The World Press Photo Contest awards the best and most compelling photojournalism and documentary photography from the past year. Photographers from around the world are encouraged to enter their best images, whether they capture the wonder of nature or the challenges of the climate crisis, incredible athletic feats, or stories of human resilience and courage. The contest welcomes visual storytelling covering all topics and themes.
Regional model and juriesThe Contest works with a regional model. Six independent regional juries, made up of professionals who come from, and/or work within, the region they will be judging, will bring their regional knowledge that enables them to evaluate the entries in their proper cultural, political, and social context. These regional juries then forward top entries to a global jury made up of the regional jury chairs plus a global chair.
Introducing the 2026 Contest global jury chair: Kira Pollack
Kira Pollack is a leading creative director and photo editor known for pioneering new approaches to visual storytelling.
She is currently a 2025 Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. She recently concluded a fellowship at Stanford and USC’s Starling Lab, where she led a pilot project applying archival protocols to preserve photojournalistic collections. Her research culminated in her Washington Post essay, "Photos Are Disappearing, One Archive at a Time.”
Previously, Pollack was Creative Director and Deputy Editor at Vanity Fair, where she oversaw more than 50 covers. At TIME, where she spent nearly a decade, Pollack was Director of Photography and later Deputy Editor–one of the rare creative leaders to ascend to a top editorial position.
Pollack’s work has been recognized with two Emmy Awards, a Lucie Award for Photo Editor of the Year, multiple Webby Awards, and five National Magazine Awards. She has served as a juror for World Press Photo, the Tribeca Film Festival, and the W. Eugene Smith Grant. Her TED Talk, "What Makes a Photograph Influential?", has been widely viewed.
Prizes
Entering the World Press Photo Contest is free and open to all professional photojournalists and documentary photographers.
Winners will have their work:
Executive director of World Press Photo, Joumana El Zein Khoury, said:
“Freedom of the press means freedom to see, to document, to question, to reveal. Our annual Contest is more than a competition, it’s a global invitation to document and share stories that need to be heard. We welcome submissions from every corner of the world, across all themes and topics — including the wonder of nature or the challenges of the climate crisis, incredible athletic feats, or stories of human resilience and courage. We look forward to receiving your work, and to amplifying the diverse voices and powerful images that help us better understand the world we live in.”
Kira Pollack, 2026 Contest global jury chair, said:
"At a time when truth feels increasingly fragile and contested, visual journalism stands as one of our most powerful tools for bearing witness and creating understanding. Photography has a unique ability to transcend language and borders, to shift perspectives, and to move policymakers and public alike toward action. The work of photojournalists around the world—often done at great personal risk—has never been more vital to our collective understanding of reality. I'm honored to serve as Global Jury Chair for the 2026 World Press Photo Contest, and I look forward to engaging with the exceptional work submitted from every corner of the globe, and to the thoughtful conversations with our distinguished jury members as we recognize the photographers who are shaping how we see and comprehend our world."
