Redmond, WA—Hasselblad announced that the increasing popularity of the Hasselblad Masters Awards was demonstrated by entry levels surging from 2,500 for the 2012 event up to nearly 4,000 for the latest competition.
“For the first time, we allowed entries from photographers who have been active professionals for more than three years and who use cameras of 16MP and above, regardless of brand or format,” said Paul Waterworth, manager, Global Photographer Relations. “We’re delighted by how many people have responded to this: winning a section in the Hasselblad Masters Awards is clearly now recognized as a major accolade by professionals based in all corners of the world.”
Following an initial call for entries last May, professional photographers had until the end of August to send in their best images to compete in a total of 12 categories: Fine Art, Landscapes/Nature, Wedding/Social, Portrait, Fashion/Beauty, Editorial, Products, Architectural, General, Wildlife, Project/21 and Underwater, the final two being newly added. An internal jury at Hasselblad then had the task of honing down the thousands of entries to a short list of just 120—10 images in each category. That list is now available to view online.
Hasselblad is extending an open invitation to the public to visit hasselblad.com/masters-finalists to view the short listed pictures and to vote for their favorite images—the online poll counting as one vote in each category.
A panel of industry experts will cast the remaining votes, and just one photographer in each category will ultimately emerge as a winner and will be crowned a Hasselblad Master. The twelve Master photographers will have the opportunity to borrow Hasselblad equipment to create a new set of images for the fourth special Masters commemorative book. They will also receive a trophy at photokina 2014, and all winning images will be published on the Hasselblad global website and presented at exhibitions around the world. hasselbladusa.com
