The winning images from the 2026 Sony World Photography Awards

Samuel Buchmann

17/4/2026

Translation: Natalie McKay

The world’s largest professional photography competition recognises outstanding work in various categories. Citlali Fabián won this year’s overall prize for her series on women from indigenous communities in Oaxaca.

Citlali Fabián of Mexico has been named Photographer of the Year 2026 at the Sony World Photography Awards, receiving a cash prize of $25,000. Fabián was selected from the winners of the ten professional categories. At the awards ceremony in London, the panel of judges also honoured legendary American street photographer Joel Meyerowitz for his life’s work.

A total of 430,000 entries were submitted to this year’s contest, a record-breaking figure. This year marked the 19th edition of the Sony World Photography Awards, the world’s largest photography competition. The images were judged by a professional panel from Creo, the organiser of the contest. It’s free to enter.

Click here to see all the photo series from the top three winners in each professional category. This link takes you to all the galleries. The finalists’ photos are on display at Somerset House in London until 4 May.

Photographer of the Year/Creative: Citlali Fabián

Citlali Fabián’s a London-based visual artist from the Yalalteca indigenous community in Mexico. In her photography, she explores questions of identity and its links to territory, migration and community ties. The project Bilha, Stories of My Sisters combines photographic portraits with digital illustrations.

The series tells the stories of iconic women from indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico. They have a meaningful impact in various fields, including law, linguistics, art and ecology. The project aims to inspire young girls by giving them positive role models. The photos highlight the women’s achievements as well as their life experiences and motivations. The superimposed digital drawings are made of symbols and motifs that reflect the personal life stories of the subjects and pay tribute to their cultural heritage.

Click here to see the entire series.

Perspectives: Seungho Kim

In 2023, South Korea’s birth rate fell to a record low of 0.72 children per woman. More than six million households there are redefining the meaning of family by opting for pets instead of kids. Seungho Kim, a photographer living in Seoul, and his wife already had a dog when an unexpected child came into their lives as they entered their forties. This is how there were suddenly four of them living in their small apartment.

Seungho Kim’s project Sunny Side Up: A Portrait of the Most Average K-Parenting Today depicts his intense, joyful and at times chaotic family life. The relationship between his child and dog fluctuates between rivalry and friendship.

Click here to see the entire series.

Sport: Todd Antony

New Zealand-born, London-based Todd Antony focuses on photographing little-known marginalized groups. Buzkashi is a project about an ancient sport in Tajikistan. It’s similar to polo, only rougher and with a goat carcass as the «ball». There are no teams and no rules. The aim’s to seize the carcass, keep possession of it and carry it to a defined goal.

The game was born among the nomadic cultures of Central Asia, where strength and horsemanship are key markers of identity. For centuries, the chapandaz (horsemen) have hurled themselves into this chaotic fray of hooves and bodies, fighting for glory and honour.

Click here to see the entire series.

Documentary Projects: Santiago Mesa

The work of Columbia-born Santiago Mesa focuses on social issues. For his series Under the Shadow of Coca, he ventured into a rural area in the department of Putumayo. There are few economic options for most of the families living there. The only way to earn a steady income’s by working on illegal coca fields.

There’s virtually no government presence; the territory’s controlled by an armed group called Comandos de la Frontera. Most local producers aren’t criminals, but poor farmers. The profits from drug trafficking end up elsewhere.

Click here to see the entire series.

Portraiture: Jean-Marc Caimi and Valentina Piccinni

Between the death of one pope and the election of the next, crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. The event’s both a sacred ritual and a global spectacle. Many participants openly display their prayers and flags, fully aware of the numerous cameras and media outlets present.

Italian photography duo Jean-Marc Caimi and Valentina Piccinni were shooting a series of portraits for German newspaper «Die Zeit» during this time. The Faithful shines a bright, unflinching spotlight on believers from around the world.

Click here to see the entire series.

Landscape: Dafna Talmor

First place in this year’s Landscape category goes to a project that’s reinterpreting the genre: for Constructed Landscapes, London-based artist Dafna Talmor created abstract collages by hand using colourised analogue negatives. The locations remain purposefully undisclosed to strip them of their personal or political connotations.

Instead, Talmor deliberately seeks to create «spaces of greater universality» – idealised and utopian places which conflate the real and the imaginary. This award-winning series is the latest instalment of the project, which has been ongoing for several years.

Click here to see the entire series.

Wildlife & Nature: Will Burrard-Lucas

Crossing Point by Will Burrard-Lucas is one of this year’s most striking collections. Over the course of several months, the British wildlife photographer set up a camera trap at a river crossing in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve – complete with professional lighting. The setup captured animals in their natural habitat in the complete absence of humans.

Click here to see the entire series.

Environment: Isadora Romero

We usually see forests as places where only vegetation exists. But they’ve always been inhabited and shaped by people and animals. For her project Notes on How to Build a Forest, Esadora Romera from Ecuador combined documentary and experimental approaches to challenge our collective narrative of forests.

The photos were taken in Mache Chindul and Yunguilla, two regions in Ecuador where the history of settlements and forests are closely intertwined. Romera used a variety of equipment, including a pinhole camera, a thermal imaging camera and an infrared camera.

Click here to see the entire series.

Still Life: Vilma Taubo

How do you express yourself when free speech is banned? For her project called Talking Without Speaking, Norwegian artist Vilma Taubo collected everyday objects that have become symbols of protest. Each of these items is linked to a historical event or a struggle for rights. Some on purpose, some more by chance.

Click here to see the entire series.

Architecture & Design: Joy Saha

In the Haor region of Bangladesh, people build their homes on mounds that turn into islands during the monsoon season. At this time of year, the houses are surrounded by floodwater and can only be reached by boat. Local photographer Jay Sah captures this architecture in a series of aerial photographs.

From this perspective, some of the villages look like abstract patterns. Alongside houses and elevated roads are carefully arranged spaces for livestock. Homes of Haor shows how people are coping with the effects of climate change and adapting their daily lives as circumstances constantly shift.

Click here to see the entire series.

Open: Elle Leontiev

The Open Photographer of the Year award recognises work that tells an entire story in a single frame. That’s exactly what Elle Leontiev achieves with The Barefoot Volcanologist. The photo shows Phillip, an internationally renowned, self-taught volcanologist on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. He regularly guides researchers up the volcano. His protective suit was a gift from guests.

Student: Jubair Ahmed Arnob

In Green Model Town, Bangladesh, rivers, canals and fields are now buried under concrete. They were once places where people gathered. Jubair Ahmed Arnob revisits these memories through his photographs.

Over three years, Arnob photographed disappearing landscapes in a dreamy, surreal style. He aims to show how urbanisation can wipe out nature and homes, yet communities persist.

Click here to see the entire series.

Youth: Philip Kangas

When a fire broke out at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in central Stockholm, firefighters tried to save the artworks from the flames. Seventeen-year-old Swede Philip Kangas captured this moment in a perfectly timed photo.

Outstanding Contribution to Photography: Joel Meyerowitz

The Outstanding Contribution to Photography 2026 award goes to acclaimed New York photographer Joel Meyerowitz. His life’s work spans more than half a century and is characterised by its tremendous diversity. His images reflect a fascination with life and a remarkable instinct for visual composition that’s both revealing and enigmatic.

Over the years, Meyerowitz has taken photographs all over the world. He’s best known for his street scenes from New York, Paris and Málaga. Shortly after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, he was also the only photographer to gain access to the cleanup efforts and document them.

Click here to visit Joel Meyerowitz’s website.

Samuel Buchmann

Senior Editor

Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.ch

My fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.

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