Finalists Announced for the 2024 AOP Open Award

Bringing together still and moving images by professional and amateur photographers, the finalists for the AOP Open Awards are now announced. Run by the Association of Photographers, the Open Awards marks an exciting opportunity for photographers at any level to compete on equal terms. The finalists’ work will be exhibited alongside the 39th AOP Photography Award Finalists at the official AOP Awards Showcase in London with the Gold and Silver winners announced live on the evening of 26 September 2024. AOP Open Award Finalists will also feature in the highly collectable 39th AOP Awards Book.

Now in its 18th year, the Open Award is a popular competition attracting entries from across the world. There are no categories or themes in this competition, so the choice of work submitted is entirely up to the photographer and can be personal or commissioned. As in previous years, stills, moving image, and innovation reflecting the creative use of technologies and innovations in the production of works created by a person are accepted. All images must have been created on or after 1 January 2022.

Isabelle Doran, CEO of the Association of Photographers, says of the AOP Open Awards, ''This year's Open Awards finalists' entries have again surpassed our expectations and presented us with photographs that are seductively intriguing and alluring. Each entry encourages the viewer to question and wonder about the human stories behind the images.''



The finalists this year cover a vast range of subjects reflecting the universal power of photography. These include recreating original photographs of Black American civil war Combatants with their descendants as the subject matter; documenting the story of a Paralympian snowboarded who was injured by an IED in Afghanistan while serving in the British Army; a remote historic Spanish pilgrimage; a reimagining of the photographer’s father’s upbringing in Uganda considering the interactions and segregations of African and Indian communities; the plight of those left behind by technology in the USA; children affected by the war in Ukraine; the reshaping of the Alps by climate change; as well as portraits of winemakers, entrepreneurial mothers, and those overlooked by medical professions.

The three judges for the 2024 AOP Open Awards are:
● Francis Augusto, AOP Accredited Photographer, whose practice draws inspiration from his childhood, his experience as a former youth worker, and his sociology degree. His works mainly focus on themes of interaction, mundanity, and joy, employing an ethnographic approach that invites viewers into the lives of the subjects.
● Zoë Norfolk, AOP Accredited Photographer, an expert in lifestyle and portrait photography with a passion for photographing people and their environments, creating moments that give an added depth within a picture. She loves capturing great light, faces and colours.
● Waldo Wilkinson, MD / Agent / producer, Morgan Lockyer, who has been an agent for 16 years, specialising in Advertising and Commercial photography for the last 12. He has worked across TVC Production, then evolving into Photography, where he was mentored by Charlotte Morgan.

Waldo Wilkinson, one of this year’s judges and MD / Agent / producer at Morgan Lockyer, elaborates, ''As always with the AOP, the finalists deliver compelling and unique work that gives us all headaches trying to choose an overall winner. Congratulations to the storytellers, the technicians, the experimentalists, everyone sharing their passion, skill and vision with us.'' The many awards presented by the AOP in its calendar reflect the organisation’s commitment to showcasing the very best in photography, as well as promoting and protecting the rights of professional photographers.



About the Association of Photographers (AOP)
The Association of Photographers was first formed in 1968 as the Association of Fashion and Advertising Photographers and is one of the most prestigious professional photographers' associations in the world. The Association's aims are to protect, promote and inspire the worth and standing of its members within the commercial photographic industry Its mission is to be the guiding force for professional photographers, and image-makers, on matters relating to business practice in still and moving images, whether from a practical, educational or legal basis. The Association brings professionals together and provides a sense of community that is simply unavailable anywhere else. It promotes the highest levels of achievement, and campaigns for its members' interests at all levels.

The AOP membership has always been formed of some of the most influential, trailblazing photographers in the history of the art form. Past and present members include the likes of Terence Donovan, Rankin, Tim Flach, Nadav Kander, Tessa Traeger, David Bailey, Julia Fullerton-Batten and Jillian Edelstein. For over 50 years, members’ work has appeared in global advertising campaigns, books, newspapers, magazines, exhibitions and cultural events the world over. Membership is open to professional and assisting photographers working in the creative sector; agents; any individuals working in the photographic industry; those starting out in the profession; those in education; and anyone with an interest in professional photography.