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The stage is officially set. The 2026 Sony World Photography Awards have just dropped the names of the 30 Professional finalists and more than 65 shortlisted photographers — and let’s just say, the bar is sky high.
This year’s competition pulled in over 430,000 images from more than 200 countries and territories, proving once again that photography is a universal language — raw, fearless, and wildly powerful. Nearly two decades into its legacy, the Professional competition continues to spotlight photographers who don’t just take pictures — they build worlds, challenge narratives, and tell stories that stick with you.
From intimate human moments to global-scale issues, the shortlisted work pushes boundaries and flexes serious technical mastery. But the big night? That’s April 16 in London. The 10 category winners will be revealed at a prestigious gala ceremony, and one will walk away with the coveted Photographer of the Year title — plus $25,000, Sony Digital Imaging gear, and a solo exhibition next year.
And it doesn’t stop there. Finalists and winners will attend Insights, an industry-focused day of mentorship and high-level networking designed to elevate careers even further.
Want to see the work up close? The 2026 exhibition opens at Somerset House, London, from 17 April to 4 May, before traveling globally.
Photography fans — this is your Super Bowl.
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30 Finalists of 2026 Sony World Photography Awards Professional Competition
The finalists represent the absolute cutting edge of contemporary photography. Selected from over 430,000 submissions worldwide, these photographers don’t just capture images — they craft powerful visual narratives. Their work spans culture, conflict, environment, portraiture, architecture, and beyond, each series revealing depth, precision, and bold artistic vision.
#1. Architecture & Design – Finalist: "Homes of Haor" by Joy Saha
"Homes of Haor documents the vernacular architecture of Ashtagram, Kishoreganj, in Bangladesh’s Haor region. Here, homes are built on naturally raised mounds that become islands during the monsoon, surrounded by seasonal floodwater, and boats become the primary means of travel. From above, the settlements form distinct patterns shaped by elevation, water and function. Elevated roads, clustered dwellings, and carefully arranged livestock spaces reveal how rural communities design and adapt their built environment to a landscape defined by water."
#2. Architecture & Design – Finalist: "Everyday Structures" by André Tezza
"This ongoing project documents small neighbourhood grocery stores on the outskirts of Curitiba, in southern Brazil. These modest structures form an architecture of resistance that persists even as large retail chains reshape the city. Often family-run and linked to domestic spaces, the stores merge work, memory and dwelling into a single building. While the city centre undergoes gentrification, the periphery remains culturally dense and visually vibrant. This series reflects a belief that architectural beauty exists in ordinary, overlooked places."
#3. Architecture & Design – Finalist: "Chinese Watchtowers" by Chen Liang
"Many of the watchtowers in Jiangmen, in China’s Guangdong Province, were built during the time of the Republic of China (1912–1949), as public refuges and defensive fortresses. Most were constructed by Chinese people living overseas, who had returned to their home towns, or raised funds to build them in the countryside, making them a unique architectural form that combines both Chinese and Western influences. In 2007, the Kaiping Diaolou and Villages in Guangdong were officially designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site."
#4. Creative – Finalist: "The Black Album" by Pablo Ramos
"With more than 130,000 individuals currently reported missing in Mexico, and a new disappearance occurring approximately every 40 minutes, The Black Album transforms archival imagery into a haunting collective portrait of absence, loss, and unresolved grief. Rather than documenting disappearance directly, this photographic essay reinterprets the past to question the future."
#5. Creative – Finalist: "The Palm, On Piru" by Ben Brooks
"The Palm, On Piru is a photographic series exploring the spiritual connections and collective identities of rappers from South Los Angeles with Pirus/Bloods gang affiliations. The work focuses on the people and places central to the origins of West Coast hip-hop’s G-funk music genre, and California’s parallel gang culture, examining the interplay of their environment, community and artistic expression."
#6. Creative – Finalist: "Bilha, Stories of my Sisters" by Citlali Fabian
"Growing up without role models can make it difficult to dream or recognise one’s ability to shape the future. This photographic series seeks to create a precedent through collaboration with activists and artists from various Indigenous communities in southern Mexico, particularly from Oaxaca state."
#7. Documentary Projects – Finalist: "Sixteen and a Half: Eight Months in a Juvenile Prison" by Alexandre Bagdassarian
"Over a period of eight months, Alexandre Bagdassarian documented the daily lives of young detainees in one of France’s six juvenile prisons, one of the country’s least visible institutions. The photographer sought to understand what it means to be young and confronted with prison, not from the perspective of legal texts or institutional discourse, but by observing the trajectories, voices, and bodies of those living this reality."
#8. Documentary Projects – Finalist: "Under the Shadow of Coca" by Santiago Mesa
"In the southern Colombian department of Putumayo, coca cultivation remains one of the few economic options for rural families in this neglected border region. This project follows farmers and families whose livelihoods depend on an illicit economy shaped by poverty, weak state presence, and armed control, as well as members of Comandos de la Frontera, the armed group that controls the territory and the cocaine trade."
