World Press Photo 2026

^{Header photo: Chantal Pinzi}

From October 30, the World Press Photo Exhibition 2026 will be on view at Fotomuseum Hilversum. The exhibition showcases the best and most meaningful press and documentary photography of the past year, selected by an independent jury.

The 42 winning images and stories bring together diverse subjects: from war and migration to social, political, and ecological issues, and hopeful stories from all parts of the world. Together, they demonstrate how photography makes different perspectives visible and brings complex stories closer.

World Press Photo of the Year 2026

This year, the highest honor has been awarded to American photographer Carol Guzy for Separated by ICE. The photo shows Cocha and her three children after her husband Luis, an Ecuadorian migrant, was detained by ICE following an immigration hearing in New York.

Guzy brings the personal consequences of the tightened American immigration policy close to home and shows what detention and deportation mean for a family.

Chantal Pinzi

The winning work by photographer Chantal Pinzi is also included in the exhibition. Pinzi was featured in the Movements exhibition at Fotomuseum Hilversum in 2024. In her series Farīsāt: Gunpowder’s Daughters, she follows Tbourida, a UNESCO-recognized Moroccan equestrian tradition dating back to the 16th century. Groups of 15 to 25 riders gallop in sync and fire rifles in a choreographed performance of ancient cavalry military parades. For centuries, Tubourida was exclusively for men, but female riders have steadily campaigned for participation.

42 winners from around the world

For the World Press Photo Contest 2026, 57,376 entries were received from 3,747 photographers from 141 countries. The entries were judged within six global regions and three categories: Singles, Stories, and Long-Term Projects.

The regional juries selected the best entries, after which an independent global jury chose the 42 winners. The jury judged the entries anonymously based on visual quality, storytelling, and diversity, among other criteria.

The exhibition invites you to step back from the daily news stream and reflect critically on important topics in the world. Accurate, diverse, and high-quality photography can contribute to understanding, dialogue, and action.

About World Press Photo

The World Press Photo Foundation was founded in Amsterdam in 1955 with the aim of celebrating and protecting the work of photojournalists. What began as a small international competition grew into the most important award for visual journalism in the world.

The foundation promotes a diverse and honest view of the world and offers an international platform to photographers who tell urgent stories. The annual exhibition travels to more than eighty cities worldwide and reaches millions of visitors.