NATIONAL & REGIONAL AWARDS: WINNERS ANNOUNCED

• The Sony World Photography Awards announce the winning and shortlisted photographers of the 2026 National and Regional Awards 
• UAE photographer Salem Alsawafi has won the Open Competition under the Lifestyle category.  
• 2026 exhibition opens at Somerset House, London from 17 April – 4 May 2026
• The 2026 Awards additionally sees the introduction of the European Student Award and the India National Award 

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, 17 MARCH 2026 – The Sony World Photography Awards announce today the 2026 National and Regional Award winners and shortlists, recognising remarkable photographic talent from across the globe selected from the Awards’ competitions.  

UAE photographer Salem Alsawafi has won in the Open Competition for his image which was captured in Cappadocia, Turkey, under the Lifestyle category. “I’ll be happily proud of myself and will immediately contact my mother to tell her. She deserves to be happy and proud of her son. I will be very thankful and grateful to all of those who have supported me. I’m sure that if I won an award or been shortlisted then this would be a testimony of the hard work that have been done.” says Alsawafi 

The National & Regional Awards programme is an initiative set up by Sony and Creo under its photography strand, the World Photography Organisation, to support local photographic communities around the world. Across this year’s competitions, over 430,000 images from over 200 countries and territories were submitted. 

National and Regional Award winners were chosen from the Open, Professional and Student competitions this year highlighting global talent across a span of career stages. All single country National Award winners and 1st Place Regional Award winners are featured in the exhibition and receive Sony Digital Imaging equipment. The Professional Award winners and European Student Award shortlist are invited to participate in dedicated workshop days in London. 

PROFESSIONAL COMPETITION 

The Professional competition includes the Latin America Professional Award, the Japan National Award, and new to 2026, the India National Award. 

The Latin America Professional Award celebrates dynamic and inspiring photographic work currently created within the region. This year Citlali Fabian (Mexico) is awarded 1st Place for Bilha, Stories of my Sisters, which blends portraits and digital illustrations to bring to life the stories of inspiring women in southern Mexico, collaborating with activists and artists from Indigenous communities in the region. María Fernanda García Freire (Ecuador) is awarded 2nd Place for Study on Flying, a deeply personal project born from the photographer’s observations of her son’s admiration for birds. André Tezza (Brazil) is awarded 3rd Place for Everyday Structures, shining a light on the modest architecture of neighbourhood grocery stores in southern Brazil. 

The shortlisted photographers for the Latin America Professional Award are: 

• Sebastian Di Domenico (Colombia) 
• Sergio Meléndez Cava (Peru) 
• Yris Pablo (Venezuela) 
• Manuel Seoane (Bolivia) 
• Bienvenido Velasco (Panama) 
• Benjamin Villela (Chile) 
• Irina Werning (Argentina) 

The India National Award recognises outstanding series by Indian photographers entering the Professional Competition. The inaugural winner is Avijit Ghosh for the series Keepers of Mangroves, which captures the conservation efforts of ‘tiger widows’ in Dayapur, India, where women who have lost their husbands to tiger attacks are helping to restore the tigers’ mangrove ecosystems, to try to alleviate conflict with the animals.  

The 2026 winner of the Japan National Award is Hayate Kurisu, for the series Living Photographs, which documents the experience of the photographer and his wife following the loss of a child to stillbirth, and the days spent together as a family before the cremation, exploring photography’s relationship to time and grief. With series ranging from explorations of local traditional costumes, to still lifes inspired by the structure of haiku poetry, and the stillness of the Antarctic landscape, the shortlisted photographers for the Japan National Award are: 

• Mitsuaki Fujiwara 
• Hajime Hirano 
• Keiichiro Muramatsu 

STUDENT COMPETITION 

New to the 2026 Awards, the European Student Award recognises outstanding student projects, spotlighting the best emerging voices from across Europe from the Student competition. Teresa Halbreiter (Germany, University of Applied Sciences Hamburg) is the winner of the inaugural European Student Award for her series Stillgestanden (‘Attention!’), which explores the search for femininity and individuality in the male-dominated institution of the German Armed Forces, underlining the tension between obedience and self-assertion, toughness and vulnerability. 