#9. Documentary Projects – Finalist: "Restitution" by Colin Delfosse
"Restitution explores the journey of African masks between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Belgium, from their original use to their display in museums. By combining archives, contemporary scenes and performances, the series questions colonial legacies, institutional narratives, and the issues surrounding restitution."
#10. Environment – Finalist: "Jinê Land: Where Women Keep the Earth Alive" by Matteo Trevisan
"Jinê Land: Where Women Keep the Earth Alive tells the story of women shaping the ecological and social future of Rojava in northeast Syria. In a region that is still recovering from war and fragmentation, women lead the fight for environmental restoration, sustainable agriculture, and community self-governance."
#11. Environment – Finalist: "Notes on How to Build a Forest" by Isadora Romero
"Forests have long been narrated as spaces where only vegetation exists. Yet science and history reveal that they have always been cultural territories, inhabited and reshaped by multiple human and non-human groups over time. Notes on How to Build a Forest is a photographic project developed in Ecuador, in the territories of Mache Chindul and Yunguilla — landscapes marked by layered histories of settlement and relationships with the forest."
#12. Environment – Finalist: "Beneath | Beofhód" by Shane Hynan
"Beofhód — ‘life beneath the sod’ in Irish — evokes the primal significance of bogs in Celtic tradition. The series examines the cultural and environmental aspects of bogs in Ireland and contemplates themes of social and environmental justice, topographical mapping and the evolving perception of peatlands in an era of de-industrialisation."
#13. Landscape – Finalist: "The Oyster" by Andreas Secci
"This series of abstract landscapes depicts oyster farming on the French coast of Normandy and Brittany, where the farms stretch along the entire coastline, shaping the character of the landscape. With a tidal range of up to 12 metres, the oyster beds disappear from view at high tide but are fully exposed at low tide. Yet it is only from a bird’s-eye view that the vastness of these abstract landscapes, reminiscent of Roman legions, can be appreciated."
#14. Landscape – Finalist: "Mountain Roads" by Michael Blann
"Mountain Roads is a series of photopolymer etchings of iconic European mountain roads. This ongoing project aims to document the greatest cycling roads spanning the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Dolomites, the Picos and the Spanish Islands. It celebrates the permanence of mountains and the feats of engineering and construction required to navigate and build a route through and over these formidable climbs."
#15. Landscape – Finalist: "Constructed Landscapes" by Dafna Talmor
"Stemming from the photographer’s personal archive, this series employs hand-printed and collaged colour negatives that are reconfigured into abstracted landscape representations. Purposefully undisclosed locations — sites that may otherwise be loaded with personal and political connotations — are collaged and repurposed, transforming them into spaces of greater universality."
#16. Perspectives – Finalist: "Living Photographs" by Hayate Kurisu
"‘My wife and I lost our child to stillbirth at 18 weeks of pregnancy. In the days leading up to the cremation we spent time together at home, during which time I took many photographs. In contemporary society, photographs are easily shared, generated and consumed, and with the rise of social media and artificial intelligence, the meaning of photography as a medium continues to shift."
#17. Perspectives – Finalist: "Sunny Side Up: A Portrait of the Most Average K-Parenting Today" by Seungho Kim
"South Korea stands at a crossroads. In 2023, the country’s birth rate hit a record-low of 0.72 children per woman, while more than six million households now find the meaning of family in their dogs. Choosing between a child and a pet has become an ironic reality."
#18. Perspectives – Finalist: "Study on Flying" by María Fernanda García Freire
"This project was born from the photographer’s observations of her son’s admiration for birds. Since he was 4 years old, her son, Seydú, has looked at birds with great attention and curiosity, and started collecting natural elements such as feathers."
#19. Portraiture – Finalist: "The Faithful" by Jean-Marc Caimi & Valentina Piccinni
"Between the death of one pope and the election of the next, crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City, for an event that functions simultaneously as sacred ritual and global spectacle. The photographers explain that pilgrimage took on the traits of fandom, as rosaries, flags and prayer gestures were performed with full awareness of the attendant cameras and media. Individual devotion unfolded ‘within a choreography shaped by mass attendance and global broadcast.’"
#20. Portraiture – Finalist: "Koryo-Saram: How Descendants of Deported USSR Koreans Are Rediscovering Their Roots in Uzbekistan" by Federico Borella
"Koryo-saram are the descendants of ethnic Koreans from the former USSR who were forcibly deported to Uzbekistan through Stalin’s ethnic cleansing policies. Over time, they became an integral part of Uzbek society, but their connection to Korea gradually faded, and by the 1990s, few could even read or write Korean. Today, most Koryo-saram identify as Uzbek citizens, with only faint traces of Korean cultural heritage remaining."
