UCF chosen for Sony World Photography Awards student initiative

University College Falmouth is one of 13 institutions in Europe chosen to compete in Student Focus, the Sony World Photography Awards' institution programme. 60 institutions across six continents will be competing in the awards and University College Falmouth is one of the select few to have been chosen to take part in this prestigious international Awards programme.

The Sony World Photography Awards (WPA), now in its second year, has expanded its student initiative to create a truly global competition to find tomorrow's photography professionals. With the environment as the central theme of the Sony World Photography Awards 2009, the brief for the students is to create an image which highlights an environmental issue specific to their country.

Institutions will select 120 images, two from each institution, for the WPA. A shortlist of two students from one institution from each continent will then be selected by a prestigious judging panel from the photographic community including:

Tom Ang, Leading Digital Photography specialist

Ruth Eichhorn, Director of Photography GEO Magazine

Mary-Ellen Mark, Documentary Photographer

Adrian Evans, Director of Panos Pictures

Susan Welchman, Senior photo editor at National Geographic

The 13 institutions chosen in Europe are:

Belgium, La Cambre University

Czech Republic, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University, Usti nad Labem

Finland, University of Art and Design Helsinki

France, Ecole Nationale Superieure Louis Lumiere

Germany, Folkwang Hochschule

Ireland, Dublin Institute of Technology

NL, Gerrit Rietveld Academie

Norway, Oslo National Academy of the Arts

Slovakia, Academy of Arts, Bratislava

Spain, IEFC Barcelona

Sweden, University of Gothenburg

Switzerland, Centre d'enseignement professionnel de Vevey

UK, University College Falmouth

The 12 shortlisted students, along with their tutors, win an expenses-paid trip to Cannes in April 2009. As part of the Festival at The Sony World Photography Awards, finalists will conduct their final assignment from which an overall Institution winner will be decided. They will also participate in a series of lectures including ‘Can Photography Make a Difference? with Tom Ang, a range of masterclasses, and portfolio sessions with leading industry experts.

The overall student 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 on 16 April 2009. The Student Focus prize is over 45,000 Euros' worth of photography equipment for the winning institution, 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 60 participating institutions. When presented together, the photographs are expected to create an international collective view of our planet as seen by a new generation of photographers.

Paul Inman, Director, School of Media at University College Falmouth, comments:

We are very excited about our invitation to become involved in the 2009 Sony World Photography Awards student programme as ambassadors for all that is great about photographic education in England.

Scott Gray, World Photography Awards founder, comments: 10 universities in Europe competed in the inaugural student initiative - this year it will be 60 institutions worldwide. We are delighted to be able to expand the programme and offer so many more students a platform, on which to nurture their passion for photography.

For further information contact: Kiri Gillespie or Veronique Norton

Colman Getty

T: 020 7631 2666

Notes to editors

• The Sony World Photography Awards (WPA), launched in 2007, lend a global platform for the photographic industry and community. Through a variety of international programmes including a week-long photography festival, an online magazine, a gallery, an international student programme and a touring exhibition, the WPA continually discovers new talent and creates avenues through which to reward photographers with the support and expertise of industry professionals.
• Scott Gray, Managing Director of the WPA, is available for interview
• The winners of the 2008 student initiative - University Shoot Out - were Oriol Llados and Salvi Danés from Institut D'Estudis Fotografics de Catalunya
• The WPA website - http://www.worldphotographyawards.org/ now features an online magazine and gallery. It also includes comprehensive information about the awards, the categories, a current list of World Photographic Academy members, and key dates
• Images from last year's competition are available via the website's press centre
• A full list of competing institutions is available via the website
• About Sony:

Sony manufactures audio, video, communications and information technology products for the global consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, game and online businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be one of the world's leading digital entertainment brands. Sony recorded consolidated global annual sales of EUR 55.44 billion (yen 8,871 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008, based on an average market exchange rate for the same period of yen 160.0 to the EUR. It employs approximately 180,500 people worldwide.

In Europe, the Sony Group recorded consolidated annual sales of EUR 12.73 billion (yen 2,328 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008. Sony Europe, headquartered at the Sony Center am Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, is responsible for the company's European electronics business and registered consolidated sales of EUR 9.55 billion for the same period.

For more information on Sony Europe, please visit http://www.sony-europe.com and http://www.sony.eu/presscenter

Tweet