Hasselblad “Masters on Tour” Showcases 100 Finalists’ Images

Starting this month, photos by the 100 finalists in the Hasselblad 2009 Masters Award competition will be showcased in a traveling exhibition.

The “Masters on Tour” exhibit will visit Hong Kong, Copenhagen, New York, and London, where the public will be able to view the work and vote for their favorite photographs in each category.

From the more than 3,000 photographers who submitted portfolios to the competition, 10 were selected in each of the 10 Masters categories: Architecture, Editorial, Fashion, Fine Art, General Photography, Nature/Landscape, Portrait, Product, Social/Wedding, and Upcoming. One photo from each finalist photographer is now touring.

“I am thrilled by the artistic and technical quality of the photography of our finalists,” says Christian Norgaard, Photographer Relations Manager at Hasselblad. “I am eager to see which photographs will prevail in public voting against very strong competition.” A jury of photography experts will determine the 10 winners - with a twist. For the first time, one vote per category will be decided through public voting.

Starting in Hong Kong at Cornwall House, Taikog Place, 979 Kings Road, Island East, August 21-31, the next port of call is Copenhagen’s DASK Gallery, Flæsketorvet 24, Kødbyen, 1711 Copenhagen V, August 28–September 12; then New York City, on October 22, for a Masters Exhibition and VIP get together at MILK Studio, 450 W. 15th Street (during PhotoPlus Expo); then London in December.

Each Masters exhibition is created in collaboration with HP, Hahnemühle, SanDisk, and Broncolor. HP printed the 100 finalist images with their new Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer on the TIPA award-winning Photo Rag Baryta paper from Hahnemühle. TIPA-winning Broncolor - for Best Studio Flash Generator: Broncolor Scoro A4S - is providing high-end lighting equipment for the exhibition sites, and SanDisk is supplying CompactFlash memory cards to the winners, as they did last year.

“The standard of work shown by the finalists is very high this year,” says Christian Nørgaard. “These are photographers who already are successful and for whom winning a Hasselblad Masters Award would be the icing on the cake.”

To vote for your favorite image in each category or to find out more about the Hasselblad Masters Award program, click here

Text by Alice B. Miller