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The camera never lies—but sometimes, it straight-up shocks. That’s exactly what’s happening with the Sony World Photography Awards 2026 Open Competition, where 50 knockout winning images prove that one single frame can still stop the world mid-scroll. Now in its 19th year, the Open competition is all about celebrating the power of one photo—the kind that grabs you by the collar, messes with your emotions, and leaves a story echoing long after you look away.
This year, photographers from more than 200 countries dropped over 430,000 images into the ring, each shot taken in 2025 and each one swinging for the fences. From epic landscapes that feel larger than life to quiet portraits that whisper instead of shout, the 2026 winners cover the full emotional spectrum. There are moments of humor in the wild, flashes of raw humanity on city streets, and scenes so perfectly timed they feel almost unreal. No gimmicks. No fluff. Just pure photographic instinct.
The Open Competition honors 10 category winners, alongside a stacked shortlist of photographers who know exactly when to press the shutter. These images don’t just look good—they say something. They spark curiosity, fire up imagination, and remind us why photography still matters in an age of endless content.
The stakes are high, too. The Open Photographer of the Year will be revealed in London on April 16, 2026, walking away with $5,000 USD and a lineup of Sony Digital Imaging gear. Want to see these images up close? A curated selection of winning and shortlisted works will hit Somerset House from April 17 to May 4, 2026, before traveling worldwide.
Bottom line: these 50 images aren’t just award winners—they’re visual mic drops.
You can find more info:
#1. Architecture – Winner: "Industrial Layers" by Markus Naarttijärvi, Sweden
"Taken on a dark night, this view of the paper mill in Obbola, Sweden, reveals layers of shadows, concrete, clouds and sky."
#2. Architecture – Shortlist: "Urbanity Over the Rice Fields" by Hanjun Zhang, China Mainland
"Hay bales and shimmering rice paddies sit beneath the towering skyline of Qianjiang, the embrace of the city and the rush of time overshadowing the tranquil heroes of the land."
#3. Architecture – Shortlist: "Desert Rose: The National Museum of Qatar" by MD Tanveer Hassan Rohan, United States
"A striking view of the National Museum of Qatar under a clear blue sky, showcasing its desert-rose-inspired design with interlocking geometric disks and sweeping architectural forms. The French architect, Jean Nouvel, designed the National Museum for Doha, Qatar."
#4. Architecture – Shortlist: "The Red Facade" by Klaus Lenzen, Germany
"The entrance to a hardware store in Düsseldorf, Germany, with its eye-catching facade."
#5. Architecture – Shortlist: "Votive Church" by Falkmar Ameringer, Austria
"A light show held at the Votive Church in Vienna, Austria, combining lighting and music to create an immersive, atmospheric experience."
#6. Creative – Winner: "Lost Hope" by Siavosh Ejlali, Iran
"In this image the photographer describes how the black plastic covering most of the woman’s face is a sign of ‘dark thoughts and the imposition of beliefs’, while the red balloon falling to the ground could be ‘her lost hope’. The background evokes Iranian urban society, which has been the setting for the recent demonstrations involving Iranian women, noting that ‘the red clothes and lips are the bloody price that women have paid.’"
#7. Creative – Shortlist: "The Beauty of Edo" by Chukwudebelu Ojekwe, Nigeria
"An homage to the grandeur of the Kingdom of Benin, where power, heritage and divinity intertwine. Red symbolises the sacred essence of royalty and the bloodline of warriors, while green represents the fertility of the land and the endurance of its people, and gold echoes the kingdom’s artistic and spiritual wealth."
#8. Creative – Shortlist: "The Space In Between" by Ali Zolghadri, Iran
"This photograph was captured in a modern architectural space in Tehran. The final image is composed of three photographs, all taken on location, and later merged."
#9. Creative – Shortlist: "Created in Illusion, Destroyed in Ephemerality" by Toshio Ishido, Japan
"‘Mugen Hoyo (Dreams, Phantoms, Bubbles, and Shadows) is a Buddhist term for impermanence.’ To create this image, the photographer applied dental chemicals to a Tokyo nightscape photograph, dissolving the ink to visualise decay. In this way, tools of creation were used to manifest destruction, highlighting the ambiguity of human endeavour and civilisation’s duality."
