A fluorescent mosquito glowing pink and purple under ultraviolet (UV) light while an entomologist studies it through a microscope.

This fantastic image was taken by Shayanta Chowdhury, a Chemistry PhD student at Notre Dame University, Indiana, and recently won a Scientists at Work photo award from Nature, a major science journal publisher.

While Shayanta’s image is certainly well-crafted, it’s much more than a beautiful composition, capturing both the scientist and the science in the same frame, revealing a world of research few get to see.

“I wanted a photo where the scientist imaging the subject is also in the frame, along with the instrument being used," said Shayanta.

In the shot we see Lee Haines, an entomologist at the same university, analyzing a yellow fever mosquito through a microscope.

Haines is studying how the drug nitisinone can be used to kill blood-feeding insects, and the mosquito has ingested a sugary substance infused with fluorescent dyes, lighting up the dark laboratory.

“The UV illumination created striking colors from both the tiny mosquito and the condensation that formed beneath the cold petri dish: a pink-purple mosquito in a sea of blue, with water droplets reflecting the light in every direction," Shayanta explained.

To capture the image, Shayanta used a Sony A6700 with a Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 lens. His settings were ISO 2000, f/2.8, 1/250sec using the widest 18mm focal length.

“I focused on the mosquito on the screen, but also made sure Lee was in the same plane to have her on focus as well, given the shallow depth of field,” he said.

While Shayanta is a chemist, his work also involves using microscopes and lasers to analyze nanoparticles, giving him a unique appreciation for the beauty hidden within all scientific research.

Shayanta said: “Biological samples are usually also very beautiful under a microscope, because it reveals a world you can't see with your bare eyes."

Beyond the personal gratification, Shayanta hopes that winning the Scientists at Work award and the subsequent coverage will help people engage with science.

"I truly believe that art has the power to bridge the gap between scientists and other communities," he said. “If my image can spark someone's interest in what on Earth is going on, and can inspire them to ask more questions and be curious about science, that would be a big achievement."

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Marine ecologist and diver Robert Harcourt also won a Scientists at Work photo award in 2026. His underwater shot shows a fellow researcher collecting a bacteria sample from a whale shark.

Photo competitions in the internet age have the power to change lives for aspiring photographers, and that’s what Gunnar Hartmann, an amateur photographer and Biogeoscience student at the University of Koblenz, Germany, hopes will happen.

Hartmann recently won the Scientists at Work photo contest, an annual promotion by science journal publisher Nature, and, following the “unexpected win”, now has his sights set on professional wildlife and conservation photography.

“To be honest, I was not prepared for such a big win and the amount of public attention that came with it,” said Hartmann. “Photography has never been my main goal. But winning this award and receiving so much attention has made me realize that maybe the biggest impact I can have is to tell stories through my camera.”

The shot which has propelled Hartmann into recent wildlife and conservation photography limelight depicts migrating northern bald ibises in flight being guided by researchers from the Waldrappteam conservation program in a light craft. Hartmann used the Canon R7 paired with a Canon EF 70–200mm f/2.8L IS III USM lens, and opted for a 1/1000sec shutter speed, f/8 aperture and ISO 200.

Although primarily contracted by Waldrappteam for bald ibis conservation efforts, documenting the project on camera is what Hartmann felt created the most impact. “My main role was not photography, but field work. Photography was only a part of my work besides my other tasks but the one with the most passion! Sometimes so much that I forgot my other tasks and responsibilities.”

Hartmann hopes that the Scientists at Work award will help conservation projects build platforms and gain visibility, but also further his career ambitions. “Winning this award is a great honor for me, especially because I still have such a low profile," he said. “I do not even have a website or a real Instagram presence. I do not have the money or the skills for that yet, but those things may come with time.”

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The winning images from the 13th edition of the Photo Competition for United Nations World Oceans Day were recently announced, with the 2026 victors covering themes from underwater botanical gardens to curious deep-sea creatures.

Organized by the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, the competition coincided with the UN’s annual World Oceans Day this month, calling on photographers to highlight the “beauty of the ocean” across a range of categories.

