Craig Easton has been named the 2021 Sony World Images Awards winner
Craig Easton's successful Top Bank series, which challenges the representation and misrepresentation of churches in the north of England
Craig Easton was also recognized in the portrait category for his Bank Top series, which he created in collaboration with writer Abdul Aziz Hafiz. The black and white images focus on the Bank Top neighborhood in Blackburn to examine the representation of parishes in the north of England. The paintings were launched on the initiative of the Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery to challenge reports of the city as the most divided in Britain. Easton and Hafiz spent a year on the project, working closely with the locals to create text for the portraits.
"These aren't people who were absolutely keen to take pictures, but Craig won their trust," said Mike Trow, chairman of the 2021 Professional competition. “You look openly into the camera and we see a mutual understanding between the documenter and the subject. It is the moral weight behind this work that makes it so important and deserves this award. "
From Bank Top by Craig Easton
From Bank Top by Craig Easton
From Craig Easton's Thatchers Children documenting the Williams family in Blackpool, which won second place in Documentary
Other winners this year are Tomáš Vocelka in the Architecture and Design category for his series Eternal Hunting Grounds, which documents a pet cemetery in a dilapidated military facility in the Czech Republic. Laura Pannack in the portfolio for a series of pictures from personal projects; and Simone Tramonte in Environment for its net zero transition that captures Iceland's clean energy efforts.
Mark Hamilton Gruchy's revised images of the moon landing earned him a spot in the creative category, while Majid Hojjati's photos of the world's empty and deserted places in the landscape won. In particular, Pannack is the only female photographer on the list of professional winners.
The World Photography Organization has also announced the winners of the Open competition, which celebrates the power of individual images. This year's Open Photographer of the Year is Tamary Kudita, who was recognized for her African Victorian picture of a young black woman with traditional Shona cooking utensils. Coenraad Heinz Torlage takes home Student Photographer of the Year for a series of pictures of the next generation of farmers, and Pubarun Basu is named Youth Photographer of the Year for No Escape From Reality – an illusion of shady bars on the hands.
Locust invasion of East Africa by Louis Tato catching schools of desert locusts eating grain
Majid Hojjati's quiet neighborhoods conquer abandoned places "free from the presence of humanity"
Heaven & Cyanide by Laura Pannack
Net Zero Transition by Simone Tramonte, showing how Iceland turned away from fossil fuels in favor of renewable energies
The annual award for the organization's outstanding contribution to photography goes to Graciela Iturbide, known as "Latin America's greatest living photographer." Iturbide has been documenting Mexico since the 1970s and "examines the many complexities and contradictions of their country, questions its inequalities and highlights the tensions between urban and rural, modern and indigenous", as the WPO describes it.
Winners and finalists will all be shown in a virtual exhibition that can be viewed online along with a 60-minute documentary about the final year of photography. A full list of winners can be found below.
Sony World Photography Award 2021 winners:
Architecture and design: Tomáš Vocelka for his series Eternal Hunting Grounds
Creative: Mark Hamilton Gruchy for his series The Moon Revisited
Documentary projects: Vito Fusco for his series The Killing Daisy
Environment: Simone Tramonte for his Net-Zero Transition series
Landscape: Majid Hojjati for his series Silent Neighborhoods
Portfolio: Laura Pannack for her portfolio review submission
Portrait: Craig Easton for his series Bank Top
Sport: Anas Alkharboutli for his series Sport and Fun instead of War and Fear
Still life: Peter Eleveld for his series Still Life Composition, Shot on Wet Plate
Wildlife & Nature: Luis Tato for his series Locust Invasion in East Africa
Photographer of the Year: Craig Easton
Open Photographer of the Year: Tamary Kudita for her picture African Victorian
Student Photographer of the Year: Coenraad Heinz Torlage
Youth Photographer of the Year: Pubarun Basu
Outstanding Contribution to Photography: Graciela Iturbide