Neville Jones named Australia’s best amateur photographer at Sony World Photography Awards

Australian photographer Neville Jones is today announced as the winner of the Australia National Award, part of the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards, one of the world’s leading photography competitions.

Open to photographers of all abilities, the National Award seeks to uncover and honour the single best image taken by an Australian photographer entered into any of the ten Open categories of the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.

Melbourne-based Jones is a non-executive director of Accelerator Communications – he was recently joined on the Board by Siimon Reynolds – was chosen as the winner for an image titled “Going Home” which was shot on the Li River near Xingping in China. It was selected by a local panel of judges, including fine arts photographer and Sony Ambassador Steve Morenos, from over 2,700 entries by Australian photographers.

The runners-up of the competition are Luke Henkel in 2nd place and ex ad agency creative Chris Round in 3rd place.

Jones’ stunning winning image shows a Cormorant fisherman working the waterways before dawn amidst the spectacular limestone towers of the Karst landscape.

Says Jones: “The birds are trained to fetch fish from the inky depths but not swallow them.  The fisherman accepts the fish from the birds who dive back for more. Here, still before dawn, the fisherman and his birds head for home.

“We have many fine photographers in Australia as evidenced by the number of Aussies who made it to the finals of the Sony World Photography Awards.  So I am honoured to have my image chosen to win the National Award. I would like to thank Sony and the organisers for providing a global showcase for the world’s best photographers.”

As the Australia National Award winner, Jones receives Sony digital camera equipment and his photograph will be exhibited at Somerset House, London from 1-18 May as part of the Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition and published on www.worldphoto.org.

The World Photography Organisation also announced today the winners of the Open and Youth categories of the Sony World Photography Awards plus the winners of the 37 other National Awards across the world.  To see all the winning images please go to www.worldphoto.org.

(Pictured: 1. Going Home – Neville Jones Australia 1st Place National Award 2014 Sony World Photography Awards; 2. Jack’s Duck Dive – Luke Henkel Australia 2nd Place National Award 2014 Sony World Photography Awards; 3. Ulladulla, NSW – Chris Round Australia 3rd Place National Award 2014 Sony World Photography Awards)