World Press Photo winners

World Press Photo has named its 2026 contest winners, and Mexican photographer César Rodríguez won in North and Central America for a long-term project on climate damage across Mexico. (worldpressphoto.org) The foundation announced 42 winners on April 9, selected from 57,376 photographs submitted by 3,747 photographers from 141 countries in the 69th annual contest. Those winners were chosen across six regions and three categories: Singles, Stories, and Long-Term Projects. (worldpressphoto.org) World Press Photo’s regional model, introduced in 2021, produces 16 regional winners who advance to the final round for World Press Photo of the Year. The foundation said the 2026 global winner will be announced on April 23, 2026. (worldpressphoto.org) (photoreview.com.au) Rodríguez’s project, “Mexico, A Changing Climate,” documents drought, floods, erosion and displacement in places including Tabasco, Monterrey and the State of Mexico. World Press Photo says Mexico has 52 percent of its territory in arid or semi-arid zones and that environmental disasters displaced about 2.7 million people internally over the last two decades. (worldpressphoto.org) (cdmxsecreta.com) The award puts a climate story at the center of a contest better known for war, protests and breaking-news images. In the same 2026 winners list, World Press Photo highlighted work on Kyiv after a Russian attack, protests at Columbia University, and a Reuters image from Asia-Pacific and Oceania. (worldpressphoto.org) (petapixel.com) Rodríguez, who was born in 1983 in Tepic, Nayarit, is based in Xalisco and has built his career around migration, human rights and climate change. World Press Photo lists publications including Time, National Geographic, The New York Times and The Washington Post among outlets that have published his work. (worldpressphoto.org) In Mexico, coverage of the award has focused on how long he spent building the project. Excélsior described the series as the result of nearly a decade of reporting on erosion, drought and human displacement tied to the climate crisis. (excelsior.com.mx) Rodríguez told Proceso he hopes the prize helps draw attention to communities already living with fires, drought, coastal erosion and flooding. The pictures now move from a regional win into World Press Photo’s final round, where one of this year’s most visible images may be a slow-burning story about climate pressure at home. (proceso.com.mx)