At the Society of photographers Annual print competition 2023 in London saw great success for Swedish photographers. Therese Asplund, Hanna Neret, Johan Hellström and Martina Wärenfeldt took home no less than 9 wins in the twenty categories the competition is divided into!
Elinchrom photographers Therese Asplund and Hanna Neret placed second and third in the overall "Photographer of the Year 2024" and, in addition, Therese succeeded in the feat that with her image "Knitting to heal a broken heart" få 100 points from all five judges, something that only happened twice continues in the long history of the competition!
The competition is the world's first print competition for photographers and äp for participants from all over the world. There are twenty different categories covering everything from portraits and portraits to nature, advertising and fine art. Judging and awarding takes place during the four-day long event in London, which each year attracts over 10,000 visitors.
All submitted entries are judged by a jury panel of five judges and given a score between 1-100. All entries with 80 points or more can be viewed at an exhibition during the last two days of the event and the three highest scoring entries in each category advance to the finals for a final judging behind closed doors where 1st, 2nd and 3rd places are determined.
This is where the Swedish dominance was really felt. 24 of the 60 who went to the final were from one of the Swedish participants!
In the end, the wins in nine of the twenty categories went to one of the Swedish photographers. Therese won "Natural portrait" and Monochrome", John "The natural world and "Wedding day reportage", Hanna "Illustrative", "Family & group" and "Children" and Martina "Budoir & beauty" and Commissioned portrait". In addition, tricks Therese second place overall and Hanna third place.
The most memorable thing from this year's competition is probably that Therese's picture "Knitting to heal a broken heart" succeeded in something that only two other pictures have succeeded in during the competition's long history, namely getting 100 points!
Something that attracted a lot of attention and was celebrated in a big way. The fact that she also had the second highest score in the same category with 99 p for "Miss Mandarine" does not make the achievement any less!