Sony World Photography Awards 2027 – Student Competition
World Photography Organization
📌About the Event
The Sony World Photography Awards 2027 – Student Competition is a global photography competition for photography students aged 18–30. The 2027 theme is “Journeys”, where students must tell a meaningful visual story through a series of 5 to 10 images. The competition is free to enter and gives young photographers a chance to gain international exposure through Sony World Photography Awards platforms, the London exhibition, and the annual awards book.
ℹ️ Event Details
- Theme/Brief: Journeys
- Mode of Conduct: Online submission through the World Photography Organisation website
- Submission Format: 5 to 10 photographs as one series
- Theme Interpretation: Students can explore journeys through people, places, communities, cities, migration, change, transformation, or personal stories
- Device Flexibility: Images can be taken on any device and in any photography style, but they must follow the brief.
- Open To: Photography students worldwide, provided their institution is registered/eligible with the World Photography Organisation.
📅 Important Dates
- Competition Launch: 1 June 2026
- Submission Deadline: 27 November 2026
- Shortlist Announcement: After 1 January 2027
- Overall Winner Announcement: April 2027
🎯 Eligibility & Rules
- Eligibility: Open to students aged 18 to 30 years at the time of the competition deadline.
- Academic Requirement: Participants must be studying photography or a photography-related module/course in higher education.
- Institution Requirement: The student’s university/institution must be registered; students can register on behalf of their institution during the entry process.
- Entry Requirement: Students must submit a minimum of 5 and maximum of 10 images based on the theme “Journeys.”
- Image Timeline: Student competition entries must have been taken between 1 January 2026 and 27 November 2026.
- File Format: Images should be JPEG, between 1MB and 5MB, saved in sRGB, with EXIF data retained.
- Digital Manipulation: Allowed, but the entrant must clearly mention how the image has been altered.
- Judging Process: Entries will be judged by a World Photography Organisation judging panel, which will select the shortlist and the overall winner.
- Anonymous Judging: Judges do not see entrant names, and images with watermark/copyright information may be disqualified.
🏆 Prize Details and Value
- Overall Winner Title: One student will receive the Student Competition Winner title.
- Sony Equipment: The overall winner receives Sony Digital Imaging equipment.
- Institution Prize: The winning student’s university/institution receives Sony Digital Imaging equipment worth approximately €30,000.
- London Ceremony: The overall winner and one tutor may receive flights and accommodation for the awards ceremony in London.
- Global Exposure: Shortlisted and winning photographers can receive global press exposure, promotion on WPO platforms, and visibility among the international photography community.
- Exhibition & Book Feature: Selected work may be included in the Sony World Photography Awards London exhibition and the annual awards book.
- Certificate & Trophy: Shortlisted photographers may receive certificates; the winner also receives a trophy.