ASIA’S BEST SNAPSHOTS CAPTURED IN MAYBANK PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2013
... recorded overwhelming response with over 67,000 photo entries received

Maybank today announced the coveted winners of the „Maybank Photography Awards 2013‟ in a special prize presentation ceremony in Kuala Lumpur. The photo competition which was held from 1st July – 30th August 2013 garnered over 67,000 entries from all across Asia.

Themed “Inspiring Asia” and organised for the second consecutive year, the competition offered USD35,000 worth of prizes and the coveted title of Maybank's Photographer of the Year. It featured seven categories; 'Culture & Heritage Photography', 'Portraits Photography', 'Street Photography', 'Nature Photography', 'Press Photography', 'People‟s Choice Awards' and 'Photographer of the Year'.

The competition had not only provided an excellent platform to showcase some of the best works of the region‟s photographers, but also managed to capture everyday life within Asia‟s diverse societies.

Maybank Group Chief Marketing Officer, Adam Wee Abdullah said, “Our inaugural competition which was opened only to Malaysians last year, was well received with over 19,000 submissions. We were encouraged by that response and this prompted us to expand this year to the ASEAN region."

Adam said large number of entries astounded the panel of judges who reviewed the submissions based on criteria such as aesthetics, technical execution, image quality, appropriateness to and interpretation of this year‟s theme. The “Photographer of the Year” winner, he added, had to be a finalist in at least two categories, display talent across multiple subjects and genres with a consistently high standard.

“This year we received over 67,000 submissions in three months from nine Asean countries, three times more than what we had received last year. In addition, the produced content was viewed over 440,000 times via the website and YouTube, in addition to being shared more than 10,000 times on social media networks,” he added.

“One of Maybank‟s values is to be at the heart of the community. We are proud to play our role to support this passion and to support the diverse facets of arts and culture which photography represents. Moving forward, we are planning to commission the Photographer of the Year winner to cover a Maybank Corporate Responsibility project. The winner will get the chance to have his own exhibition and showcase the cause through his photos.”

Ming Thein returned as the Head Judge of the competition and he was joined by world-renowned photographers - Raghu Rai, Mike Yamashita, Jim Liaw and Manny Librodo as panel judges.

The Maybank Photography Awards 2013 is collaborative effort between Maybank, Adobe, Canon, The Centre of Asian Photographers, Leica and Metz.