The Sony World Photography Awards 2009 (SWPA 2009) sponsored by Sony Europe with a view to recognizing world's finest Professional and Amateur photographers was held in Cannes, France from April 14th to 19th in 2009. The event showcased 186 short-listed photographs out of the 64,971 works submitted. On April 16th, the award ceremony was held at the prestigious Palais des Festivals, where the highest honor, the Le Iris d'Or Sony World Photographer of the Year 2009 was announced. Through its sponsorship of the Sony World Photography Awards, Sony aims to support and promote the skills and creativity of photographers around the world.

-12 sections belonging to the category
Current affairs, Sport, Contemporary issues, Arts and entertainment, Advertising, Fashion, Music, Portraiture, Conceptual and Constructed, Natural History, Landscape, Architecture

Professional Category Winners
The Le Iris d'Or Sony World Photographer of the Year,
with a prize of $25,000

David Zimmerman (USA)

- 8 sections belonging to the category
Sport, Fashion, Music, Portraiture, Conceptual and Constructed, Natural History, Landscape, Architecture

Amateur Category Winners
-Sony World Photography Amateur Awards,
with a prize of $5,000

Vincent Foong (Singapore)

The PRP Award is in association with the Prince's Rainforest Project for professional photographers, to complement this year's theme of the environment. The partnership between the Sony World Photography Awards and PRP is part of Sony's Eco program of initiatives and programs.

Winner: Daniel Beltra (Spain)

It is a competition for amateur photographers to unit the global obsession for football with enthusiasm and passion of photography.

Winner: Sarah Ahmad (Pakistan)

Student Focus is an extended university program which is from 60 universities in the world. The brief for this year's student competition is to produce one image which highlights a single environment issue specific to their country.

The short-listed photographs including the winning images of SWPA 2009 will be exhibited in 10 cities all over the world, starting in Hong Kong from April 23rd. Tokyo exhibition will be held from June 2nd. By touring some of the most prolific photographic galleries and institutions, the Sony World Photography Awards create a platform for emerging photographers to be discovered, and for professionals to showcase their new work.

Sony World Photography Awards Cannes 2010
The next year's competition is scheduled from June 1st to December 4th. For more information, please access to the official site of the Sony World Photography Awards.
(http://www.worldphotographyawards.org/)

About Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA)
The SWPA was launched in 2007, lending a global platform for the photographic industry and community. Through a variety of international programs including the week-long Festival at the SWPA, the launch of a touring exhibition, SWPA will continue to discover new talent and create avenues through which to reward photographers with the support and expertise of industry professionals.