Australian photographer Andrew Quilty is among the finalists of the Professional categories announced overnight by the World Photography Organisation.
© Andrew Quilty, Australia, 3rd Place, Professional, Portraiture (Professional competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards
Quilty, who took out third place in the Professional Portraiture category of the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards, is recognised for his exceptional series, High Water, depicting young Afghani skiers. Shot in March 2017, the body of work features portraits of young skiers from Bamiyan, Afghanistan, who are attracted to the Fuladi Valley every year for the annual Afghan Ski Challenge. Quilty had seen images of the young boys and their homemade skis in the region and was keen to photograph them. Working together with the manager of a local hotel, the photographer found the young skiers in the village of Au Bala (‘High Water’) in the Fuladi Valley. Using an anteroom of a mosque as a makeshift studio, Quilty spent less than two minutes with each boy photographing them, and he noted that none of the boys knew exactly how old they were.
Also announced at the same time was the winner of the prestigious Photographer of the Year title, which was presented to British artist Alys Tomlinson. Images by all category winners of the Awards’ Professional, competition, as well as the overall Open, Youth and Student winners and the Photographer of the Year can be viewed via the following link: 2018 Sony World Photography Awards. This news joins the March announcement of 2018’s 10 Open competition category winners and 63 National Awards winners, to complete the 2018 awards.
