In celebration of Filipino culture and resilience, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) will again hold its annual photography contest this year to provide photographers from all walks of life with the opportunity to showcase their talents.

The resumption of the competition in 2023 after years of hiatus attracted the highest number of participants in the history of the PAGCOR Photography Contest with the winners from all regions – Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and Metro Manila – taking home a total of Php1,680,000 in cash prizes.

PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco (4th from right), President and COO Atty. Juanito Sañosa, Jr. (5th from right), and Directors Gilbert Remulla (3rd from right) and Francis Concordia (3rd from left) pose with the grand prize winners in the conventional category of the 2023 PAGCOR Photo Contest.

PAGCOR Photography Contest 2023 mobile category grand prize winners pose with members of the PAGCOR board during the contest’s awarding ceremony on September 13, 2023, at the National Museum of Natural History in Manila.

This year’s contest will have its final judging and awards ceremonies in September. However, this early, PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said that more than 3,500 have already confirmed interest in the contest through complete registration.

With this year’s theme, “Harvest Time,” the 2024 PAGCOR Photography Contest seeks to spotlight the indomitable spirit of the Filipino people, their unwavering patience, and tireless dedication during the vibrant harvest season.

“THE ALICIA PANORAMIC PARK“by Rowell C. ClenuarAlicia, Bohol

The theme also serves as a tribute to the hardworking farmers, fishermen, and other producers whose toil sustains the nation and ensures food security for all.

“CELEBRATING CENTURIES OF CULTIVATION“by Christopher G. AndresBanaue, Ifugao

This year’s photo competition also features bigger cash prizes, a lowered minimum age requirement, and the introduction of the new drone category to attract both seasoned professionals and budding enthusiasts.

“The summer months will be a colorful and festive season for the country, especially in the countryside. The fields are ripe for harvest, the trees are laden with fruits, and the flowers are in full bloom,” Chairman Tengco said.

“PAYAPANG UMAGA“ by Klienne M. Eco San Pablo, Laguna

“We hope that our participants this year will be able to immortalize the remarkable and bountiful resources of the Philippines that some of us take for granted through their lenses,” he said.

Total prizes to be given away this year is Php2,230,000 or 32.7% higher than last year.

Under the conventional category, PAGCOR will award eight grand winners with Php100,000 cash each, while Php50,000 cash will be given to each of the 16 grand winners under the mobile and drone categories.

Consolation prizes will also be awarded to eight finalists under each category – Php35,000 cash each for the conventional category and Php20,000 cash per finalist under the mobile and drone categories.  

Participants have until July 31, 2024 to submit their entries. 

For registration, uploading of entries, and detailed information, interested individuals are encouraged to visit the official contest website at www.pagcor.ph/photocon2024.

ADVT.

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. 

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

Sustainability Prize: Kathleen Orlinsky (United States)

Open Photographer of the Year: Liam Man (United Kingdom)

Student Photographer of the Year: Kayin Luys (Belgium)

Youth Photographer of the Year: Daniel Murray (United Kingdom) 

Outstanding Contribution to Photography: Sebastião Salgado

See much more at the SWPA 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 at Somerset House in London between April 19-May 6, 2024, it will then travel to additional locations.

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. 

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Rick Agan’s sports photos are described as action-packed and intense.

On this episode of “Muthaship,” the owner of Takoeye Sports Photography shares how a combination of “dad instinct” and his love for sports sparked his newfound passion.

Remember to subscribe to the “Muthaship” podcast on any of the following platforms:

For more episodes with Steph, Noli and Brooke, click here to visit the ‘Muthaship’ archives.

Copyright 2021 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

A French photographer has scooped the most prestigious prize at this year’s Sony World Photography Awards for a documentary project about the sterilization of women in Greenland.

Juliette Pavy was named as the overall winner of the annual competition at a ceremony in London on Thursday for her series entitled “Spiralkampagnen: Forced Contraception and Unintended Sterilisation of Greenlandic Women.”

