After months of searching for the world’s next authentic, provocative and inspiring photographers, WIN-Initiative and its magazine partners have declared a winner of the 10 BEST 10 international photography competition. The judges selected Australia-based photographer Kylie Coutts as the Grand Prize winner based on the images she submitted to Oyster magazine. Competition judge Mary Virginia Swanson says of the winner, “Kylie truly understands teamwork! Her submission and her assignment showed great talent and vision. I loved the video, [it's an] honest portrayal of her professional life at this time.” Coutts, in addition to receiving a Sony A550L DSLR and a lifetime PRO account with Dripbook, may now claim the Grand Prize: a $5,000 Mobilite Lighting Package provided by Broncolor. Coutts also received the iD-RELEASE app to capture all her future model releases digitally. 10 Best 10 also provided her with a SONY HD Bloggie, with which she recorded her process, thoughts on the competition and more. Watch how Kylie photographed her assignment with her SONY camera below.

Congratulations Kylie Coutts for the win! And many, many thanks to our magazine partners: Time Out New York, Oyster, Eyemazing, The Outlook, Reflex, Singular (FUXYZ), Let Them Eat Cake, One Small Seed and Guerilla. And our judges: Bill Moulton, Steven Kasher, Phillip Prodger, Kris Graves, Sarah Small and Mary Virginia Swanson. The winners, in addition to receiving Sony gear, can also expect a combination of prizes, which may include a lifetime Dripbook PRO account, a customized portfolio from Photoserve, a 1-year customized portfolio membership with IPN and free iD Release apps. Thanks to our list of sponsors for ensuring each winner was treated well: IPN Stock, Photoserve, Freshlists, Dripbook, Photocrew, Adorama, Arc, APA, Contaminate NYC and Bron Imaging Group. We could not have held such a successful competition without your continued help and support.

ABOUT THE COMPETITION

WIN-Initiative's 10 BEST 10 International Competition is presented by SONY and is a definitive showcase of the very best of contemporary photography. This photo competition offers excellent exposure to both leading edge and emerging photographers that like to think outside the box. The competition is open to any creative photo artist and the subject matter may range, but we're mostly interested in your cutting-edge personal work. WIN provides an opportunity for international editorial exposure plus a peer review of your work by esteemed judges, each influential in their field of expertise. Winners will be selected on the basis of concept and originality, as well as coherence in style.

THE CONCEPT

WIN helps discover and support innovative and emerging talent worldwide. For our 2010 competition we are partnering up with ten prominent magazines that share our creative vision and emphasis on global urban youth culture. It is our intent for the 10 BEST 10 photographers to enjoy as much cross platform promotion and worldwide exposure as possible.

THE COMPETITION

This 10 BEST 10 has two stages.

FIRST STAGE: The editors from each of our partner magazines will pick ten winners total (The 10 BEST 10) based on the entries from their region. They assign their winners a photo shoot to be executed for their magazine. Each winner will win a SONY a550L camera. Winners will be required to document their entire photo production on the video function of their new camera or on an alternate mini cam.

SECOND STAGE: The magazine submits their layout, featuring your work. A distinguished jury will award a Grand Prize of $3000 (or a prize Broncolor lighting package *see prizes) to the most outstanding layout and photography.