Tamary Kudita's image titled "Africa Victorian" which was awarded the creative award in the open competition at the Sony World Photography Awards in March has won her the overall open competition honour. The honour was announced on 15 April in a ceremony that was the first of it's kind according to the organisers. The image titled "African Victorian" was modeled by Nothando Chiwanga while Angeline Dlamini did the costume design and they were an integral part of Kudita's team.
For the first time in the Sony World Photography Awards 14-year history we’re revealing the results via a very special, exclusive winners announcement video! This video reveals the overall winners from the 2021 Youth, Open, Student and Professional competitions – plus the Professional competition category winners. There’s also a special mention to the 2021 Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient Graciela Iturbide.
According to Synesy over 100 professional photographers were shortlisted in the Open competition with an additional 10 classification winners. The 10 classification winners were set to receive “the latest digital imaging equipment from Sony” and then go on to contend for the overall open competition winner that was revealed on April 15. Tamary Kudita as the winner is set to take home the Open Photographer of the Year title and a $5,000 award.
The Open competition is a celebration of the power of single images. In describing her image and work Tamary Kudita said:
It pays tribute to the contemporary being who is also rooted in history. A central notion in my work is the importance of African representation, and I am thankful to have received the opportunity to put Zimbabwean art on the map.
You can watch the full Sony World Photography Awards 2021 ceremony below (Fast forward to about 9:30 to watch Tamary Kudita receive her award):