“Behind the Veil,” by Alessandro Bergamini. Nominee, Siena International Photo Awards.
The Siena International Photo Awards Festival is three competitions wrapped up in one event, celebrating the breadth and creativity inherent in photography itself. Nominees have just been announced for its eponymous Siena International Photo Awards, the Creative Photo Awards, and the Drone Photo Awards.
Each contest covers a different facet of the photographic genre, and together, the trio highlights an expansive look at the best image makers from every corner of the world. The proof of that is in the numbers; a staggering 40,000 photographs were submitted to the festival, with photographers hailing from 163 countries.
The Siena International Photo Awards is open to professionals, amateurs, and students, and honors images that are creative, original, and have visual impact. At the same time, the competition promotes photography—taking a broad view of it—as a “tool for understanding and bearing witness to reality.” The 10 categories include portraits, sports, travel, photojournalism, and street photography.
The Creative Photo Awards is a competition dedicated to photography as an art form and a vehicle for experimentation. It prizes images in which the photographer pushes the boundaries of the genre. Because of this, images part of the Creative Photo Awards aren’t constrained to traditional representation and are given the space for visual ingenuity and expression.
Lastly, the Drone Photo Awards are dedicated to aerial photography and recognize the role that technology has played in this genre. Here, photos blur the line between documenting the subject and can just as easily veer toward abstraction with their extreme point of view. Through its selection, the competition is a powerful reminder of how drone technology—and similar innovations—open up new narrative possibilities and ways of interpreting reality.
Winners of each competition will be announced on Saturday, October 10, 2026, during the opening ceremony of the 2026 Siena International Photo Awards Festival. Scroll down for a peek into some of the nominees.
The Siena International Photo Awards Festival is three competitions wrapped up in one event, celebrating the breadth and creativity inherent in photography itself.
“Enduring Food Deprivation,” by Saher Alghorra. Nominee, Siena International Photo Awards.
Nominees have just been announced for its eponymous Siena International Photo Awards, the Creative Photo Awards, and the Drone Photo Awards.
“The Fan Out,” by Olesia Kim. Nominee, Siena International Photo Awards.
“Carpet Fields,” by F. Dilek Yurdakul. Nominee, Drone Photo Awards.
“Interconnection,” by Ysabela Coll. Nominee, Creative Photo Awards.
Each contest covers a different facet of the photographic genre, and together, the trio highlights an expansive look at the best image makers from every corner of the world.
“Rainbow Mountains,” by Abbas Rastegar. Nominee, Drone Photo Awards.
“My Arctic,” by Martin Gregus. Nominee, Drone Photo Awards.
Winners of each competition will be announced on Saturday, October 10, 2026, during the opening ceremony of the 2026 Siena International Photo Awards Festival.
“Falling Asleep,” by Catherine Wang. Nominee, Creative Photo Awards.
“Legacy of Motion,” by Cheraine Collette. Nominee, Creative Photo Awards.
