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The World Press Photo contest identifies leading photojournalism and documentary photography made during the previous year. Its 69th edition, the 2026 contest, drew 57,376 photographs by 3,747 photographers from 141 countries. The resulting awards range from war and forced migration to climate impacts, protest, cultural traditions and ordinary daily life.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
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World Press Photo Yearbook 2024 | $40.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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World Press Photo Yearbook 2025: English Edition | $36.70 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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World Press Photo Yearbook 2023 | $26.19 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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World Press Photo 2022 | $23.97 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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World Press Photo 2021 | $40.93 | Buy on Amazon |
What is the World Press Photo contest?
World Press Photo is an annual international contest for photographs and visual projects that document events, communities and lived experience. The 2026 edition evaluates work made in the preceding period under rules that differ by format. It is designed to surface both immediate news pictures and sustained documentary observation, rather than to produce a single ranking of every entry.
The contest reported 57,376 submitted photographs from 3,747 photographers in 141 countries for 2026. Those figures describe entries submitted to this edition, not the number of images ultimately exhibited or published.
#1 Best Overall
How is the 2026 contest organized?
Entries are judged in the region where the photographs were made. The contest uses six regions and three format categories:
| Region | Format categories |
|---|---|
| Africa | Singles; Stories; Long-Term Projects |
| Asia Pacific and Oceania | |
| Europe | |
| North and Central America | |
| South America | |
| West, Central, and South Asia |
Singles
A Singles entry is one photograph and must have been made in 2025.
Stories
A Story contains four to 10 photographs. It may include pictures made in 2024 or 2025, but at least four images must be from 2025.
Rank #2
Long-Term Projects
A Long-Term Project contains 24 to 30 photographs on one theme, spans at least three different years and includes at least six photographs made in 2025.
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How are World Press Photo winners chosen?
Regional selection
Each regional jury has five professionals from and/or working in that region. It first selects entries in each category for its region, bringing local knowledge and context into the process.
Rank #3
Global selection
The global jury is made up of the six regional jury chairs and a global chair. After the regional rounds, it chooses the final winners and then selects the World Press Photo of the Year from those winners.
What juries assess
World Press Photo identifies three broad considerations: visual quality, the story and its significance, and representation. The jury is independent, while the organization sets the criteria and procedures.
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In the first round, photographer information is withheld. Entries that advance are therefore considered initially for visual quality without the maker’s identity. More contextual information is added in later rounds. Representation rules also require each region to have at least one local winner and at least one winner who identifies as female or non-binary.
Rank #4
What is the World Press Photo of the Year?
The 2026 World Press Photo of the Year is Separated by ICE by Carol Guzy. It depicts a family forcibly separated at a United States courthouse by immigration enforcement. The image was selected from the 42 regional winners, rather than judged directly against every submitted photograph.
The two finalists were Aid Emergency in Gaza by Saber Nuraldin and The Trials of the Achi Women by Victor J. Blue. Naming finalists alongside the winner shows the final stage’s breadth: a single image can be recognized for its immediate visual force while other finalists represent different forms of testimony and sustained significance.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What issues do the winning photographs show?
The 2026 selection covers a wider field than battlefield coverage alone. World Press Photo’s overview of the awarded work includes:
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- Conflict and humanitarian crisis, including the war in Sudan and the aid emergency in Gaza.
- Protest and political resistance, including movements in Madagascar and Nepal.
- Climate impacts and the effects of environmental change on people and places.
- Women’s movements, rights and struggles for recognition.
- Cultural traditions and community identity.
- Recovery, resilience and the texture of ordinary daily life.
This is the organization’s summary of the winning selection, not a claim that 42 projects represent every global issue or every community. For the circumstances shown in a particular photograph, use that project’s caption and the photographer’s or commissioning publication’s reporting; a contest overview cannot establish every underlying news fact.
How should you compare the winning work?
A useful comparison keeps four questions separate:
- Where was it made? Regional judging connects the work to local context and representation.
- What is the form? A Single concentrates meaning in one frame; a Story builds a sequence; a Long-Term Project shows change or continuity over years.
- What is being documented? Identify the event, issue or everyday experience, rather than assuming all work is breaking news.
- What did the jury value? Consider visual quality, the significance of the story and how people or communities are represented.
Because the categories are equally weighted, a long project is not automatically a higher achievement than a Single, and a Story is not a middle rank. The formats answer different documentary problems.
Where can readers see more of the 2026 winners?
Yearbook
The World Press Photo Yearbook 2026 collects the 69th contest’s winning photographs and stories with essays and visual-thinking questions. The official listing names Dutch, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish editions. Check the exact language edition and current availability before buying.
Traveling exhibition
The awarded work is also shown in an annual traveling exhibition at venues worldwide. Dates, tickets and accessibility vary by venue, so consult the local host’s current information before planning a visit.
Why the contest matters to viewers
Photojournalism turns distant events into specific encounters with people and places, while documentary projects make slower changes visible. Kira Pollack, global jury chair for the 2026 contest, described the public responsibility this way: “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 as a society are willing to ignore. The photographers recognized here have done their part. They have made the record. Now it is our turn to look.” Her statement is a view of photojournalism’s civic role, not a substitute for examining each project’s evidence and context.
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