New for the 2026 edition was the Connecting Oceans category, with Valentina Cucchiara (Italy) taking the crown. She captured an awe-inspiring shot showing a diver in the Cenote Nariz, a colossal subterranean aquifer in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.

Cucchiara explained how the underwater cave system is the primary source of fresh water sustaining the “sprawling jungles, diverse wildlife, and human communities” of the region.

Images taken in Mexico also won the “Big and Small Underwater Faces” and “Underwater Seascapes” categories.

UK photographer Kaushiik Subramaniam came first in the former with a close-up portrait of a semi-submerged gray whale (top image) taken during an “incredibly special encounter” off the coast of Baja, California.

And Ysabela Coll (Dominican Republic) won the latter with a “dream-like” shot of an underwater botanical garden teeming with colorful lilies and small fish (above).

The scene took place in another cenote, with Coll saying that its beauty is a reminder of our responsibility to “protect these hidden ecosystems”.

Bruce Sudweeks (USA) captured the only winning scene from outside Mexico to claim the Above Water Seascapes category. Shot on Alaska’s Kodiak Island, it shows two bear cubs “frolicking” in a river.

In a contrasting frame of endearment and danger, Sudweeks explained how the cubs will “effortlessly select” salmon from the river, denying the fish the chance to reproduce.

You can view this year's winners of the Photo Competition for UN World Oceans Day, along with winners from previous competitions, at the World Oceans Day website.

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When Icelandair launched a competition to find "a really bad photographer", you might have rolled your eyes. Another viral marketing stunt, another excuse to mock people. But having looked through the winning pictures from Blanche Mortemard's portfolio, I think we can actually learn something.

Don't get me wrong: these photos are, in technical terms, not great. A harbor at night blurs into a smear of gold streaks because of an unsteady hand. A shot of a seagull is photobombed by a human ear. The Statue of Liberty transforms into a ghostly, smeary mess. These aren't artful mistakes; they're the kind of errors most of us spent our first year with a camera trying to avoid.

And yet none of these shots are boring. And that's the uncomfortable bit for anyone who's invested serious money on kit and serious time on technique.

As the national airline put it when launching its tongue-in-check search: "We want to prove that even the worst photographer can take great photos of Iceland." On the face of it, that's merely a good joke about a beautiful country being forgiving of bad photos. But scratch the surface a little, and it's also a direct challenge to the idea that great images require great photographers.

Look past the technical failures by Mortemard – who was chosen from over 127,000 applicants for her sheer lack of ability – and I argue there's something really interesting going on in her pictures.

The condensation-streaked window overlooking the snowy terrace, sunburst blasting through it, captures something a cleaner shot probably wouldn't: the actual experience of looking out from inside a warm building into blinding Nordic light. The motion blur in the harbor shot turns ordinary boat lights into something closer to brushstrokes. Even the photobombed seagull has a kind of deadpan comic timing to it.

Being present

I'm not arguing, of course, that Mortemard secretly a brilliant photographer. But I do think her shots separate clearly two things photographers tend to bundle together: technical competence and the ability to produce a photo people actually want to look at. She's failed at the first while stumbling, repeatedly, into the second.

And that gap poses an interesting question. Namely: how much of what we call "good" photography is technical skill, and how much is simply being present; pointing a lens at something worth seeing, and pressing the button?

As the campaign suggests, Iceland's landscapes were always going to do a lot of the heavy lifting here. Mountains, fjords and harbor towns are forgiving subjects; they look striking even when smeared, soft or backlit, because the shapes and light are already doing the work. In contrast, the same flaws applied to a dull car park would just look like… flaws.

For anyone who's obsessed over getting every camera setting right, it's a useful, humbling reminder that gear and technique are tools in service of something, not the something itself.

A sense of reality

And here's another thing these shots made me think about. In an era of AI-smoothed, algorithmically "perfect" travel imagery, technical incompetence might have accidentally become a way of making a picture feel real. Mortemard's photos can't be mistaken for generated content, precisely because they're so obviously shoddy. AI can do a lot, but it can't do that.

