Mexican photo prize

Mexican photographer César Rodríguez won a 2026 World Press Photo award for a long-term project on how climate shocks are remaking life across Mexico. (worldpressphoto.org) World Press Photo announced the 2026 contest winners on April 9 after judging 57,376 photographs submitted by 3,747 photographers from 141 countries. Rodríguez’s project, “Mexico, A Changing Climate,” won in the North and Central America region’s Long-Term Projects category. (worldpressphoto.org 1) (worldpressphoto.org 2) The project’s lead image, dated September 5, 2021, shows a man standing on the remains of a breakwater in Sánchez Magallanes, Tabasco. World Press Photo says coastal erosion there has consumed more than 500 meters of land since 2005. (worldpressphoto.org) Rodríguez’s series follows three linked pressures: coastal erosion in Tabasco, water scarcity in Monterrey, and repeated flooding in the State of Mexico. World Press Photo says the work tracks “floods, drought, water shortages, and the displacement of entire communities.” (worldpressphoto.org) The numbers in the project are stark. World Press Photo says 52 percent of Mexico’s territory is in arid or semi-arid zones, about 2.7 million people have been internally displaced by environmental disasters over the past two decades, and that figure could reach 8 million by 2050. (worldpressphoto.org) The series also ties local scenes to longer trends. World Press Photo says sea levels on the Tabasco coast are rising three times faster than the global average, while renewable water availability in Monterrey and the State of Mexico has fallen 81 percent since 1950. (worldpressphoto.org) (heraldodemexico.com.mx) Rodríguez is from Tepic, Nayarit, and is based in Xalisco, Mexico. World Press Photo says his work has focused on migration, human rights, and climate change, and has appeared in Time, The New York Times, National Geographic, and The Washington Post Magazine. (worldpressphoto.org) (proceso.com.mx) The jury said the project offers “an informed, local perspective” on climate change in Mexico and links environmental pressure to political decisions and weak social support. That framing puts the award in line with a 2026 contest that World Press Photo said highlighted climate impacts from Mexico to Norway and the Philippines. (worldpressphoto.org 1) (worldpressphoto.org 2) The 42 regional winners now move into the final stage of the contest. World Press Photo said the 2026 Photo of the Year will be announced on April 23, with Rodríguez’s images already fixed as part of this year’s global record of a warming world. (worldpressphoto.org) (heraldodemexico.com.mx)