Shot of the Month

Tom Oldham is crowned Open Photographer of the Year 2020 at the Sony World Photography Awards

The Open category winner of the Sony World Photography Awards 2020

Tom Oldham’s black-andwhite portrait of Pixies frontman Charles Thompson (aka Black Francis) was originally taken for the music magazine Mojo. Asked by Tom to acknowledge his frustration with photo shoots, Thompson offered a perfect gesture of exasperation by digging his hands into his face.

The shot has received recognition in this year’s Sony World Photography Awards, earning Oldham the Open Photographer of the Year award and a prize of $5,000. “To have my work noticed amongst some of the best images in the world was a real shock,” he says. “I’ve been a photographer for a long time, and I hope this encourages others to enter at any stage of their career. Sometimes if your work doesn’t do well in a competition, there’s a fear that you might then think less of that work you already love. But in the end sometimes not trying can feel worse. There was one day left before the deadline; I made a decision to enter, and it has been transformative for me.”

Each year the Awards attracts photographers around the globe to submit their best work from the past 12 months. Free to enter and open to photographers of all abilities, entrants can choose from four competitions: Professional, Open, Youth and Student. The World Photography Organisation set up the Sony World Photography Awards to give hard-working, talented photographers the visibility they deserve to help them in their career.