None of this suggests we should abandon craft, especially if we don't have acesss to such majestic scenery. But it doesn't remind me that – as the late Martin Parr and others have shown us – a seagull, a sunburnt beachgoer or a dropped ice cream can make for a more memorable photo than a beautifully composed but ultimately dull panorama. Mortemard didn't mean to make that point, but Iceland, it turns out, agrees with it anyway.

Sometimes, standard photography gear just doesn’t cut it. To get the shot, some creative technical modifications need to be made.

Robert Harcourt – a marine ecologist at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and seasoned underwater photographer – proved that with this image, which recently won a Scientists at Work photography award.

Harcourt was diving with fellow marine scientist, Michael Doane, when he photographed Doane collecting a microorganism sample from a humongous whale shark at the Ningaloo Reef, off the coast of Western Australia.

While the composition itself is impressive enough, what’s equally interesting is Robert’s choice of gear. "I shot it with a Nikon Z8 in a Seacam housing (a fabulous housing) using a Nikonos 13mm underwater fisheye lens (20+ year old glass),” he explained.

The Nikonos R-UW AF Fisheye-Nikkor 13mm f/2.8 (often called the RS-13) is a legendary extreme wide-angle lens that is, in fact, closer to 35 years old.

Originally produced for the Nikon Nikonos RS, the world’s first autofocus underwater SLR system, the lens has gained something of a coveted status among underwater photographers.

But for Robert’s fisheye lens to work with his modern Nikon Z8 mirrorless camera, he first had it converted by Seacam. Then he was able to snap the award-winning image, opting for a 1/400 shutter speed, f/7.1, and Auto ISO.

Much like the legendary Nikon lens, Robert has a rich history in diving photography. “I have been taking underwater photographs with various systems since about 1980 when I put an Olympus Trip in an Ikelite housing,” he said.

“I’ve mainly taken photographs for personal interest but also to support marine science and conservation," he added. “Like all my images, I hope this photo enhances people’s appreciation for the magnificence of our underwater world and the need to understand it to protect it.”

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Having traveled extensively in Mexico and swam in cenotes (natural deep-water sinkholes), I can tell you firsthand just how incredibly picturesque they are.

The lilies that grow in these Mexican subterranean waterways are incredibly vibrant – but diver and underwater photographer Ysabela Coll doesn't just tell you, she also proves it in this stunning photograph.

Coll took the image while diving in a cenote, and it recently won the Underwater Seascapes category of the Photo Competition for United Nations (UN) World Oceans Day.

A wider part of the UN’s annual World Oceans Day campaign, the competition celebrates photographers that draw attention to oceans and the environmental challenges they face.

"Emerging from the darkness of a Mexican cenote, we entered this underwater garden teeming with colorful water lilies and small fish," said Coll.

"The sudden contrast transformed the scene into a dreamlike world, where light, color and life replaced the silence of the cave."

Coll was diving with a decade-old Nikon D500 in an underwater housing, using a Tokina AT-X 107 DX 10-17mm f/3.5 fisheye lens. She used a 1/160 sec shutter speed at ISO640, along with an f/10 aperture and focal length of 10mm (a 15mm equivalent, on Nikon's former flagship APS-C body).

I love how sharply the entire scene is focused, but also how the wide-angle field of view packs in so many exotically colored lilies.

Alongside her stepfather and equal ocean apasionado, José Alejandro Alvarez, Coll co-founded Álvarez+Coll – a fine art and conservation photography business focusing on the beauty of (and threats to) marine ecosystems around the world.

“Cenotes are vital freshwater reservoirs that sustain biodiversity and surrounding communities, yet pollution and climate change increasingly threaten their fragile balance,” said Coll.

This year's competition winners were announced during the UN World Oceans Day event on June 08 in New York.

You can view the 2026 winners online at the competition website, with four winning photos due to be printed for exhibitions around the world.

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The Sony World Photo Awards are known for being one of the largest photography competitions, attracting close to half a million entrants each year, but also for serving up some lucrative cash sums to winners.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the competition, with the 2027 awards offering $25,000 (£18,600 / AU$35,340) to the overall Photographer of the Year as well as $5,000 (£3,700 / AU$7,000) to the Single Image Competition and Sustainability Prize winners.

