Documentary project wins Sony World Photography Awards 2024, and Sebastião Salgado is awarded Outstanding Contribution
Leading lights of the photo industry gathered in London on 18 April to witness the big reveal of one of the world’s most prestigious competitions.
The World Photography Organisation crowned Juliette Pavy from a roster of 10 finalists in the Professional competition of the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 (SWPA).
Other winners were confirmed on the night, too, for the Open Competition, the National & Regional Awards, the Latin America Professional Award, the Alpha Female Award, the Student Competition and the Youth Competition.
One of the world’s must-win photo competitions, SWPA has run for 17 years and continues to showcase some of the best in contemporary visual storytelling, enabled by the exceptional technical ability of the photographers who enter each year.
This year a record number of 395,000 images from over 220 countries and territories were submitted, and these were pared down to three finalists in each of the 10 professional categories.
As Photographer of the Year 2024, Juliette Pavy walked away with a cash prize of $25,000/£20,000/A$39,000, along with a range of Sony digital imaging equipment.
She also gets to make a solo presentation of her work as part of next year’s Sony World Photography Awards exhibition.
Pavy’s documentary project series ‘Spiralkampagnen: Forced Contraception and Unintended Sterilisation of Greenlandic Women’ explores the severe and lasting impacts of the involuntary birth control campaign led by Danish authorities in Greenland in the 1960s and 1970s.
This series examines the spiralkampagnen, in which several thousand Inuit women, some as young as 12, were implanted with intrauterine devices without their consent.
The project traces the programme’s origins through to the present day, including the ongoing investigation by the Danish government, and places the victims’ perspectives at the forefront.
The series uses a variety of photographic formats: from establishing shots of the city of Nuuk and its clinical spaces, to X-ray imagery and archival photographs of the young women involved, alongside recent portraits of victims and of doctors who worked in Greenland during and after the programme, to the Danish parliamentarian investigating the spiralkampagnen in the present day.
Chair of the 2024 Professional Competition Jury, Monica Allende, said: “The Sony World Photography Awards jury lauded Juliette Pavy’s empathetic portrayal of her subjects, capturing them in a manner that is both dignified and profoundly intimate, thereby highlighting her exceptional talent.
“Pavy’s dedication to exposing the stark realities faced by marginalised communities, coupled with her compelling narrative approach, has not only earned her the prestigious recognition from the Sony World Photography Awards but also underscores the jury’s belief in her potential and the importance of supporting her career trajectory.”
Aside from the competition winners, the legendary photographer Sebastião Salgado was recognised with an Outstanding Contribution to Photography award.
He took to the stage at the Grand Ballroom in London’s Hilton Park Lane hotel to a rapturous welcome and delivered an emotive speech that confirmed his love for the medium, and his respect for the people who use it to tell powerful stories, often taking risks when doing so.
“A photographer is not an artist,” he said. “A photographer has to be there.”
The glitzy ceremony is a staple of the SWPA, and with its high production values, this year’s did not disappoint.
Joining host Kate Bryan on stage were members of the judging panel, the head of Sony Europe – and Scott Gray, founder and CEO of event producers Creo.
SWPA 2024 Professional Competition winners
SWPA 2024 Open, Student and Youth Winners
See much more at the SWPA 2024 exhibition
You’ve just viewed some of the winning entries, but there is so much more to see at the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 exhibition.
Open in the West and East wings at Somerset House in London between April 19-May 6, 2024, the exhibition will then travel to additional locations. Tickets cost from £7.50.
Click here to find out more, and to buy tickets and in a Digital Camera World exclusive, you can use the code DIGISWPA24 to bag an exclusive 15% discount on the ticket price.
A full list of shortlisted and finalist photographers can be found on the SWPA webpage, along with their outstanding images.
The winner will receive a range of Sony equipment which could well be among the best Sony cameras, the best Sony lenses, and the best cameras for video.
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