CEWE Photo Award 2019 is the largest photography competition in the world

Oldenburg, Germany, 4 June 2019. The deadline for entries has barely come to a close and the CEWE Photo Award is already setting new standards. Over the course of the past year, the “Our world is beautiful” theme has attracted 448,152 photo submissions, making it the most popular international photography competition of its kind. The jury, led by renowned photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, is eagerly looking forward to selecting the best entries in a task that is sure to be both fun and challenging. The decisions will be announced on 26 September at a grand awards ceremony in Vienna.

Photographs in ten categories – the jury has a huge task ahead

Photography enthusiasts from around the world have taken part in the CEWE Photo Award 2019 competition, with no fewer than 448,152 entries relating to the theme “Our world is beautiful” received between 17 May 2018 and 2 June 2019. This impressive figure makes CEWE Photo Award 2019 the largest photography competition in the world.

“Both the diversity and quality of the photo submissions have been overwhelming,” underlines Dr. Christian Friege, Chairman of the Board at CEWE. “It’s a real treat to scroll through the online gallery as it is, but the best photos will be featuring in various international exhibitions after the awards ceremony.”

For the first time, entrants have had ten different categories to choose from when submitting their photographs. In addition to the established themes of “Landscapes”, “People”, “Nature”, “Architecture and Infrastructure” and “Sports”, this competition also featured the options of “Food”, “Humour”, “Hobby and Leisure”, “Animals” and “Travel and Culture”. Prizes worth a total of more than 250,000 euros are in store for the winners. The jury, which is headed up by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, is currently in the process of selecting the best photographs.

Awards ceremony on 26 September in Vienna

CEWE and the jury will be announcing the winners in person at the awards ceremony, which will be held on 26 September 2019 at the Natural History Museum in Vienna. In addition to Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the members of the jury also include Christie Goodwin from the UK (official photographer for the Royal Albert Hall), Tobias Hägg from Sweden (@airpixels), Markus Schreiber (Associated Press), Joachim Herrmann (Reuters), Dr Wilfried Vyslozil (Chairman of the Board at SOS Children’s Villages International), and Dr Christian Friege (Chairman of the Board at CEWE). Ten winners will be announced at the event before the overall competition winner is revealed for the very first time. Not even the winners will know who this will be before the grand announcement.

Since this year’s competition first launched, there have been three monthly winners selected across all categories. The winning entries that have already been picked out can be viewed here.

Donation to SOS Children’s Villages International for every photo

It’s not just photography enthusiasts who stand to win by entering the CEWE Photo Award 2019 competition: for every photo submitted, CEWE donates 10 cents to SOS Children’s Villages International. To date, this figure is up to 44,815.20 euros and counting. It is the mission of the independent relief organization to provide poor and disadvantaged children with support and individual assistance.

A photography competition with history

The CEWE Photo Award finds its roots in CEWE’s first international photography competition, entitled “Europe is beautiful 2010”. In the years that followed, the competition continued to gain in popularity and attract increasing numbers of photography fans from around the world. All submissions – along the latest monthly winners – can be found on the CEWE Photo Award website at www.cewephotoaward.com