While the 2027 awards bring changes to two of the competition names – the Professional competition has rebranded as the Series competition, and the Open competition is now the Single Image competition – the structure, prizes, and recognition remain the same as in previous years.

Last year’s overall winner was Citlali Fabián for the series Bilha, Stories of my Sisters. Fabián, a London-based visual artist, hails from the Yalalteca Indigenous community in Mexico and, through her lens, explores themes of identity, migration, and connection.

She was chosen as the Photographer of the Year from over 430,000 entries across all the award’s competitions and, along with the cash prize, will showcase her winning work at this year’s awards exhibition.

Along with the Single Image and Series competitions, there’s also the Student Competition – for photography students – and the Youth competition – for entrants 19 years of age and under. However, instead of money, the winners of the latter three competitions snag Sony gear.

The Sony World Photo Awards 2027 is now open for submissions and is free to enter for all competitions. These awards are extensive and there are different closing dates for the different competitions, as well as various categories you can enter within each. Head to the awards website for more information.

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Sometimes, the best images create warring emotions – and that's certainly the case with a photograph that recently won the “Connecting Oceans” category of the Photo Competition for United Nations (UN) World Oceans Day.

Created by Valentina Cucchiara (Italy), the frame depicts a diver seemingly suspended in the water while navigating what looks like a bottomless cave. This is, in fact, Cenote Nariz, a huge subterranean aquifer located on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.

From the terrifying composition to the inspiring messaging behind it, in my eyes, the scene is certainly a deserved winner.

The way in which the diver looks like nothing more than a bright speck among the sheer darkness is what has my heart beating faster than normal.

Cucchiara has emphasized the darkness with the diver's light and smart post-processing, but, regardless, I’m sure being in the underwater cave was a lot more intimidating than the image reveals.

Cucchiara used a Sony A1 paired with a Canon 8-15mm f/4L USM fisheye lens (via an EF-to-E mount adapter). She opted for a 15mm focal length, capturing the dark expanses of the cenote, a 1/60 shutter speed, and an f/6.3 aperture, along with an ISO 2500.

While I’m mostly gripped by the slightly scary composition, I’m also inspired by it.

Cenotes are a primary source of fresh water in Mexico’s southernmost state, but they are under threat from industrial megaprojects like the Maya Train, mass tourism, and land mismanagement, which directly pollute the water and damage the porous limestone caverns.

Commenting on her winning image, Cucchiara said these aquifers represent an “interconnected ancestral legacy that has nurtured life across countless generations,” and that it’s our responsibility to protect them.

The Photo Competition for UN World Oceans Day is a free annual contest. Each year, the event explores thematic categories encouraging photographers to creatively highlight environmental issues affecting marine ecosystems.

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The Scientist at Work photo competition, hosted by scientific journal Nature, is an annual contest that encourages scientists across all disciplines to share images to celebrate and showcase the “interesting, challenging, striking and colorful” projects that scientists undertake around the world.

Now in its seventh year, the 2026 competition saw five winning images – with Gunnar Hartmann, an undergraduate student in BioGeoSciences at the University of Koblenz in Germany, taking the overall crown.

Hartmann’s winning shot (top image) captured a pair of paragliding researchers guiding a flock of migrating northern bald ibises above the fields and olive groves of Jaén, southern Spain.

Hartmann photographed the scene while working with the Waldrappteam, an Austrian conservation and research group supporting the reintroduction of the ibises into Europe.

These birds once populated the lower reaches of the northern Alps, but human hunting and climate change drove them to extinction in central Europe.

In the image, we see two Waldrappteam scientists guiding the ibises on their northbound route by singing a rhythmic German tune.

Other above-land winning shots came from PhD students Haolun ‘Allen’ Tian and Shayanta Chowdhury. Tian, studying at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, used a drone to snap his colleague in a small boat passing through a toxic-looking layer of algae to collect water samples from Dog Lake, Ontario.

Chowdhury, gunning for his doctorate at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, captured an entomologist analyzing a yellow fever mosquito under a vibrant ultraviolet light. While Chowdhury is a chemistry student, the scientist in the frame is studying how the drug nitisinone can be used to kill blood-feeding insects.

