Pictures of the Year Asia

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First created in 2021, the Pictures of the Year, Asia competition is the annual hallmark event of POY Asia, an initiative committed to promoting Asia-based photographers and stories.

An official program of Pictures of the Year International, POY Asia was created by and for photographers working and living in Asia. Kay-Chin Tay of Singapore is serving as a Co-Director. Prashant Panjiar of India, Tanya Habjouqa of Jordan and Maye-E Wong, a Singaporean based in USA, are the Founding Advisors. POYi Director Lynden Steele is a Co-Director and will serve in a supporting role.

Inspired by POYi’s guiding principle of “Show truth with a camera,” POY Asia is committed to seeing the world from an Asian perspective.

The first competition in 2021 started with nine categories with the Photographer of the Year, Asia being the premier prize. In 2022, a new category — Recreational & Traditional Sports — was added.

As the world returns more and more to pre-pandemic ‘normalcy’, we decided not to have any COVID-19 categories in 2023.

In response to feedback from photographers in the region, we added five new categories in our third edition. They are Sports Action, General News, Daily Life, Daily Life Picture Story and Portrait Series.

Quick links to POY Asia competitions by year: 2023 / 2022 / 2021

Pictures of the Year Asia 2023

Quick links: Introduction / Categories / Rules / Judges / Moderators / Coordinators / Awards / Sponsors / Key Dates / Who Can Participate? / How to Participate? / Archives / FAQs

Pictures of the Year Asia (POY Asia) is pleased to announce that POY Asia 2023, the third edition of our annual competition, will accept submissions Jan 16 — Feb 20, 2023.

Modelled after the prestigious Pictures of the Year International (POYi), POY Asia was created in 2020 by and for photographers from Asia. POY Asia is an official program of POYi.

Inspired by POYi’s guiding principle of “Show truth with a camera,” POY Asia is committed to seeing the world from an Asian perspective.

Our first competition in 2021 started with nine categories with Photographer of the Year, Asia being the premier prize.

In 2022, a new category — Recreational & Traditional Sports — was added.

As the world returns more and more to pre-pandemic ‘normalcy’, we decided not to have any COVID-19 categories in POY Asia 2023.

In response to feedback from photographers in the region, we added five new categories in our third edition. They are Sports Action, General News, Daily Life, Daily Life Picture Story and Portrait Series. In addition, we have created a special non-competition category War in Ukraine.

To serve the community even better, we have also tweaked some of the rules in this year’s competition.

The premier category in this competition is still the Photographer of the Year, Asia award.

As per our last two competitions, we have a panel of 10 esteemed judges from the region, and we will introduce them one by one over the next few weeks.

Judging for POY Asia 2023 will be held online 7 — 9 April, 2023.

Pictures of the Year Asia 2022 Results

We are pleased to announce the results of Pictures of the Year Asia 2022 competition which was judged 8 — 10 April 2022.

Modelled after the prestigious Pictures of the Year International (POYi), POY Asia was created in 2020 by and for photographers from Asia. POY Asia is an official program of POYi.

Inspired by POYi’s guiding principle of “Show truth with a camera,” POY Asia is committed to seeing the world from an Asian perspective.

The 10 judges awarded the 2022 Photographer of the Year, Asia to Roman Pilipey, a China-based Ukrainian photojournalist with EPA.

In addition, the judges also recognized 29 Finalists, 31 Awards of Excellence in 10 categories.

The winners this year came from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Hong Kong, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Palestine, Philippines, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, USA.

11 winners won in more than one category, and 11 of the overall winners are won by women/non-binary photographers.

40 awards are won by independent photographers.