student Photographer of the Year receives €30,000 worth of digital imaging equipment from Sony for the institution where they study.
Gaston Zilberman - The Urus Stand
The disappearance of the lake ended the possibility of hunting and fishing for the indigenous Uru community. Now only the memories of their ancestral life remain, but they strive to keep alive the memory and essence of being Qotzuñi – 'people of the lake'.
Joyce Xu - Self portrait
In June 2023 I made this self-portrait in a photo studio. I was in an introspective mood and struggling with an inner turmoil, torn between my connection to Chinese culture and tradition, and my hope to free myself from self-imposed limitations related to my heritage. This image represents a search for belonging, adaptation and identity in unfamiliar lands.
The Youth shortlist consists of the work of ten photographers aged 19 and younger. For the 2024 competition, participants were invited to respond to the short assignment Through Your Eyes. In their work, the young photographers captured their personal experiences of the natural world and environment, and reflected on questions of identity and individuality.
Across the shortlist, photographers demonstrated their creative approach to composition while documenting their surroundings. The shortlisted photographers come from various international territories, including Australia, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Philippines.
The winner will receive digital photography equipment from Sony to capture their vision.
More info at worldphoto.org.