Now in its 17th year, the Sony World Photography Awards celebrates powerful images that resonate with audiences around the world. Pavy’s winning portfolio set out to chart the severe and lasting impact of the Danish authorities’ involuntary birth control campaign in Greenland in the 1960s and 1970s, which affected several thousand Inuit women, some as young as 12.

Pavy, who received a cash prize of $25,000, was selected from the winners of the competition’s 10 professional categories. Her submission won the documentary category. Other professional categories include sport, the environment and portraiture.

In a press release issued ahead of the event, Monica Allende, chair of the 2024 jury, said of Pavy’s win: “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.”

Liam Man, a landscape photographer from the UK, was announced as the competition’s Open Photographer of the Year for his otherworldly shot (pictured above) entitled “Moonrise Sprites over Storr.”

It depicts the Old Man of Storr rock formation on Scotland’s Isle of Skye, taken late at night during a powerful blizzard.

A series about the landscape, wildlife and people of the Gila Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico garnered American photographer Kathleen Orlinsky the Sustainability prize. A regular contributor to National Geographic and The New York Times, Orlinsky has spent the past decade documenting the impact of the climate crisis.

Student photographer of the year went to Kayin Luys from Belgium, who interpreted the brief — which was simply entitled “Home” — to submit an intimate portrayal of his partner’s family.

Meanwhile, 15-year-old Daniel Murray’s photograph of a solitary surfer on an empty beach in Cornwall, England earned him the youth photographer of the year accolade.

Internationally acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado received the Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize for his distinctive black-and-white works, captured over his five-decade-long career. Forty pictures taken by Salgado, who divides his time between his homeland of Brazil and France, will be on show as part of an exhibition featuring the work of the competition winners, finalists and others shortlisted at London’s Somerset House this spring.

The show will also feature work by last year’s overall winner, Edgar Martins from Portugal.

Last year’s competition attracted controversy when a German artist rejected the prize for the creative open category after revealing that his entry was generated by AI.

In its guidelines, the competition’s organizers state that entries “may feature manipulation, but where Entries are manipulated, the extent of which must be described in the image description section when submitting.” Computer-generated images are not allowed, however.

Announced today (18 April), the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 explores the newest and finest international artists and trends in its field. This year’s selection of nominees for the Architecture & Design category spans ten talents from as far afield as Canada, Malaysia and Finland. The winner, Ireland’s Siobhán Doran, scooped the top gong with her series Sala Mayor (Living Room).

Sony World Photography Awards 2024: the winner and shortlist

The Architecture & Design category winner’s work focuses on the majestic documentation of historic mansions and is part of a book project by Doran, titled Houses that Sugar Built: An Intimate Portrait of Philippine Ancestral Homes.

‘I largely set about photographing the houses against a spoken “backdrop”, as my colleague interviewed the owner or custodian, but sometimes worked in complete silence. The sala mayor (main living room) typically showcases the character of the architecture and the lifestyle of the people, but also leaves room for the viewer’s interpretation of these unique residences,’ wrote the artist.

Notable entries among the finalists are Germany’s Albrecht Voss’ series Enlighten, which ‘presents modern alpine architecture as surreal man-made sculptures’; and Malaysia’s Nick Ng’ Blue Boy, a visual exploration of a 1962, seven-floor residential haven in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, designed by the architecture firm TY Lee and Sons. 

The Architecture & Design entries of the Sony World Photography Awards 2024, alongside the prize’s other categories, will be presented and celebrated in a dedicated photography exhibition that launches at Somerset House in London this spring. 

‘Sony World Photography Awards 2024’ will be on show at Somerset House in London, UK, 19 April – 6 May 2024

worldphoto.org

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Name a noteworthy moment in Tallahassee during the Vietnam War era, and there’s a good chance FSU physics major John Buckley was there, camera in hand.

Buckley had political activism on the mind throughout his college years, using 35mm film to tell a striking story.

In one photo, FSU students rally at the Capitol steps, protesting over an international student’s arrest for disorderly conduct.

In another, legendary civil rights icon C.K. Steele speaks to a Frenchtown crowd, frustrated over the arrest of a man accused of firebombing a business.