Two underwater shots also made the winning cut. Marine ecologist Robert Harcourt captured marine biologist Michael Doane carefully collecting a skin sample from a whale shark at Ningaloo Reef, off the coast of western Australia.

And marine biologist Uli Kunz from Germany photographed two divers in the Saudi Arabaian Red Sea installing an incubation chamber over part of a coral reef, a vital underwater ecosystem in the region.

All scientists making no more than 25% of their income from photography can enter the Scientist at Work competition, with the winners judged by a panel of Nature staff.

The winning images are featured in a Nature issue in print and online, receive a year’s personal print and online subscription to the publication, and £500 or equivalent in a different currency (approximately $670 / AU$950).

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A great food photo is more than just a thoughtful composition of a well-presented meal; it captures the smell, taste and, sometimes, atmosphere of the location, while leaving your mouth watering.

The photo we're looking at here captures all these elements, presenting an excellent understanding of food psychology and travel photojournalism. It was shot by food and travel blogger Zaeem Jafri, and recently won the Food category of the National Geographic Traveller (UK) Photography Awards.

“I’d been told the best food in Korea is wherever you see a crowd of Ajummas [Korean term for a married or middle-aged woman] gathering, so when I spotted a large group pressing around a tiny stall in Namdaemun Market [Seoul], I was drawn in,” said Zaeem.

“What caught my eye first wasn't the food but the rhythm: a fresh batch of kimchi-mandu [traditional Korean dumplings] would emerge from the steamer, triggering a chaotic few minutes as people grabbed box after box, and then calm… until the next batch arrived,” he added.

With a Nikon Z6 and Tamron f/2.8 28-75mm in hand, Zaeem joined the queue, lifting his camera over the people in front to snap the frame at the moment a fresh tray brought a “rush of steam that engulfed the entire stall, and everyone’s eyes became completely fixated on the dumplings.”

Zaeem opted for a 1/160 shutter speed and an f/4 aperture, which perfectly rendered the crowd (which was “closing in”) slightly out of focus, and the wafting steam as it rose.

Shooting in aperture priority with auto ISO, the camera selected a sensitivity of 160 – and it looks like Zaeem used a little bit of creativity in post-production to dodge and burn, drawing attention to the woman holding the tray of fresh treats.

“It felt like a miniature stage show coordinated by the vendor in the photograph,” said Zaeem. “Those dumplings go from steamer to mouth in seconds, and I love how this photograph captures the energy of the moment.”

What I love is the journalistic storytelling of Zaeem’s creation and also how much it makes me want to explore this Seoul market and try the kimchi-mandu dumplings. But I’m going to stop looking at the photo because I’m getting hungry.

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A sea turtle with a human handprint. A koala hit by a car. The 2026 Environmental Photography Award recognized some of the most heartbreaking wildlife images of the year – and now those images are going on an international tour.

The Environmental Photography Awards presented by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation were packed with fantastic compositions that not only demonstrated an eye for creativity and storytelling but also environmental custodianship.

Inaugurating the ceremony was Prince Albert II of Monaco, whose foundation launched the annual awards in 2021 to recognize photographers raising awareness of environmental protection.

The 36 winners, runners-up, and honorable mentions are now part of an international exhibition that will allow art aficionados, wildlife lovers, and conservationists alike to see the photographs in person, beginning with an open-air gallery on the Promenade du Larvotto in Monaco until July 30.

The exhibition will be traveling internationally; additional locations have not yet been announced. A book of the winning images is expected to follow.

View more of the images from the Environmental Photography Awards and the stories behind the stunning images

German photographer Britta Jaschinski took the overall Environmental Photographer 2026 Award as well as the Changemakers category for her image Handprint on Sea Turtle.

Snapped under ultraviolet light, it reveals a handprint left on a sea turtle's shell by an unsuccessful poacher. Jaschinski captured the shot while “on the hunt” for smugglers with wildlife forensic experts aiming to disrupt illegal wildlife trading.

