The WYNG Masters Award, Hong Kong's first significant photography prize, was launched in May 2012 with a series of programs, a dedicated website, and an international open call for submissions of photographic works. This pioneering annual prize in photography firmly places Hong Kong, one of the world's most vibrant metropolises, as a leader in nurturing the growth of photography as an art form in Asia. As well as stimulating discourse on photographic practices—the theory and the history, particularly as it relates to Hong Kong—the WYNG Masters Award also aims to bring community awareness to a specifically chosen, socially-relevant topic of importance to Hong Kong and its people. The theme for the first annual award is POVERTY.
From 31 May to 31 August 2012, WYNG Masters Award is pleased to issue an open call invitation for submission of photographic-based work. Entry is open to both residents of Hong Kong and all other countries. Visual content of photographic works must be related to both Hong Kong and to the chosen theme. Finalists will be exhibited in Hong Kong in March 2013. A full-color catalogue will be published to coincide with the exhibition. The recipient of the WYNG Masters Award will receive HKD 250,000. An additional HKD 250,000 will be awarded to another photographer to develop the WYNG Poverty Project.
The WYNG Poverty Project is a component of the WYNG Masters Award program. The finalist with the most potential to contribute to the photographic canon on poverty through further visual exploration will be selected to develop the WYNG Poverty Project. WYNG Foundation trustees, based upon the recommendation of the WYNG Masters Award advisory board, choose the recipient.
A five-member, international jury panel comprised of industry leaders in photography, art, publishing, and non-profit will select both the finalists and the recipient of the WYNG Masters Award. Finalists will be announced December 2012. The recipient of the WYNG Masters Award will be announced March 2013 at the opening of the exhibition in Hong Kong. The prestigious jury includes Zoher Abdoolcarim, Jehan Chu, Frank Kalero, Sze Lai Shan, and John Stanmeyer.
For full biographies please visit http://wyngmastersaward.hk/index.php/en/master-about-en/master-jury-en. For further details on the WYNG Masters Award and the submission process, please visit wyngmastersaward.hk.
About poverty in Hong Kong
Poverty is a global issue affecting both mature and developing societies. At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, over a decade ago, world leaders made a milestone pledge to end poverty by 2015. With only three years to the deadline, it is widely acknowledged that this commitment will not be met.
In Hong Kong, poverty is on the rise and is increasingly seen as a serious economic, social, and political problem in what is one of the world's most dynamic urban economic and cultural centres. Amidst great affluence, 18.1% of the population struggle to access basic goods and services—including safe and clean housing. These communities are at risk with long-terms social, psychological and economic implications that will reverberate through Hong Kong society as a whole. In 2012, images of the personal impact of poverty—along with the larger social consequences—are pervasive in Hong Kong. This new and troubling trend requires examination and discourse amongst all sectors of the population. In keeping with the mission of the WYNG Foundation, the WYNG Masters Award strives to provide a platform for discourse on this important topic for Hong Kong.
