WPGA 2009 Annual Contest Jurors' Announcement

Online, December 3, 2009 (Newswire.com) - Selected among thousands of images received from 27 countries, the photographer and Brooks alumni Dilip Bhatia from Mumbai, India won the First Prize in the Category WPGA 2009 Photographer of the Year, organized by The Worldwide Photography Gala Awards (www.thegalaawards.com) benefiting Save the Children, and juried by Chris Steele-Perkins (Magnum), Susan Zadeh (Eyemazing), Brooks Jensen (Lenswork) and Tim Anderson (Red Dog Journal). Tom Atwood (Los Angeles) and John Delaney (New York) were awarded with the Second and Third Prize, while Antonio Bolfo (New York) received a Merit of Honor. The Canadian photographer Larry Louie was the recipient of th Documentary Humanitarian Grant.

All images awardees can be seen in The Wonderick Gallery (WPGA's showcase): www.wonderpick.com.

Worldwide Photography Gala Award's mission is to recognize exceptional photographers through exhibitions, publications and by extensively promoting their work. Believing that everyone and every organization has a responsibility to contribute to the benefit of world humanity, WPGA donates a substantial portion of its revenues to established international organizations which advance the welfare of underprivileged societies. Save the Children is the humanitarian organization to benefit from these events.

To fulfill its mission WPGA has currently open three calls for entries open to professional and amateurs photographers worldwide:

The Jacob Riis Award (deadline January 23rd, 2010), a portfolio competition juried by Susan Zadeh, Paul Cava, Per Valentin and Alexander Scholz, and sponsored by Eyemazig Magazine. The winning portfolio will be featured in Eyemazing magazine.

The Julia Cameron Award (deadline February 7th, 2010), a women-only competition, juried by Mary Ellen Mark, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Olivia Arthur, Kim Weston, Vanessa Whinship and Carol McCusker, and sponsored by Zoom Magazine and Professional Women Photographers. Awarded images will be published in ZOOM.

The Nadar Award (deadline January 17th, 2010), a competition for students and recent graduates, juried by Reid Callanan and Roy Flukinger, and sponsored by Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. First prize: free travel, lodging and tution to attend a Santa Fe Workshop plus $ 1000.

If you wish to receive high resolution images of the awardees for publishing please contact Victoria Hardy-Werbin ([email protected]).