#10. Creative – Shortlist: "Sacred Bond" by Claudia Behrensen
"This image was taken in Villa Epecuén, a small coastal village in Argentina that was under water for almost 30 years after a nearby dam collapsed in a storm. The photographer set the scene with a large-scale print of a photograph of a forest, contrasted with the dead trees on the beach, reflecting on the bond between humanity and nature."
#11. Landscape – Winner: "Shapes and Patterns of the Desert" by J Fritz Rumpf, United States
"An early morning glow brings out the rich pastel colours of the Sossusvlei dunes in Namibia. The contrast of the green and delicate peach colours almost overwhelms the senses; the patterns and textures emerging from the shadows give the landscape a distinctive, painterly look."
#12. Landscape – Shortlist: "Infrared Dreamscape" by Matteo Redaelli, Italy
"This surreal infrared photograph captures Mount Teide rising above a sea of clouds on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands. The infrared technique transforms the pine forest into a spectral white, giving the landscape an ethereal appearance that contrasts dramatically with the golden-brown sky."
#13. Landscape – Shortlist: "Atacama Desert" by Francisco Lima Saraiva, Brazil
"Photographed during a trip to the Atacama Desert, Chile"
#14. Landscape – Shortlist: "Whispers Beneath the Ice" by Cong Lin, Canada
"A dramatic monochrome study of stillness and structure at Abraham Lake in Alberta, Canada. Stripping away the colour reveals the raw, celestial beauty of the bubbles suspended in a dark, frozen abyss."
#15. Landscape – Shortlist: "Opening the Vortex" by Lisa K. Kuhn, United States
"Northern California’s 4000-metre Mount Shasta is dwarfed by a phenomenal lenticular cloud, during intermittent clouds that lasted for 10 days. This image was taken around 20 minutes before the sun set."
#16. Lifestyle – Winner: "Charlotte and Dolly" by Vanta Coda III, United States
"Charlotte lies with her cow Dolly, keeping cool in the cow barn between events at the 100th State Fair of West Virginia in Lewisburg. Outside, the temperature is upwards of 32°C."
#17. Lifestyle – Shortlist: "Comparsas" by Camila de Medeiros Fantinel, Brazil
"Gauchos prepare a traditional barbecue over an open fire. Barbecue cooked over an open fire is one of the greatest traditions of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and dates back to the cattle drovers, who saw in this practice a simple way to have their meals during the long work of conducting cattle."
#18. Lifestyle – Shortlist: "Summer Camp, Afternoon" by Sebastian Szczepanowski, Poland
"A lazy summer afternoon at a lakeside camp site. Conversations drift, dishes wait to be washed, and time stretches slowly between shade, heat and rest."
#19. Lifestyle – Shortlist: "From the South" by Mustafa Shorbaji, Egypt
"This Sudanese family witnessed the horrors of war and fled, but the conflict left its mark on their young daughters."
#20. Lifestyle – Shortlist: "Encore" by Andreas Kanellopoulos, Greece
"Magda, an 86-year-old former actress, sits in her bedroom full of memories."
#21. Motion – Winner: "Sailboat" by Franklin Littlefield, United States
"A punk show in Providence, Rhode Island, featuring the band Sailboat."
#22. Motion – Shortlist: "Queuing for departure" by Martin Schmid, Austria
"A group of gentoo penguins queues for jumping into the antarctic sea."
#23. Motion – Shortlist: "Chaos" by Axel Schmidtke, Germany
"This bearded seal was spotted on an ice floe directly beneath the 30-metre-high edge of a glacier on the coast of Svalbard. The photographer observed as the world above the seal collapsed, as huge chunks of ice broke off and thundered into the water behind it."
#24. Motion – Shortlist: "Running" by Lee Jongkee, Republic of Korea
"The cenotes in Cancun, Mexico, are bathed in a breathtaking light. One diver, perfectly attuned to the angle of this light, posed to create the illusion of weightlessness, as if he were running. A cartoon-like landscape unfolded before my eyes, and I had no reason not to press the shutter."
