India's Jamia Millia Islamia wins Sony World Photography Award in Asia

Delhi-based AJK Mass Communication Research Centre of Jamia Millia Islamia, Indian university, won top honours at the annual Sony World Photography Awards under the Student Focus category for the Asia region. A team of two students, Neal Kartik and Pranab Kumar Aich, led by Jamia professor Farhat Basir Khan will represent Asia at the Cannes Festival in April, 2009.

The Sony World Photography Awards at Cannes (14-19 April 2009) is a week-long celebration of the photographic culture, history and image. The World Photography Awards chosen theme for 2009 is The Environment. Dedicated blocks of activity pertaining to the global environment as shown through photography will form an important part of the daily festival schedule.

Every year, for one week in April, the City of Cannes takes a step back from the moving image and celebrates the birth of film through the photographic medium.

The Sony World Photography Awards announced the short listed winners of Student Focus 2009. The two winning students from each continent will be flown to Cannes for workshops, seminars and lectures during the SWPA Festival, 14th - 19th April 2009.

The six winning institutions are as follows:

Africa - Middle East University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Asia - Jamia Millia Islamia, India
Australasia - The University of Sydney, Australia (NSW)
Europe - La Cambre University, Belgium
North America - Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, USA
South America - Universidad Autónama de Ciudad Juárez, Mexico

"I really think the credit must go to my brilliant students Neal and Pranab for their innovation and determination. This award also proves that we at Jamia Millia Islamia follow the highest standards in the field of photography," said Farhat Basir Khan in an interview with India-EU Film Initiative. Khan himself is an award-winning photographer.  

"I think the key to our success is that we were never afraid of innovating and experimenting. Above all, we've started asserting ourselves in arts. For some, vibrant India means a higher GDP, but for me it's the newly found confidence among the artists and photographers of India that is making India truly vibrant as well as assertive," said Prof. Khan, who has been a jury member at several photography contests. 

World Photography Awards by Sony invited students from 60 universities across six continents – North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia – to compete in Student Focus programme. 120 students from 60 universities submitted their work online.

The overall winner will be announced, along with the winners of the professional and amateur categories, at the Sony World Photography Awards ceremony at the Palais des Festival. The Student Focus prize is over 45,000 Euros worth of  Photography equipment for the winning university, courtesy of the sponsor, Sony.