ZEISS launches international photography contest in cooperation with the World Photography Organisation

ZEISS and the World Photography Organisation launch an international photography contest

OBERKOCHEN, Germany, 10-11-2015 — /EuropaWire/ — ZEISS today (05/11/2015) launches a prestigious international photography contest in cooperation with the World Photography Organisation. “Seeing Beyond” – expanding horizons and achieving one’s own ambitions – is the name of the new ZEISS Photography Award. It gives photographers the opportunity to showcase their talent to a distinguished jury and international audience. Participants can submit a series of three to ten images for this year’s theme, “Meaningful Places,” before February 5, 2016.

The ZEISS Photography Award 2016 runs in parallel to the Sony World Photography Awards, the world’s biggest photography competition. Both contests are organized by the World Photography Organisation (WPO). WPO stresses the artistic intention of all submitted works, and ZEISS wants to support this goal with the new award. “For more than 125 years, ZEISS lenses have been writing history: they are creative tools for the most sophisticated photo and film artists and they documented pioneer achievements of mankind, such as the first moon landing in 1969,” said Dr. Winfried Scherle, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the ZEISS Business Group Consumer Optics. “With outstanding optical designs and inventions, such as the anti-reflective coating, the ZEISS foundation has created milestones in the history of photography. With our lenses we enable photographers to achieve exceptional imaging performance, and with the ZEISS Photography Award we are demonstrating our commitment to high-quality photography. Lenses are only a tool – the true value of the pictures is generated by the photographer and his creativity. As I am a passionate photographer myself, I very much look forward to seeing the results,” said Scherle. “The new ZEISS Photography Award perfectly complements the Sony World Photography Awards,” said Scott Gray, CEO of the World Photography Organisation. “This prize presents the exciting prospect for photographers to push their creative boundaries. That is why we look forward to presenting many ZEISS Photography Awards in the years to come.”

The theme of the ZEISS Photography Award 2016

Each year, the ZEISS Photography Award “Seeing Beyond” will have a different theme which photographers are free to interpret. For the 2016 contest, the theme is: Seeing beyond – Meaningful Places. In its first year, ZEISS Photography Award invites photographers to give meaning through their creative work to special places and to express this meaning. Different perspectives are desired, as well as a free interpretation of the term “meaningful” and “location/place”. It can be about places that possess a special historical or future value, places of adventures, scenic places in nature, or a trip to a special distant place.

Photographers from anywhere in the world can submit a series of three to ten images that match this theme for free at www.worldphoto.org. The deadline for submission is February 5, 2016. The winner will be announced in April 2016.

The prizes

Participants of the ZEISS Photography Award can benefit in many ways. First, all submitted photos will be reviewed by a jury of leading experts from the photographic industry. The first-place winner will receive camera lenses of his or her choice with a total value of EUR 15,000 and will be flown to London to attend the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards gala ceremony. The winning photographs, as well as selected outstanding photos from the competition, will be shown as part of the Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House in London from April 22 – May 8, 2016. The winning photographer also will have the option of working individually with ZEISS.

For more information and the conditions of participation, please visit:
www.worldphoto.org/competitions/zeiss-photography-award-seeing-beyond

Information for the editors

ZEISS Photography Award 2016:

Open contest – open to all photographers, evaluation will be through a photo series (three to ten pictures)
Theme: Meaningful places

The most important dates of the ZEISS Photography Award 2016 at a glance:

February 5, 2016 – deadline to submit a photo series
April 21, 2016 – Sony World Photography Awards 2016 gala ceremony in London, ZEISS Photography Award winner will be recognised
April 22 – May 8, 2016: Winning and selected photographs shown as part of the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House, London

About the World Photography Organisation (WPO):
WPO is a home where photography is celebrated and the art of the photographer is recognised. Working with professional, enthusiast and student photographers alike, the World Photography Organisation provides a global network across the photographic industry to not only to raise the level of conversation around the subject, but to increase awareness and appreciation of this artform. WPO hosts a year-round portfolio of industry and public events including: Sony World Photography Awards, the world’s largest photography competition and accompanying global exhibition; the World Photography Student Focus Programme, inspiring and working with the next generation of photographers, and Photo Shanghai, Asia Pacific’s premier art fair dedicated to photography. In addition, WPO has a thriving online presence via its website, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and addresses the industry’s latest issues in its monthly online publication, The Magazine.
For more information please visit www.worldphoto.org.

All questions from the media should be directed to:
Jill Cotton at World Photography Organisation
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 3043 / +44 (0)7838144992
Email: jill@worldphoto.org

Tobias Brandstetter
Camera and Cine Lenses
Carl Zeiss AG
Phone: +49 7364 20-4694
Fax: +49 7364 20-4045
tobias.brandstetter@zeiss.com

Press contact Americas
Camera Lenses
Nicole Balle
Phone +1 914 681 7747
nicole.balle@zeiss.com

ZEISS
ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the optics and optoelectronics industries. ZEISS develops and distributes lithography optics, measuring technology, microscopes, medical technology, eyeglass lenses, camera and cine lenses, binoculars and planetarium technology. With its solutions, the company constantly advances the world of optics and helps shape technological progress. The company is divided up into the six business groups Industrial Metrology, Microscopy, Medical Technology, Vision Care, Consumer Optics and Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology. ZEISS is represented in over 40 countries – with around 30 production sites, over 50 sales and service locations and about 25 research and development facilities.

In fiscal year 2013/14 the company generated revenue approximating 4.3 billion euros with just under 25,000 employees. Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. Carl Zeiss AG is the strategic management holding company that manages the ZEISS Group. The company is wholly owned by the Carl Zeiss Stiftung (Carl Zeiss Foundation).

Further information at www.zeiss.com

Consumer Optics
The Consumer Optics business group combines the company’s business with camera and movie lenses, binoculars, spotting scopes, hunting optics and planetarium technology. It is represented at the Oberkochen, Wetzlar and Jena sites. A total of around 750 employees work for the business group which generated revenue of 185 million euros in fiscal year 2013/14.

SOURCE: ZEISS International

###