World Food Photography Awards gallery

The Guardian on Wednesday published a gallery from the World Food Photography Awards 2026, joining a burst of coverage around this year’s winners and finalists. The images range from documentary scenes of harvesting, cooking and eating to more stylized food portraiture and online-first entries, according to the competition organizers. Social posts on June 3 and June 4 also circulated the gallery and the wider awards package this week. ### Which images are at the center of this year’s gallery? Jo Kearney’s photograph, “A Woman Eats in the Canteen of the Soviet-era Sanatorium,” was named the winning image highlighted in gallery coverage published on June 3. Time Out said the image was the overall winner, and the official awards site identifies Kearney’s photograph on its homepage for the 2026 winners. (timeout.com) Caroline Kenyon, the competition founder, said of Kearney’s image that the “rich crimson chairs give a regal quality to the setting,” according to Time Out’s June 3 write-up. That gallery also included finalist and winning images such as “The Festival of Food Enthusiasts,” “Proven Recipe,” “Early morning catch, Hooghly River,” “Noodles,” and “Candied Pear.” (timeout.com) ### How big is the 2026 competition? The 2026 edition drew nearly 9,000 entries from more than 50 countries, according to DPReview and Time Out. DPReview reported that the winners of 27 categories were unveiled in London on June 2. David Loftus chaired the judging panel, according to the awards organizers. The panel included Claire Reichenbach of the James Beard Foundation, Fortnum & Mason Chief Executive Tom Athron, Rein Skullerud of the World Food Programme, chef Jamie Oliver and author and food campaigner Olia Hercules. (timeout.com) ### What kinds of food photography does the awards program include? (dpreview.com) The World Food Photography Awards says the competition is open to professional and non-professional photographers and covers a wide spread of categories tied to food culture and production. The official site lists categories including Food in the Field, Food Portraiture, Food Influencer, Food for Celebration, Food at the Table and World Food Programme Food for Life. (dpreview.com) The shortlist page shows how broad that range is in practice. Entries include harvest and fishing scenes, family meals, styled studio work, wine photography, street food and phone-shot images, alongside more playful or constructed compositions submitted in influencer and portraiture categories. ### Why are so many outlets framing the images as stories about food lives? (worldfoodphotographyawards.com) The official shortlist announcement said the photographs offer insight into people’s lives “through the lens of food,” spanning “growing, farming and harvesting to cooking, eating, celebrating and surviving.” Headline sponsor representative Dave Samuels said the awards show “the power of photography to tell food stories from around the world.” (worldfoodphotographyawards.com) That framing has carried into media coverage. Time Out described the submissions as “vibrant” and selected 10 images from the competition, while other outlets published winner roundups after the June 2 announcement. ### Where can readers see the images next? The Mall Galleries in London is showing all 203 finalist images from Wednesday, June 3, through Sunday, June 7, according to the awards organizers and DPReview. (worldfoodphotographyawards.com) After that, a hand-picked selection will go on display at Fortnum & Mason’s Piccadilly store starting Tuesday, June 9. (dpreview.com) (timeout.com)