“The photographs presented at Larvotto bear witness both to the fragile beauty of the living world and to the urgency of the challenges to which we must collectively respond,” said Romain Ciarlet, vice-chairman and CEO of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

Fernando Faciole, whose image Born for the Ocean, Fated to the Flames captured the Humanity versus Nature category award, was the only other winning photographer in attendance.

Like Jaschinski’s shot, his depiction of shark fins confiscated from illegal shipments in Brazil being incinerated is a stark reminder of the human impact on marine ecosystems.

Three other photographers from the 2026 selection were also congratulated by Prince Albert II.

This included Luca Eberle, runner-up in the Forests category; Lucas Bustamante, runner-up in the Polar Regions category and honorable mention in the Forests category; and Estebane Rezkallah, honorable mention in the Polar Regions category.

Some 10,000 entries are made to the Environmental Photography Awards each year, with an international jury of professional photographers selecting the overall winner, five category winners, a Public Award, and a Students’ Choice Award.

The 2026 finalist images will be exhibited in an open-air gallery on the Promenade du Larvotto in Monaco until July 30.

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After scooping a Highly Commended honor in the major Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, 15-year-old Parham Pourahmad continues his award-winning rise in wildlife photography.

Parham was named the Youth winner in the prestigious Audubon Photography Awards for an image that freezes a Long-eared Owl in mid-air, wings fully extended. The jury says the image stood out for its "rich golden hues" with the "owl and the background complementing each other magically."

The young wildlife photographer based in Northern California shot both award-winning images exclusively with Nikon gear. His recent success was captured with one of the best DSLRs for beginners and a third-party lens – also found in his kitbag, the Nikon Z8.

Youth Winner

Shot info
Species: Long-eared Owl
Location: Fremont, California, United States

Tech details
Camera: Nikon D3500 + Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM | C
Exposure: 1/1000 secs, f/6.3, ISO 1800

Story behind the shot
Parham explains, "When I heard of a rare Long-eared Owl sighting at Coyote Hills Regional Park, I went to check it out. When I arrived before sunrise, I saw the owl looking for rodents in the park’s grasslands and marshes.

"It hunted on and off for the next hour, giving me ample time to take photos. The sun rose, shining beautiful colors all over the marsh.

"When the owl flew by, I framed it with its habitat to demonstrate the connection between the owl and its home.

"I appreciated the warm lighting and how the owl stood out despite appearing small in the frame."

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A Savanna Hawk waiting beside a raging wildfire to hunt animals fleeing the flames has won a major photography award. The image captures a rarely seen example of how wildlife adapts to extreme environmental conditions.

Taken in Cúcuta, Norte de Santander, Colombia, Luis Alberto Peña photographed the bird of prey positioned just metres from a wall of fire. He observed that it was waiting for rodents, snakes, and other animals disoriented by the blaze.

The shot earned the top prize in the Conservation category at the Audubon Photography Awards. It was captured on a bridge camera released in 2015, famous for its 83x optical zoom (24-2000mm equivalent).

Winner: Conservation

Image info
Species: Savanna Hawk
Image Location: Cúcuta, Norte de Santander, Colombia

Tech details
Gear: Nikon Coolpix P900 with fixed 24-2000mm f/2.8-6.5 lens
Exposure: 1/500 second at f/5.6; ISO 200

The story behind the shot
Peña explains, "I was photographing birds in a rural area when I came across this fire, which started as a controlled burn to clear rice crop residues but got out of hand.

"For many people who grow rice in this area, fires are a necessary practice for subsistence. However, these burns can also harm air quality and habitat, especially if they aren’t controlled.

"As I watched the flames, I noticed a Savanna Hawk. Attentive and patient, this bird never strayed from the dense smoke and heat; in fact, it returned again and again hoping to hunt disoriented animals fleeing the flames.

"I, on the other hand, eventually had to retreat. Before I left, I captured this visual testimony to one of the many ways that wildlife survives and adapts in the face of extreme environmental conditions."

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A charming close-up of a ring-necked parakeet has been judged the overall winner in a photographic competition aimed at London cyclists. Celeste Katz image was shot with the wide-angle lens of her iPhone 14 - and will be one of the images to be displayed at South Kensington tube station, in the UK capital.

