This vessel was used for many years to transport people and goods between East and West Azerbaijan, but due to the gradual drying of Lake Urmia, it is now stranded on the salt flats. (Photo: Hossein Sadri Nobarzad, “Untitled,” Iran, Islamic Republic Of, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Environment, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
For nearly two decades, the Sony World Photography Awards have been celebrating the medium’s singular capacity for storytelling and creativity. Now, the organization has unveiled 30 finalists and more than 65 shortlisted photographers for its 2026 Professional competition, selected from over 430,000 total submissions from some 200 countries and territories.
As in previous years, the Sony World Photography Awards encompass 10 categories, including “Creative,” “Documentary Projects,” and “Perspectives,” among others. First-place winners in each category will be considered for the title of “Photographer of the Year,” the competition’s top honor and one of the industry’s most prestigious accolades. That prestige comes alongside a handsome prize package: a solo exhibition in London, a cash prize of $25,000, and a range of Sony Digital Imaging equipment.
“The finalist and shortlisted work in [this competition] demonstrates remarkable growth in the craft and commitment to photography as a powerful storytelling medium,” Monica Allende, chair of the jury, says in a statement. “Across the many series we judged, I was deeply struck by the celebration of the human experience, and of love, kindness, and quiet resilience woven into complex and often challenging realities.”
Indeed, each entry betrays the sheer diversity of photography as a craft, exploring everything from dramatic landscapes and architecture to intimate portraits and still lifes. In the “Portraiture” category, for instance, Marisa Reichert of Germany documents the lives of older Muslim trans people across Indonesia, while in “Sport,” Morgan Otagburuagu of Nigeria depicts the discipline and dreams of amateur boxers at a makeshift gym underneath a Lagos underpass. Frederik Lerneryd of Sweden, on the other hand, stuns with scenes from the International Cowboy Day festival in Nairobi, while Alexandre Bagdassarian investigates the daily lives of young detainees in France.
Animals and wildlife also feature prominently throughout the competition. Rob Van Thienen’s It’s a Dog’s Life captures the intensity of sighthound training sessions, in which a dog chases a fake rabbit with such vigor that dirt explodes around him. Crossing Point by Will Burrard-Lucas furtively captures wildlife in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve through a remote camera trap that monitors endangered black rhinoceroses, offering a poignant meditation on nature’s fragility and our obligation to protect it. Anita Pouchard Serra’s series is similar in its conceit, visualizing the clash between capybaras and residents of a private development in Buenos Aires.
“Many of the most powerful images focused on intimate moments and small acts of heroism,” Allende continues, “revealing the enduring strength and spirit found in everyday life.”
This is just a small glimpse into this year’s Sony World Photography Awards. Scroll down to discover some of our favorite finalists and shortlisted photographers—and fuel your own passion for the medium. A selection of works by finalists and shortlisted photographers will also be on view as part of this year’s Sony World Photography Awards at London’s Somerset House, on view from April 17 to May 5, 2026.
The Sony World Photography Awards have unveiled the 30 finalists and more than 65 shortlisted photographers for this year’s competition.
Sheriff Knight (c.) leads the line dance during International Cowboy Day. (Photo: Fredrik Lerneryd, “Untitled,” Sweden, Finalist, Professional Competition, Perspectives, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
A sighthound chases after a fake rabbit during a training session. (Photo: Rob Van Thienen, “Untitled,” Belgium, Finalist, Professional Competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
This underwater series showcases national synchronized swimmers captured using breath-hold immersion. (Photo: Delfina Pignatiello, “Untitled,” Argentina, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
Roxana’s parents and grandparents were born outside the city of Medellín, Colombia, but were forced to move there by the guerrilla violence that was experienced in the countryside. At a very young age, Roxana learned the sporting art of hanging by her hair, which helped her survive living on the streets. (Photo: Luis Henry Agudelo Cano, “Flying to Forget,” Colombia, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
Capybaras are territorial animals that live in groups. This group is grazing close to a construction site in Nordelta, Buenos Aires, where there is minimal human traffic. (Photo: Anita Pouchard Serra, “Untitled,” Argentina, Finalist, Professional Competition, Wildlife & Nature, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
The African savanna elephant population is a fraction of what it once was—only a few thousand remain, including this herd of 13 individuals in the wetlands of Jonglei State. (Photo: Marcus Westberg, “South Sudan’s Forgotten Wilderness,” Sweden, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Wildlife & Nature, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
A coyote photographed with a remotely-triggered camera walks in front of the downtown skyline in San Francisco. Although coyotes are native to the area, they were once eradicated from the city limits. After an absence of more than 75 years, they have now started to return. (Photo: Loren Elliott, “The Coyotes of San Francisco,” United States, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Wildlife & Nature, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
The competition spans 10 categories, including “Creative,” “Environment,” “Perspective,” and “Sport,” among others.
