Kazutoshi Kawakami is a renowned Japanese photographer and winner of the Black and White Photo Awards 2022 in the portrait category. He has recently been invited to join the jury of this international photography competition, the Black & White Photo Awards. An alliance that continues to prove the commitment of these awards to black and white photography and its most outstanding exponents.
Kazutoshi Kawakami
Japanese photographer Kazutoshi Kawakami is renowned for his stunning visual style and creative digital illustrations. His images have a surprising expressiveness and this is something that he has been able to transport to many different fields. His work has been rewarded with numerous awards, among which we could highlight the International Photography Awards (IPA), the European Photography Awards 2022 or the London Photography Awards 2022, not to mention his outstanding position in the past Black and White Photo Awards 2022. For the past seven years he has represented Japan in the World Photographic Cup, where 15 of his works have been selected for this purpose.
His incorporation to the Black and White Photo Awards
Kazutoshi Kawakami’s participation in the judging of this photo competition further elevates the attitudes that are so prominent in these photographers. He will join a panel of renowned photographers and industry experts to select the best photos from among the entries. Joining the likes of Joel Tjintjelaar, Julia Anna Gospodarou and Charles Paul Azzopardi will not only broaden their styles and knowledge, but will also make the competition more international and open, taking it to new horizons.
It should not be forgotten that the current edition of this contest is already underway, and all photographers who wish to participate can do so from the contest website: bwphotoawards.com. You can participate in this edition of the black and white photography awards until June 15 of this year.
The Black and White Photo Awards is an annual competition that is currently in its second year and has received entries from all over the world. These photo awards are open to photographers of all levels, from amateur to professional. Categories range from architecture to landscape to portraiture. The awards are judged by the jury of renowned international photographers and experts mentioned in the previous paragraph. Each year, the jury selects the best photos among those submitted and awards a cash prize to the winning photographers.
Prizes, the other novelties of this edition.
The arrival of Kazutoshi Kawakami on the jury is not the only new feature of this edition of the Black and White Photo Awards 2023. After the success of the last edition, the organizers of the competition have decided to up the ante and raise the total amount of prizes for this black and white photography contest. Thus, this year a total of 2500 € will be distributed, about 800 € more than in the previous edition.
This increase in the prizes of the contest is accompanied by a new opportunity to be rewarded in the contest. On this occasion, the second winner of each of the categories will also be awarded. This means an increase of 5 more prizes to those awarded last year. In addition to this, both the special prize for creativity and the award for the best photograph in each category will see an increase in value. This leaves the Black and White Photo Awards 2023 as follows:
Absolute winner: 1000 €.
Prize for the best photo in each category: 150 €.
Second best photo in each category: 100 €.
Special prize for creativity: 250 €.
In addition to these awards, there will be at least 15 honorable mentions and the publication of these images and those of the finalists on the contest website, with the international exposure that comes with it. Last year the results of the contest were shared by prominent media such as: Digital Camera World, DailyMail, The Times, My Modern Met or Photolari among many others.
The current edition of the Black and White Photo Awards looks like this
With these changes we can speak of a significant growth in the Black and White Photo Awards 2023. A contest that not only expands with the incorporation of Japanese photographer Kazutoshi Kawakami to an already impressive jury, but also increases its interest and importance with the increase of its prizes.
This international black and white photography contest was born with a clear vocation to bring together the greatest exponents of this art and unite photographers from around the world around a clear and traditional theme. Something that, undoubtedly, it is achieving. Now, we just have to wait and see what incredible photographs will be taken this year with the prizes of the contest.