#25. Motion – Shortlist: "Snatching Food from the Jaws of Fish" by He Lu, China Mainland
"The inlet of Xiamen’s Yundang Lake serves as a foraging ground for egrets and a gathering spot for tarpon to hunt for food. To compete for sustenance, these two species often create vivid and thrilling scenes, with "snatching food from fish’s mouth" being one of them."
#26. Natural World & Wildlife – Winner: "Arctic Fox in Blizzard" by Klaus Hellmich, Germany
"A blue arctic fox in a blizzard, photographed on the Varanger Peninsula, Norway."
#27. Natural World & Wildlife – Shortlist: "Are you Good Friends?" by Daichi Shimada, Japan
"The stream brown frog is endemic to Japan, where it lives in the mountains until November, when it enters local rivers to hibernate and find a mate. In their eagerness to mate, ‘bachelor’ males will cling to anything drifting downstream, including unsuspecting yamame trout."
#28. Natural World & Wildlife – Shortlist: "At the Edge" by Wouter van Hofwegen, Netherlands
"A polar bear stands at the edge of the frozen sea, a symbol of resilience in the face of a changing climate."
#29. Natural World & Wildlife – Shortlist: "Untitled" by Tim Munsey, United Kingdom
"A griffon vulture comes into conflict with a golden jackal in the mountains of Bulgaria."
#30. Natural World & Wildlife – Shortlist: "Power Bite" by Kevin Shi, United States
"Chile’s Torres Del Paine is famous for its stunning landscapes, but it’s also home to a fierce predator: the puma. These majestic creatures feed primarily on guanacos, although the hunting success rate is not very high, especially for female pumas. The photographer followed this female and her two cubs for several days, before witnessing her hunting."
#31. Object – Winner: "Colour Divides" by Robby Ogilvie, United Kingdom
"Taken in the Bo-Kaap neighbourhood of Cape Town, South Africa, this image centres on a parked car set against a sharply divided colourful facade. The composition balances geometry and saturation; everyday architecture becomes graphic and deliberate, reflecting how colour and place shape urban identity."
#32. Object – Shortlist: "Red Balloon" by Sarah Barlow, United Kingdom
"Taken as part of the photographer’s series Red Balloon, this image explores ideas of potential and impermanence. The balloon reflected on the water invites contemplation on identity, reproduction and the tenuous line between autonomy and expectation; the stillness of the day suggests both peace and precarity."
#33. Object – Shortlist: "The Unintended Gaze" by Soomin Park, Republic of Korea
"Among the rows of drying fish, one eye appeared distinctly red, catching the light differently from the rest. This detail disrupts the visual order, introducing a moment of unease in an otherwise repetitive and static scene. This image was taken on a rainy spring afternoon at an empty market."
#34. Object – Shortlist: "Flora" by Hanhoon Lee, Republic of Koreaa
"This photograph anthropomorphises the angelica flower, revealing its radiant symmetry against a stark black background. The delicate branching forms resemble a graceful being extending outward, evoking movement and life. Through monochrome tones and precise detail, the image transforms a simple botanical subject into a poetic figure."
#35. Object – Shortlist: "Proud Parsnips" by Olivier Koestel, France
"With this image, the photographer wanted to let the form of the vegetables express itself without artifice. The minimal setup of this image benefits from careful lighting and a deliberately chosen textured table covering."
#36. Portraiture – Winner: "The Barefoot Volcanologist" by Elle Leontiev, Australia
"On the ash plains of Mount Yasur, on the island of Tanna, Vanuatu, Phillip, an internationally recognised, self-taught volcanologist, stands barefoot atop a volcanic rock bomb. Wearing a lava-protection suit gifted to him by some visiting researchers, the volcano smoulders behind him, sending a plume of gas and sulphur into the sky. Phillip grew up beneath the active volcano, and this portrait captures him in his element."
#37. Portraiture – Shortlist: "Second Skin" by Mondo Love, United Kingdom
"A self-portrait in the style of a painting covered with a protective sheet."
#38. Portraiture – Shortlist: "Portrait of Dima" by Maria Gutu, Republic of Moldova
"Dmitrii, a young film student and musician photographed in Dendrarium Park in Chișinǎu, Republic of Moldova."
#39. Portraiture – Shortlist: "Ola and Piotr" by Katarzyna Lakocy, Poland
"This conceptual wedding photograph was styled after old wedding images."