The angst of an era captured on film, and saved for posterity by the State Archives.

Adam Watson is a photographic archivist at the archives.

“He was the photographer that took action, he showed up,” Watson said.

Watson invited WCTV into the photographic collection room at the State Archives, sifting through more than 5,000 images.

“You’re kind of right in the moment with him,” Watson said.

John Charles Buckley was born in 1945, spending his childhood years in Panama City Beach.

His youngest sister, Michelle Holder, said John was independent from the start.

“He was the oldest of five,” she said. “John worked at a grocery store. And he walked and it wasn’t any small task back then- he walked a long, long way.”

Buckley made his way to Tallahassee, enrolling at Florida State University to study physics. He found himself on a college campus at a time when America – and the world- seemed at a breaking point.

“He cared so much about a lot of things, injustice mostly,” Holder said.

At some point, Buckley picked up a camera, and made it his mission to be in the right place at the right time.

“It almost seemed like he couldn’t help himself,” Watson said. “He had to document it. And that’s what is so great about that collection for us, to be able to see, and for the future to be able to see what those times were like.”

In 1971, controversy swirled on FSU’s campus. A student activist, known as ‘Radical’ Jack Lieberman, taught a noncredit course at FSU’s Center for Participant Education on how to start a revolution in America.

Buckley was there as an on-campus hearing ended with Lieberman’s expulsion. Civil Rights Attorney Kent Spriggs was captured standing in the center of one photo showcasing the trial.

“Gives you a real window into what the time was like at that time,” Spriggs told WCTV.

Spriggs also represented two of the Quincy Five, another flashpoint moment for the Big Bend.

When five Gadsden County men were falsely accused of killing law enforcement, Buckley was there as FSU students protested outside the student union.

”Everybody kind of understood that if there was some kind of interesting political thing going on that Buckley would be there and he would be shooting,” Spriggs said.

Watson said Buckley’s wife, Pat, mentioned the camera kept him sane in those years.

“He just carried the camera around with him everywhere,” Watson said.

And yet, as the years passed, Buckley moved on. He became a chemistry teacher in Quincy, later working for the State.

His sister said he rarely if ever took any photos again.

“He wouldn’t bring it to events because he was sick of it, I guess. I don’t know,” she said.

Thousands of photos from just a few whirlwind years in Tallahassee were collecting dust.

That is until Buckley received a terminal cancer diagnosis. His wife and friends pushed for Buckley to donate his collection.

Watson visited his home in 2008. He was one of the last people to hear Buckley’s life story.

“We sat for awhile just quietly,” Watson said. “He just sort of looked out. I was trying to imagine what was going through his head.”

It was a chance to reflect on a life.

“We got the collection in October 2008, and he passed away by December of that year,” Watson said.

Buckley’s legacy now lives on in the form of thousands of photos. A true Florida Memory.

Visit the John Buckley collection online at Florida Memory, the digital home of the archives. The website hosts just a fraction of the full collection, available for viewing by request at the archives.

To stay up to date on all the latest news as it develops, follow WCTV on Facebook and X (Twitter).

Have a news tip or see an error that needs correction? Write us here. Please include the article’s headline in your message.

Keep up with all the biggest headlines on the WCTV News app. Click here to download it now.

Copyright 2024 WCTV. All rights reserved.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A special event happening this weekend will celebrate a special milestone among women.

“50 Over 50 Portrait Gallery” is an exhibition highlighting 50 remarkable women and their stories of resilience; their diverse experiences, accomplishments and, the journeys that brought them to their 50 year milestone.

The exhibit will showcase the work of award-winning Santa Barbara portrait photographer, Ashleigh Taylor.

“Society tends to tell women our best days are when we are young— that there is an expiration date—but that’s just not true and I‘ve seen that first hand in my clients,” said Taylor, via email.

Event organizers said it is not about being a mother or a wife, sister or daughter or, any other title or label. The exhibit is a stand-alone celebration of each individual woman.

A gala event will accompany the gallery exhibit, giving attendees the chance to meet some of the women featured.

The free event is Saturday, April 20 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 633 Chapala Street.