This is what the "photo Oscars" hand looks like

The final gala of the Sony World Photography Awards is one of the most important events in the world of photography. See what this year's ceremony of presenting "Photographic Oscars" looked like.

About 500 photographers and journalists arrived at the invitation of Sony to London to participate in the finals of the Sony World Photography Awards competition organized by the World Photography Organization. The annual festival is known as the "Oscars of photography" due to its prestigious nature and the size of the event itself. For the fifth time I had the great honor to participate in the final gala of this competition.

This year, a record number of 326,997 works from 195 countries were submitted to the Sony World Photography Awards.

They were judged by an international jury consisting of artistic directors, art curators, photo editors and, of course, photographers. The competition, due to its size, is divided into four main categories: professional, open, youth and student.

In addition, this year, the Zeiss special prize and a unique award for lifetime achievement, which Nadav Kander received. The jury also rewards the best works from a given country as part of the National Award. This year Poland National Award was won by Piotr Leczkowski.

The winners of each category received Sony camera equipment, and Federico Borella - this year's Photographer of the Year - received a cash prize of 25,000. dollars.

An exhibition of works at Somerset House shows how much we are losing while watching pictures on computer screens.

Every year, the awarded works can be seen at the London Somerset House, which is housed every day at the King's College London law department. Two wings of a historic building during the exhibition turn into a beautiful gallery.

The antique wooden floor connects with the broken white walls, corridors and rooms full of photos create a maze, where it's nice to get lost. In these minimalist, but very elegant interiors, the photographs shine.

When during the press conference I watched the final works on the TV, the effect of their impact was rather small. Only physical printout in a large format shows the power of photos. In addition, the curators took care of the fantastic exhibition of works and the huge variety of forms in which the prints were presented. All the time I have before my eyes the final photo of the open competition, which in Somerset House literally shined with its own light.

In digital times, we rarely see pictures in galleries.

The picture says more than a thousand words, but without knowing the context, you can not understand them.

This is another lesson you can take from a world-class competition. On SWPA in the open competition, we see individual photos that defend themselves and often do not need descriptions, but a professional competition operates on photographs. It's only seeing everyone that lets you understand and appreciate the photographer's work.

During the final competition gala, the honored photographers spoke in a few words about their work. Sometimes, just three sentences are enough to give the work a context that determines the reception of photographs. Works without a description can be incomprehensible, and the recipient loses a lot.

In the era of Instagram, we forget that there may be a second bottom behind the pictures.

Not every picture is a nice picture that is to please the eye. Every year, SWPA shows me a real photograph that carries a message and an emotional charge. The exhibition of SWPA-style in Instagram's time has a refreshing and sometimes shocking effect.

If you will be in London by 6 May, I strongly encourage you to visit Somerset House, where you will find the Sony World Photography Awards 2019. And if you do not have such an opportunity, I recommend going to the photo exhibition that will be in your area. Especially if you usually watch pictures on the screens of computers or smartphones.

This is what the "photo Oscars" hand looks like