Top Photographers of 2012 Announced

The World Open of Photography (THE OPEN) has announced its list of the year’s top photographers. THE OPEN is a global search for the greatest photographers of our generation.

THE OPEN is one of the largest photo competitions in the world, renowned for both its high calibre of photography and for being a forum to bring undisovered artists to the forefront alongside some of the most published veterans. It has one of the largest prize purses in photo history: $50,000.00(US).

From an open call for submissions there were nearly 10,000 entries from 176 countries, registering 3.4 million page views and tens of thousands of votes.

The categories were Action, Street, Nature, People and Open. Fifty percent of the finalists were chosen by the public through social media sharing and online voting, and fifty percent were selected by a jury comprised of a team of top photographers and photo editors in. Two hundred finalists advanced to a second jury where the photographer’s identities were shielded from the judges. The judges voted by closed ballot for the top photos in each category and the overall Photographer of the Year.

The results are as follows:

Photographer of the Year: Lorenz Holder, Germany
People’s Choice Award: Scott Bauer, Australia
1st/2nd/3rd Place Action: Lorenz Holder; Brian Bielmann; Marcel Lammerhirt
1st/2nd/3rd Place Street: Javier Arcenillas; Jianwei Yang; Mihail Kopychko
1st/2nd/3rd Place Nature: Jody MacDonald; Xiao-Sheng Ho, Peter Lik
1st/2nd/3rd Place People: Lee Jeffries; Betina La Plante; Arman Zhenikeyev
1st/2nd/3rd Place Open: Rich Lam; Chris Burkard; Lars Van De Goor

All winning photos are viewable here: http://www.theworldopen.com/winners
All finalist photos are viewable here: http://www.theworldopen.com/finalist/by-category
Photo details and photographer biographies are found by clicking on their names in the above links.

THE OPEN’s creator Doug Perry said of this year’s competition: “It’s as inspiring to see the work of some of the world’s most established photographers as it is to see that of photographers who are completely undiscovered, just starting their careers. The calibre of photography in this year’s competition exceeded all of our expections, we’re seeing photographic creativity reach new heights.”

“One of our Facebook fans summed it up best with this comment about the finalists: ‘seeing such great photography makes you want to go out and live life to its fullest...’, and we couldn’t agree more.”

The 2013 World Open of Photography is scheduled to be open for submissions in the first quarter of 2013.

Media inquiries:
James Thompson
World Open of Photography www.theworldopen.com
info@theworldopen.com

Photographs for Media Usage
Web and print resolution photographs from THE OPEN are made available upon request to approved media groups by contacting admin@theworldopen.com. Photographs may only be used in the clear context of THE OPEN, and must carry the photographers credit. Please accompany specific photo requests with a low-res screen-shot thumbnail to identify the correct image.

The World Open of Photography is produced by W1 in Vancouver, Canada: w1.ca

The World Open of Photography is produced by W1 in Vancouver, Canada. W1 has produced major photography events since 1998.

World Open of Photography
Suite 625, 360 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC CANADA
V6B 2B2
604 283-7835

This release was published on openPR.