American Photographer Wins Sony World Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award

American Photographer Wins Sony World Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award

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San Diego, CA—Renowned American photographer William Eggleston is the recipient of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards’ Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award.

Eggleston will be honored at the Sony World Photography Awards gala ceremony in London on April 25, 2013. A special display of his work will be shown at Somerset House as part of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards exhibition, and rarely seen images will be published in the 2013 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards winners’ book.

Recognized as the pioneer of color photography and the personal documentary style, William Eggleston has been producing cutting-edge work for more 50 years. Since first picking up a camera in 1957, Eggleston’s work is said to find ‘beauty in the everyday.’ His images capture the ordinary world around him, creating interest through sharp observation, dynamic composition and wit.

His groundbreaking 1976 show at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, moved color photography from the field of advertising to being recognized as an art form of its own. Eggleston’s influence on contemporary photography and photographers is far-reaching and has inspired the likes of Martin Parr, Sofia Coppola, Andreas Gurksy and Juergen Teller.

“The world is in color,” said Eggleston when commenting on the award. “To paraphrase my friend John Szarkowski, my attempt has been to see simultaneously both the blue and the sky as one thing.”

Astrid Merget, creative director of the World Photography Organization, added: “William Eggleston is a without a doubt, one of the great pioneers of our time. His influence on color photography, and subsequently on many of today’s most revered working photographers, is one to be admired, respected and awarded. We are honored to have the opportunity to present the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award to William this year.”

Eggleston will receive the award on April 25, the same night the winners of the Sony World Photography Awards’ professional categories and the overall L’Iris d’Or/Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year will be announced.
 
A selection of Eggleston’s prints, loaned by the Wilson Centre for Photography, will be on display at Somerset House as part of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards exhibition from April 26 through May 12, 2013. The images were taken by Eggleston between 1965 and 1980, and the majority of the prints are from his iconic Los Alamos and Dust Bells series and the 10.D.70.V1 portfolio. The exhibition opens the same week as a display of Eggleston’s dye transfers at the Tate Modern.

A further selection of Eggleston’s images can be seen in the 2013 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards book, including rarely seen images and some of the photographer’s most recent work. The book costs $45.95 and can be purchased from worldphoto.org.

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