#40. Portraiture – Shortlist: "La Santísima Tragedia" by Luis Alejandro Dávila López, Spain
"La Santísima Tragedia (The Holy Tragedy) is a celebration held in Latacunga, Ecuador that is rooted in indigenous, Spanish and African cultures. It combines traditional ceremonies adjusted to incorporate aspects of Christian religious ceremonies introduced by the Spanish Colony. Also known as The Mama Negra, it celebrates the Virgen de la Merced (Virgin of Mercy), who is credited with preventing the eruption of the Cotopaxi volcano in 1742."
#41. Street Photography – Winner: "Between the Lines" by Giulia Pissagroia, Italy
"A family marvels at the view from Ørnevegen (Eagle Road), Norway, in this candid shot."
#42. Street Photography – Shortlist: "Untitled" by Paolo Dellepiane, Italy
"While photographing an equestrian event on a beach in Imperia, Italy, the photographer spotted this dog with a piebald coat, similar to that of the horse it had chosen to sit beside, seemingly asking for friendship."
#43. Street Photography – Shortlist: "Pedestrian" by Bijoy Krishna Paul, Bangladesh
"An office worker rushes to his office. The photographer explains that this image ‘explores how the city, with its density and disarray, consumes human energy and spirit.’ He goes on to note ‘people are constantly moving, going nowhere but they never stop walking, even when every step feels unbearably heavy.’"
#44. Street Photography – Shortlist: "Bosphorus Tales" by Mattia Massaiu, Italy
"Taken on the first day of summer in Kadıköy, Türkiye, this image captures a dreamy late-afternoon moment on Istanbul’s Asian (Anatolian) Side. Under a cloudy sky, a circular composition compresses fragments of daily life, shaped by light, atmosphere, movement and stillness."
#45. Street Photography – Shortlist: "The Sky is the Limit" by Arun Saha, India
"Under a monsoon sky, devotees gather during the Ashadi Wari, a centuries-old barefoot pilgrimage to Pandharpur in Maharashtra, India. Here, a participant, dressed as a divine figure, is joyfully thrown into the sky by fellow pilgrims. Faces marked by faith, humility and endurance reflect collective devotion, tradition and surrender in a moving act of spiritual unity and ancestral belief."
#46. Travel – Winner: "Untitled" by Megumi Murakami, Japan
"The Abare Festival has been passed down for 350 years in Japan’s Noto region. This image captures the festival’s finale, as men leap into the river amidst fiercely burning torches that send sparks flying everywhere. They rampage wildly, believing the more they rage, the more the deity rejoices."
#47. "Earth’s Palette" by Filip Hrebenda
"Seen from above, an ordinary landscape can become something extraordinary, as is often the case in Iceland. Each lake had a different hue, which reminded the photographer of a painter’s palette. The effect was enhanced by the dramatic lighting conditions after a heavy rain."
#48. "Banjaran" by Swati Biswas Guha, India
"A candid portrait of a Banjaran girl at Pushkar Camel Fair, which is held annually in Rajasthan, India."
#49. "Snowfall in the Buddhist Kingdom" by Liping Jiang, China Mainland
"The first snow gently falls on the crimson monk quarters, contrasting with the vermilion walls. Amid the empty spaces left by red and white lies the serenity of the Buddhist realm."
#50. "Mr Toad’s Wild Ride" by Sawyer Alcázar-Hagen, United States
"At dawn on the wide riverbed of Varanasi, India, a Baba sits cross-legged beside a resting camel, as horses thunder past across the sand. The rising sun hangs in the haze, the scene suspended between spectacle and stillness — a meeting of ceremony, performance and movement in the morning light."
In Summary
What is the Sony World Photography Awards Open Competition?
It’s a global photography contest celebrating the best single images taken in the past year.
How many photos were submitted in 2026?
Over 430,000 images from more than 200 countries and territories.
Who can enter the Open Competition?
Photographers of all experience levels, including amateurs and enthusiasts.
What does the Open Photographer of the Year win?
A $5,000 USD cash prize plus Sony Digital Imaging equipment.
Where can I see the winning photos?
At Somerset House, London (April 17–May 4, 2026), followed by an international tour.
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