#21. Portraiture – Finalist: "be:longing" by Marisa Reichert
"be:longing documents the lives of older Muslim trans people in Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia. Religion plays a central role in Indonesian society, and nearly 90 per cent of the population is Muslim. People of the queer community are faced with the challenge of reconciling their faith, their identity and society’s expectations."
#22. Sport – Finalist: "It’s a Dog’s Life" by Rob Van Thienen
"For many years the photographer has attended sighthound training sessions. Many of the sighthounds are former racing dogs that have been adopted by private owners and families in order to give them a happy post-racing life. However, even after retirement they are still athletes that need to run and chase on a daily basis."
#23. Sport – Finalist: "Buzkashi" by Todd Antony
"Buzkashi (literally meaning ‘goat pulling’ in Persian) is the fierce, ancient sport of Tajikistan. It is similar to polo, but there are no teams and no boundaries. The ball is the eviscerated, headless carcass of a goat and the aim is brutally simple: seize it, hold it, break free. The game was born among the nomadic horse cultures of Central Asia, where strength and horsemanship were measures of identity."
#24. Sport – Finalist: "Beneath the Bridge" by Morgan Otagburuagu
"In the shadowed arch of an underpass in Lagos, Nigeria, far from the gleam of professional rings, a raw and resonant rhythm of ambition pulses. Beneath the Bridge documents a makeshift gym where amateur boxers — boys and girls alike — forge their discipline and dreams with nothing but tyres, rope, water and willpower."
#25. Still Life – Finalist: "Experiments in Stillness" by Gargi Sharma
"Experiments in Stillness reflects the photographer’s long-standing connection with objects and their journey of using them as a form of expression. Framed with intention, everyday objects gradually create a visual language, gain the ability to hold meaning, and give form to abstract ideas. The series explores the quiet dialogue between the object and the viewer, allowing space for multiple interpretations and moments of stillness, where even the smallest things can carry presence."
#26. Still Life – Finalist: "Talking Without Speaking" by Vilma Taubo
"Talking Without Speaking is a series of photographs of everyday objects that have become symbols of protest. Each of the objects can be connected to a specific historical period, a particular rights struggle or a particular country. Some have been intentionally brought to the streets to support a cause, while others have unexpectedly found their place in the public sphere, revealing their symbolic power over time."
#27. Still Life – Finalist: "The Bronte Pistachio" by Daniele Vita
"For almost a year, Daniele Vita photographed the pistachios of Bronte, Sicily, from the trees to the harvested nuts. Studying them one by one, he realised that although they seemed alike, each was unique. This experience became a reflection on a society ‘that tends to standardise and erase differences’, and the photographer set out to capture the individuality of every natural element."
#28. Wildlife & Nature – Finalist: "Capybaras at the Forefront of the Dispute and Resistance in Buenos Aires" by Anita Pouchard Serra
"Nordelta is one of the best-known private developments in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was built on a wetland, an ecosystem in which the land is covered by water, which is the main factor controlling plant and animal life. In recent years, the development’s 45,000 upper-class residents have seen numerous capybaras enter the neighbourhood."
#29. Wildlife & Nature – Finalist: "Crossing Point" by Will Burrard-Lucas
"This series was produced using a remote camera trap installed at a forested river crossing in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve. The camera was set up in collaboration with rhino rangers to monitor endangered black rhinoceroses moving through a key corridor and was left running continuously for three months."
#30. Wildlife & Nature – Finalist: "Wild" by Wolfgang Duerr
"The photographs in this series were taken by a wildlife camera. Exposures were made when animals activated the camera via motion sensors, in the absence of the photographer and without his intervention. He was responsible for the preparation and follow-up work; installing the wildlife cameras in carefully selected locations and evaluating and processing the images that were generated over a period of months."
FAQs
1. What are the 2026 Sony World Photography Awards Professional finalists?
The Professional finalists include 30 photographers selected for their outstanding bodies of work. They represent diverse styles and global perspectives, showcasing mastery in storytelling, technical excellence, and contemporary photographic vision.
2. How many images were submitted in 2026?
More than 430,000 images from over 200 countries and territories were submitted across all competitions, highlighting the truly global scale and prestige of the Sony World Photography Awards.
3. When will the Photographer of the Year be announced?
The Photographer of the Year will be announced on 16 April 2026 during a prestigious gala ceremony in London, alongside the 10 Professional category winners.
4. What does the Photographer of the Year receive?
The winner receives $25,000 USD, Sony Digital Imaging equipment, and a solo exhibition opportunity at next year’s London showcase, along with international exposure and industry recognition.
5. Where can people see the 2026 finalist work?
Selected finalist and shortlisted works will be exhibited at Somerset House in London from 17 April to 4 May 2026 before touring internationally to other venues worldwide.
English (US) ·