Chinese/Japanese artist duo RongRong & Iri are the recipient of the 2016 Sony World Photography Award for Outstanding Contribution to Photography. Organised every year by the World Photography Organisation, it is the biggest international photography competition, with previous recipients including Eve Arnold, William Klein, Marc Riboud, William Eggleston, and Phil Stern.
Based between Beijing and Kyoto, Chinese photographer RongRong and Japanese artist Inri have been working together as artists since 2000 (with notable series like Mt. Fuji, In Nature, and Tsumari Story), and as directors of their non-profit gallery, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, since 2007. Established in the Caochangdi art district of Beijing in a building designed by Ai Weiwei, it is the first privately run, non-profit centre devoted to photography and video art and has now another branch in the port city of Xiamen, southeast of China, which opened in 2015.
RongRong & Inri will be handed the award at a ceremony on 21 April at Somerset House in London, where an exhibition of their past and recent works will be held, alongside works by the other shortlisted artists (22 April – 8 May).
3 February 2016.