Marengo was the name of Napoleon’s horse, as depicted in the 19th century painting Napoleon Crossing the Alps. Buzkashi matches can be reminiscent of the battle paintings of that period, as a seething morass of fighting players and horses kick up clouds of dust and visceral noise. (Photo: Todd Antony, “Marengo,” New Zealand, Finalist, Professional Competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
In their first weeks above ground, the cubs rest at the mouth of a wind-carved den, pressed close to their mother. From a distant sled, the photographer waited for the moment the three bodies came together in the shelter. (Photo: Sunita Mandal, “Born of Ice,” United States, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Wildlife & Nature, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
A coyote photographed with a remotely-triggered camera walks in front of the downtown skyline in San Francisco. Although coyotes are native to the area, they were once eradicated from the city limits. After an absence of more than 75 years, they have now started to return. (Photo: Loren Elliott, “The Coyotes of San Francisco,” United States, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Wildlife & Nature, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
Patagonia is sparsely populated, but its dramatic peaks and glaciers have made it a prime destination for extreme outdoor sports, including mountaineering and ice climbing. Tourism now shapes many local economies. For some Indigenous communities, guiding and family run tourism have become an essential source of income. (Photo: Liam Man, “Into The Crevasse,” United Kingdom, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Landscape, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
A UFO-style supercell slowly morphs over the southern High Plains of New Mexico, bringing some of the best structure Tornado Alley has to offer. (Photo: David Baxter III, “UFOs in New Mexico,” United States, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Landscape, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
Akira, a German Wirehaired Pointer, with Emmi, the daughter of his owner. (Photo: Hans-Juergen Burkard, “Dog Beach,” Germany, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Portraiture, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
Event performers. (Photo: Dong Wei, China Mainland, “Untitled,” Shortlist, Professional Competition, Documentary Projects, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
“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,” the photographer explains. “Pressing the shutter in front of my child brought a renewed awareness of photography’s fundamental qualities—its relationship to time and to the body.” (Photo: Hayate Kurisu, “Living Photographs,” Japan, Finalist, Professional Competition, Perspectives, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
Over a period of eight months, the photographer documented the daily lives of young detainees in one of France’s six juvenile prisons, one of the country’s least visible institutions. (Photo: Alexandre Bagdassarian, “Sixteen and a Half,” France, Finalist, Professional Competition, Documentary Projects, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
Junior Mungongu (aka 10 Bureaux), a performance artist from Kinshasa, wearing his mask costume on the streets of the Congolese capital. (Photo: Colin Delfosse, “Restitution,” Belgium, Finalist, Professional Competition, Documentary Projects, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
Yessenia Morales is one of the new community leaders of Yunguilla, in the Andean region of the Ecuadorian Chocó. (Photo: Isadora Romero, “Notes on How to Build a Forest,” Ecuador, Finalist, Professional Competition, Environment, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
Rini, 56, stands in the front yard of Pondok Pesantren Al-Fatah, a Quranic school for trans women. Rini earns her income as a street musician and regularly attends Pondok Pesantren Al-Fatah to study the Quran and pray with friends from the queer community. (Photo: Marisa Reichert, “Rini,” Germany, Finalist, Professional Competition, Portraiture, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
Yasnaya is an Ayuujk linguist, writer, and activist who advocates for language diversity and indigenous rights. Here, Yasnaya is represented with her grandma and great grandma, the pillars of her education and her guides to seeing the world. (Photo: Citlali Fabian, “Yasnaya Elena Aguilar,” Mexico, Finalist, Professional Competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
With more than 130,000 individuals currently reported missing in Mexico, and a new disappearance occurring approximately every 40 minutes, this series transforms archival imagery into a haunting collective portrait of absence, loss, and unresolved grief. (Photo: Pablo Ramos, “Untitled,” Mexico, Finalist, Professional Competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
This collection consists of 34 family photographs printed onto glass milk bottles using Liquid Light, a light-sensitive silver-gelatin emulsion that can be applied to a variety of surfaces, and is developed in a darkroom. (Photo: Abbey Hepner, “Dairy for the Downwinders Collection,” United States, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
Seen from above, a herd of sheep forms a winding line beside a simple rural shelter. The landscape shows worn paths, grass, and earth shaped by daily movement. (Photo: Brian Mena Laureano, “Lines of Routine,” Mexico, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Perspectives, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
A family footing turf for domestic use in Ticknevin, County Kildare, Ireland. (Photo: Shane Hynan, “Beneath | Beofhód,” Ireland, Finalist, Professional Competition, Environment, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
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. (Photo: Andres Secci, “Untitled,” Germany, Finalist, Professional Competition, Landscape, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
Stemming from the photographer's personal archive, this series employs hand-printed and collaged color negatives that are reconfigured into abstracted landscape representations. (Photo: Dafna Talmor, “Untitled,” United Kingdom, Finalist, Professional Competition, Landscape, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
Yuqing watchtower was established in Jiangmen in 1922, by a person named He, who returned to China from overseas. (Photo: Chen Liang, “Chinese Watchtowers,” China Mainland, Finalist, Professional Competition, Architecture & Design, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
This series documents a makeshift gym underneath an underpass in Lagos, Nigeria, where amateur boxers train. (Photo: Morgan Otagburuagu, “Untitled,” Nigeria, Finalist, Professional Competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
This small neighborhood grocery store in Campo Largo is embedded in the peripheral urban fabric, reflecting the vernacular architecture shaped by local commerce and community life. (Photo: André Tezza, “Mercado Safira,” Brazil, Finalist, Professional Competition, Architecture & Design, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
An Eastern black rhinoceros moves through a forested river crossing in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve at night. A remote camera trap was installed here in collaboration with rhino rangers to monitor how individuals use secluded corridors linking feeding areas and water sources. (Photo: Will Burrard-Lucas, “Black Rhino,” United Kingdom, Finalist, Professional Competition, Wildlife & Nature, Sony World Photography Awards 2026)
