Voir le communiqué de presse en français ici / Vea el comunicado de prensa en español aquí World Press Photo announces the
winners of the 2026 World Press Photo Contest, connecting the world to the stories that matter by presenting the outstanding work of photojournalists and documentary photographers from across the globe.
The 2026 Contest winners are the best of the 57,376 photographs entered by 3,747 photographers from 141 countries. Amongst this year's winners are stories you’ll recognize, and stories overlooked. Broad perspectives, and intimate insider views. Conflict and crisis, but also resistance, resilience, and hidden traditions.
The awarded projects include global conflicts, offering a powerful visual record of life across the world from the United States and Ukraine to Nepal, Pakistan, and Palestine. The selection reflects the far-reaching impact of the climate crisis, from Los Angeles to the Philippines, Mexico, and Norway, while also highlighting civic action and the fight for rights through images of protests in the United States and women’s movements in Guatemala and Kenya.
Intimate and often poignant, the works also reveal the fragility of human life, from illness and isolation to grief and survival, alongside stories of younger generations, from ballet dancers in South Africa to women horseriders in Morocco, and families affected by immigration enforcement in the United States. Environmental portraits bring viewers into striking proximity with nature, from an elephant cull in Zimbabwe, to a polar bear atop a sperm whale, and a close-up of a panda in a Chinese national park. Together, these projects form an urgent portrait of our world today.
Executive director of World Press Photo, Joumana El Zein Khoury said:
“I have deep respect for the thoughtful process behind every story we award. I believe that the jury’s intentionality is – and will continue to be – the source of the public’s trust in World Press Photo.”
The regional contest model, launched in 2021, supports a greater diversity of stories and storytellers from around the world. This year, 31 out of the 42 winners are local to the region they have photographed. Compared to the 2025 Contest, there were 11% more entrants from South America, and 14% more entrants from Asia-Pacific and Oceania. Women and non-binary photographers also made up 22% of contest entries. This reflects a steady increase since the regional contest model was introduced.
The awarded stories will be shown to millions of people as part of the annual World Press Photo traveling exhibition in over 60 locations around the world. Many more will see the winning stories online. The winners were judged first by six independent regional juries, and the winners were then chosen by a global jury consisting of the regional jury chairs plus the global jury chair.
The global jury chair for 2026 was Kira Pollack, a Harvard Shorenstein Center fellow exploring archival innovation through emerging technologies. She previously held leadership roles at TIME, Vanity Fair, and The New York Times Magazine. She said:
“This is a critical moment — for democracy, for truth, for the question of what we as a society are willing to see and call out and what we are willing to ignore. The photographers recognized here have done their part. They have made the record. Now it is our turn to look.”
Notes to editors
Thursday 23 April at 11.00am CEST (5.00am EDT): The World Press Photo of the Year and two finalists will be announced online and at a live press opening of the
Flagship World Press Photo Exhibition 2026 at De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Joumana El Zein Khoury, executive director of World Press Photo; Emmy Dexel, communications director of World Press Photo; and the Photo of the Year winner (TBC) will be available for interviews. Press are invited to attend by contacting
nicola@worldpressphoto.org. Every winning photograph from 2025 is eligible to win Photo of the Year.
The Photo of the Year winner will receive an additional 10,000 euros. They and the two finalists will each also receive a FUJIFILM GFX100 II camera, with two batteries (NP-W235) and one battery charger (BC-W235) plus their choice of either two FUJINON GF lenses, or a fixed lens digital camera, FUJIFILM GFX100RF, and a FUJINON GF lens - with a total retail value of over 14,000 euros (depending on options selected).
The awarded stories will be shown to millions worldwide as part of World Press Photo’s annual
traveling exhibition in over 60 locations around the world - including the world premiere exhibition in Amsterdam at De Nieuwe Kerk. More locations will be confirmed throughout the year and added to the calendar page.
