2014 Sony WPO Award Winners Announced

Sara Naomi Lewkowicz won under the Contemporary Issues category and is also the recipient of the Sony World Photographer of the Year award.

On 30 April, the Sony World Photography Organisation announced their 2014 award winners at a ceremony that took place in London. American photographer Sara Naomi Lewkowicz, was awarded the 2014 L’Iris d’Or/Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year award. Lewkowicz who is a student, won for her controversial photo essay revolving around the theme of domestic violence, which was chosen from 140,000 entries. Besides winning the prestigious award, she also received a cash prize of USD 25,000 (approx. Rs. 15,05,250), camera equipment from Sony, amongst many other prizes. 

Sara’s photo essay revolved around a family consisting of a 31-year-old ex-convict Shane, his 19-year-old girlfriend Maggie and her two young children. She was criticised for the photographs she shot of a volatile moment when Shane got physically violent with Maggie. After the photographs were put up online, Sara received several negative comments from viwers, who questioned her about her lack of involvement in putting a stop to the violence, instead of continuing photographing the scene. The tumultuous scene sobered down after she called up the police, who arrested  Shane on charges of domestic violence.

Apart from the main Photographer of the Year award, 14 other winners in the Professional category were also announced. Their names along with the category in which they have won are mentioned below:

Amanda Harmon won in the Still Life category.

Guy Martin won in the Current Affairs category.

Ludovic Maillard won the Architecture category.

Mario Wezel won under the People category.

Michael Nichols won the Wildlife category.

Myriam Meloni won in the Lifestyle category.

Ricardo Teles won in the Travel category.

Viviana Peretti won the Arts and Culture category.

Roei Greenberg won in the Landscape category.

Salvator Di Gregario won under the Sports category.

Sophie Gamand won the Portraiture category.

Spencer Murphy won the Campaign category.

Thomas Brummett won under the Conceptual category.