Celebrating its 20th year, the Sony World Photography Awards has announced its 2027 jury and the dates of its London exhibition. Organised by Creo and one of the World Photography Organisation’s core programmes, the competition judged more than 430,000 images in 2026, and entry remains free in its 20th year.
Monica Allende returns as Chair of the Series Competition jury and curator of the London exhibition. She is joined by Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo (Colombia), Peipei Han (China), Candice Jansen (South Africa), Amanda Renshaw (UK) and Pauline Vermare (USA).
For 2027, the former Professional competition becomes the Series Competition and the Open competition becomes the Single Image Competition. A new “Histories” category, focusing on how the past shapes the present, joins the Series Competition, while the Single Image Competition adds “Animal Portraits”.
The Somerset House exhibition will feature 2027 winners and finalists, a special presentation by 2026 Photographer of the Year Citlali Fabián and the work of the Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient, to be announced in November. Meanwhile, the 2026 exhibition is on view at the Roger Ballen Foundation in Johannesburg until 22 January 2027.
Entry deadlines
- Student Competition: 27 November 2026, 16:00 GMT
- Single Image and Youth competitions: 5 January 2027, 16:00 GMT
- Series Competition: 12 January 2027, 16:00 GMT