From the aftermath of an environmental disaster, to stories of friendship and building community, the shortlisted photographers each weave compelling narratives of our time: 

•  Bennet Böckstiegel (Germany, Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie)  
• Laurie Broughton (UK, University of West England)  
• Laura Anna Rossa (Belgium, LUCA School of Arts Sint Lukas Brussels) 
• Albert Słowiński (Poland, Academy of Art in Szczecin) 

OPEN COMPETITION 

National and Regional Award Winners were chosen from a span of over 30 countries from across the Open competition, which celebrates the best single images from 2025. From sweeping landscapes, to tender portraits, and striking images of the natural world, the winners of the National and Regional Awards from the Open competition exemplify the ability of an individual image to tell a story.

The overall winners in the Student, Youth, Open and Professional competitions of the Sony World Photography Awards 2026 will be announced on 16 April and will go on display as part of the exhibition at Somerset House, London (17 April – 4 May 2026). 

This year’s National & Regional Award winners are:  

SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 

Produced by Creo under its photography strand the World Photography Organisation, the internationally acclaimed 

Sony World Photography Awards are one of the most important fixtures in the global photographic calendar. Now in 

its 19th year, the free-to-enter Awards are a global voice for photography and provide a vital insight into 

contemporary photography today. For both established and emerging artists, the Awards offer world-class 

opportunities for exposure of their work. The Awards additionally recognise the world’s most influential artists working in the medium through the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award; the acclaimed photographer Joel Meyerowitz is the 2026 recipient of this award, joining a distinguished list of iconic names including William Eggleston (2013), Mary Ellen Mark (2014), Martin Parr (2017), Graciela Iturbide (2021), Edward Burtynsky (2022), Sebastião Salgado (2024) and Susan Meiselas (2025). The Awards showcase the works of winning and shortlisted photographers at a prestigious annual exhibition at Somerset House, London.

WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY ORGANISATION  

World Photography Organisation is a leading global platform dedicated to the development and advancement of 

photographic culture. Its programming and competition initiatives provide valuable opportunities for artists working 

in photography and help broaden the conversation around their work. The Sony World Photography Awards is the 

World Photography Organisation’s principal programme. Established in 2007, it is one of the world’s biggest and 

most prestigious photography competitions; celebrating the work of leading and emerging practitioners and  

attracting tens of thousands of visitors annually to its exhibitions worldwide. World Photography Organisation is the 

photography strand of Creo, which initiates events and programming across three sectors: photography, film and 

contemporary art. 

CREO 

Creo initiates and organises events and programming across three key strands: photography, film and contemporary art. Established in 2007 as World Photography Organisation, Creo has since grown in scope, furthering its mission of developing meaningful opportunities for creatives and expanding the reach of its cultural activities. Today, its flagship projects include the Sony World Photography Awards, Sony Future Filmmaker Awards, PHOTOFAIRS and Photo London. Working in partnership with Angus Montgomery Arts (AMA), Creo helps deliver the group’s ventures, comprising some of the world’s leading art fairs. Taking its name from the Latin for ‘I create’, it is in this spirit that Creo sets out to empower and give agency to creative voices.

SONY GROUP CORPORATION  

Sony Group Corporation is a creative entertainment company with a solid foundation of technology. From Game & Network Services to Music, Pictures, Electronics Products & Solutions, Imaging & Sensing Solutions and Financial Services – Sony’s purpose is to fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology.

SONY CORPORATION 

Sony Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation and is responsible for the Entertainment, Technology & Services (ET&S) business. With the mission to “create the future of entertainment through the power of technology together with creators,” we aim to continue to deliver Kando* to people around the world.

*Kando is a Japanese word that roughly translates to the sense of awe and emotion you feel when experiencing something beautiful and amazing for the first time. 

SONY MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA  

Sony Middle East and Africa FZE is a 100% subsidiary of Sony Corporation and is the regional headquarters for the Middle East and Africa regions. The company is engaged in the business of Sony Consumer Electronics, Mobile Electronics (Car Audio), broadcasting and professional products and Computer Entertainment (PlayStation) products in more than 40 countries in the region.   

Apart from stock operations in the Jebel Ali Free Zone Establishment in Dubai, Sony Middle East and Africa leads execution of various logistics, sales, marketing, advertising and customer services activities through its business partners. 353 accredited third-party service centres reinforce Sony’s presence in key markets in the region.