World Press Photo winners named
The 69th World Press Photo awards were announced with winners focusing on climate, human connection and wildlife — coverage framed the package as capturing a planet 'in a state of flux' (newatlas.com). Regional reporting noted honorees from Colombia, a Galicia fire-reporting project by Brais Lorenzo, and Argentine images by Tadeo Bourbon and Pablo Piovano that address protest repression and agrotoxin public‑health reporting ( ).
World Press Photo has named the 42 winners of its 2026 contest, the 69th edition of the awards for photojournalism and documentary photography. (worldpressphoto.org) The foundation said the winning work was selected from 57,376 photographs submitted by 3,747 photographers from 141 countries, and that the winners were announced on April 9. The overall World Press Photo of the Year and two finalists are still due on April 23, with the Amsterdam exhibition opening April 24. (worldpressphoto.org) This year’s winners are spread across six regions and three entry types: Singles, Stories, and Long-Term Projects. World Press Photo said there is “no hierarchy” among the 42 regional winners until the global top award is chosen later this month. (worldpressphoto.org) The selection shows how the contest works now. Since World Press Photo switched to a regional model in 2021, regional juries make the first picks, and a global jury made up of those regional chairs chooses the final set of winners. (worldpressphoto.org) World Press Photo said 31 of the 42 winners photographed stories in their own regions, and it pointed to increases in entries from South America and Asia-Pacific and Oceania. The foundation also said women and non-binary photographers made up 22% of entries in 2026. (worldpressphoto.org) Several of the most widely shared images center on climate and wildlife. Among them are Roie Galitz’s Europe winner “Polar Bear on Sperm Whale,” Ethan Swope’s “Los Angeles On Fire,” and Aaron Favila’s “Wedding in the Flood” from Asia-Pacific and Oceania. (newatlas.com) Regional winners also brought local stories into the global package. In Europe, Spanish photographer Brais Lorenzo won for “Burned Land,” a story on wildfires in Galicia that the jury called an “urgent and complete view” of fires devastating Spain. (worldpressphoto.org) In South America, Argentine photographer Tadeo Bourbon won for “Milei’s Argentina,” including an image from a May 14, 2025 pensioners’ protest in Buenos Aires. World Press Photo said the photograph captured police detaining a priest during demonstrations over pensions and access to medication. (worldpressphoto.org) Another South America winner, Pablo E. Piovano, was recognized for “The Human Cost of Agrotoxins,” a long-term project on health damage linked to agricultural chemical exposure in Argentina. World Press Photo’s project page highlights one image of former land applicator Alfredo Cerán after years of mixing chemical products without adequate protection. (worldpressphoto.org) Colombian photographers were also among the winners. Ever Andrés Mercado Puentes won in South America Stories for “Manacillos: A Return to Life,” about an Afro-descendant community in Colombia’s Pacific rainforest, and Ferley A. Ospina won for “Name the Absence,” a project rooted in armed conflict and family loss in northeastern Colombia. (worldpressphoto.org, worldpressphoto.org) The winners’ work will now move into World Press Photo’s traveling exhibition, which the organization says reaches millions of viewers in more than 60 locations worldwide. Before the top prize is named on April 23, the 2026 class already offers a snapshot of what editors and juries decided counted as the year’s record. (worldpressphoto.org)