Key exhibition dates 2026:
24 April - 27 September: De Nieuwe Kerk,
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
3 May - 3 June: University Square,
Bucharest, Romania
6 May - 26 May: Fundación Cajasol,
Sevilla, Spain
7 May - 7 June: Landesmuseum,
Zurich, Switzerland
7 - 31 May: Willy-Brandt-Hause,
Berlin, Germany
7 May - 29 June: Palazzo Esposizioni,
Rome, Italy
21 May - 14 June: Stadthalle,
Balingen, Germany
22 May - 15 June: Altonaer Museum,
Hamburg, Germany
25 June - 4 October: Museo Franz Mayer,
Mexico City, Mexico
30 May - 21 June: Brisbane Powerhouse,
Brisbane, Australia
6 June - 19 July: State Library of New South Wales,
Sydney, Australia
24 June - 4 October: Museo Franz Mayer,
Mexico City, Mexico
14 July - 6 September: Caixa Cultural,
São Paulo, Brazil
8 August - 20 September: Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat, Australia
26 August - 12 October: Marché Bonsecours, Montréal, Canada
18 September - 15 November: Westlicht, Vienna, Austria
25 September - 24 October: Erasmus Huis Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia
25 September - 8 November: Museum of Ethnography, Budapest, Hungary
26 September - 18 October: Pressen,
Copenhagen, Denmark
9 October - 8 November: Studio94, Taipei, Taiwan
12 October - 31 October: The Scottish Parliament,
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
15 October - 15 November: Centro Cultural Montehermoso,
Vitoria, Spain
27 October - 20 December: Caixa Cultural, Curitiba, Brazil
30 October - 30 November: Galleria Modernissimo, Bologna, Italy
30 October - 13 December: Museum Hilversum, Hilversum, the Netherlands
6 November - 13 December: Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona,
Barcelona, Spain
26 January 2027 - 21 March 2027: Caixa Cultural,
Salvador, Brazil
Key editorial dates to note:
• Thursday 23 April at 11.00am CEST (5.00am EDT): The World Press Photo of the Year and two finalists are announced online and at the live press opening of the Flagship World Press Photo Exhibition 2026 at De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
•
Friday 24 April: The Flagship World Press Photo Exhibition 2026 opens to the public at De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This marks the start of the exhibition’s worldwide tour. See all confirmed locations.
•
Thursday 28 - Saturday 30 May: World Press Photo Days 2026 takes place and includes events for the winners of the 2026 Contest, industry professionals and the public.
•
Saturday 30 May: The Stories That Matter, a ticketed public event returning for its fourth edition at De Nieuwe Kerk, brings together the awarded photographers of the 2026 Contest, international speakers, critical thinkers, and the wider public to explore the urgent issues and narratives shaping our world. Press are invited to attend and cover the event by contacting nicola@worldpressphoto.org.
Our annual collectible publication, the World Press Photo Yearbook 2026, presenting the award-winning photographs and stories of the 69th annual World Press Photo Contest, will be available for purchase in early May. The Yearbook will be published in six languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. More information, including pre-order details, will be released alongside the Photo of the Year announcement on 23 April.
For more information and to arrange interviews with this year’s winners, please contact:
Europe, Southwest Asia and North Africa:
Nicola Jeffs
+447794694754
Rest of the world:
Alexandra Fanning
(347) 468-0735
About World Press Photo
World Press Photo is an independent non-profit organization that champions the power of photojournalism and documentary photography to deepen understanding, promote dialogue, and inspire action.
Founded in the Netherlands in 1955, our annual and thematic exhibitions reach millions of people in over 80 locations world-wide each year, and our online work reaches millions more. We create space for reflection in times of urgency, while upholding standards of accuracy, authenticity, visual excellence, and diverse perspectives. Our education programs help photographers reach these standards, and members of the public recognize them.
We are thankful for the support of our funders, particularly our strategic partners the Dutch Postcode Lottery and FUJIFILM Corporation.
