World Press Photo Winner

World Press Photo named Carol Guzy’s image “Separated by ICE” its 2026 Photo of the Year on April 23. (worldpressphoto.org) The photograph shows a family at the Javits Federal Building in New York City on August 26, 2025, moments before Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulled father Luis from his wife and three children after an immigration court hearing. World Press Photo said the picture centers the two daughters, ages 15 and 13, with their 7-year-old brother just outside the frame. (worldpressphoto.org) World Press Photo said the image captured the “inconsolable grief” of children facing the loss of a parent under United States immigration enforcement. The organization awarded Guzy an extra 10,000 euros as the overall winner. (worldpressphoto.org) The award came two weeks after World Press Photo unveiled the broader 2026 contest winners on April 9. This year’s contest drew 57,376 photographs from 3,747 photographers in 141 countries, with 42 winning entries selected across six regions. (worldpressphoto.org) The winning gallery reads like a map of the past year’s crises. World Press Photo said the entries documented conflicts in places including Ukraine and Palestine, climate disasters from Los Angeles to the Philippines and Norway, and protests and rights movements in the United States, Guatemala, and Kenya. (worldpressphoto.org) Two finalists for Photo of the Year were also announced on April 23: Evgeniy Maloletka’s image of a woman sitting near her damaged home after a Russian attack on Kyiv, and Musuk Nolte’s photograph of a boy carrying food through drought-hit Amazon river shallows in Brazil. (worldpressphoto.org) The 2026 winners also included images of a flooded wedding in the Philippines, protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Portland, and families affected by immigration enforcement in the United States. World Press Photo said 31 of the 42 winners photographed stories in their own region. (worldpressphoto.org) World Press Photo has used a regional judging model since 2021, and the organization said entries from South America rose 11% from 2025 while entries from Asia-Pacific and Oceania rose 14%. Women and non-binary photographers accounted for 22% of entries in the 2026 contest. (worldpressphoto.org) The exhibition opens in Amsterdam at De Nieuwe Kerk on April 24 before touring more than 60 locations worldwide. The winning image begins that tour with a scene of one family in New York and a subject the judges said reached far beyond a single courtroom. (worldpressphoto.org, worldpressphoto.org)