Syngenta announced that the second Syngenta Photography Award is now open for entries. The Award aims to stimulate dialogue and create awareness around significant global challenges through powerful photography.

The Syngenta Photography Award invites professional and amateur photographers from all over the world to submit applications in two categories – the Professional Commission and the Open Competition. The Award offers total prize money of $65,000, including a $25,000 professional commission. Images from the Award will be exhibited in March 2015 at Somerset House, one of London’s most celebrated arts and culture venues.

The theme of the second Award is “Scarcity-Waste”. It draws attention to arguably the greatest challenge the world faces: how can we ensure there is enough land, food and water for future generations? The resources we use and the waste we create today means we already need the equivalent of one and a half planets.

Mike Mack, CEO of Syngenta, said: “The success of the inaugural Syngenta Photography Award has demonstrated that photography is a powerful medium to foster a deeper understanding of global challenges, and has the ability to inspire us to find ways to create a more sustainable future.”

Entries will be judged by a distinguished international panel chaired by author and curator William A. Ewing. “I am delighted to have been invited for the second time to chair the jury sessions of the Syngenta Photography Award and be part of the inspiring jury discussions,” said Mr. Ewing. “I was deeply impressed with the quality of work submitted for the inaugural Award, and I now look forward to discover more outstanding work from professional and amateur photographers under a new theme.”

The application deadline for both the Professional Commission and Open Competition is September 15, 2014.

Launched in 2012, the Syngenta Photography Award was created to stimulate dialogue around key global challenges and to establish an important platform to explore issues of global significance through photography. For the inaugural competition, exploring the theme of Rural-Urban, 2,500 applicants from all over the world submitted their photographs to the Open Competition, including 450 submissions from professional photographers for the commission. The Rural-Urban exhibition is available online: http://ruralurban.syngentaphoto.com