Londoners were invited to take photos of city’s wildlife encountered across the capital while out on their bikes, using Santander Cycles’ two new nature-inspired Side Quest routes. The themed routes are designed to encourage people to discover lesser know parts of London's boroughs.

The new competition produced a varied collection of photographs showcasing wildlife living on the capital’s streets, parks and waterways. A panel of judges from Transport for London (TfL), Santander Cycles, and the Natural History Museum selected the five winning photographers. Each will receive an annual subscription to Santander Cycles self-service bike hire scheme worth £120, plus entrance to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition.

The four other selected images are below…

These are the best photo competitions to enter in June 2026

Every year, the Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards celebrates the best titles in photography and filmmaking book publishing, and this year's entries have been whittled down to just seven finalists.

The shortlisted authors will now vie for the titles of Best Photography Book and the Best Moving Image Book, with the finalist themes covering an array of topics from war and cultural psychoanalysis to radical documentarism and explorations of the everyday.

Among the four shortlisted photography books is The Fold, a “critical visual and psychological investigation” into Orientalist and colonialist photographic practices that have shaped perceptions of Islamic culture.

Author Hoda Afshar, an Iranian artist, delves into the vast collection of portraits taken by French psychiatrist and photographer Gaëtan Gatian de Clérambault during visits to Morocco in the early years of the 20th century.

Red Horse by Sasha Kurmaz has also made the cut. In the book, the author documents her life in Ukraine post-2022 Russian invasion and how this is "constantly reshaped under the destructive power of war.”

Three titles have made the finals of the Best Moving Image Book, including Toward a More Perfect Rebellion: Multiracial Media Activism Made in L.A.

Through extensive interviews with "radical" Black filmmakers of the late 1960s and early 1970s, author Josslyn Jeanine Luckett sheds light on the work of socially engaged media activists who documented social upheaval in their communities.

Luckett’s competition includes Out There in the Dark by Katharine Coldiron, a “dynamic collection” of essays blending film criticism with memoir and fiction.

Also among the finalists is June Givanni: The Making of a Pan-African Cinema Archive by Onyeka Igwe. The book is a deep dive into Pan-African cinema history, partially through the memories of BAFTA Award-winning curator and film programmer June Givanni.

The winners of the 2026 Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards will be announced at the end of June 2026, with the 2027 Awards opening for entries in November 2026. All titles that made the longlist will be displayed across a two-day celebration of the photobook, July 4-5.

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I love how science photography competitions often bring together exceptional photos from an array of disciplines, be it wildlife, macro photography, or landscapes, and encourage photographers to capture our world in an incredibly creative way.

The Beaker Street Science Photography Prize is no exception, and this year's finalist images were recently shortlisted. The competition is part of the wider Beaker Street Festival, Lutruwita’s (Tasmania’s) annual celebration of science and culture, with judges hunting for images highlighting how science "shapes our understanding of the world".

Among my favorites of the finalists is Bows And Blows, captured by Saskia Sparshott. A mesmerizing seascape shot layered with depth, the frame begins with rock pools in the foreground, crashing waves in the midground, and a vibrant double rainbow in the background.

No stranger to awards finals, Sparshott won the People’s Choice Award at the 2020 edition of the Beaker Street competition with her illustrious image of bioluminescence, Into the Sea of Blue. Two years later, her image Feeling a Little Deflated was shortlisted at the 2022 awards.

I’m also a big fan of Madi McLatchie’s image Endangered, which starkly depicts a huddle of baby emperor penguins, the species recently being listed as ‘endangered’ on the IUCN Red List.

Not only do the subjects themselves make this a great shot – McLatchie, an Antarctic research scientist, says that emperor penguins are “sentinels of climate change in Antarctica” – but the use of just gray, black, and white, along with negative space, ties well into the narrative.

Finally, take a look at Ephemeral Blue, an image of Mycena interrupta, quietly growing on decaying wood. The photographer, Ryan Shan, said that the saprotrophic fungus plays a “vital role in breaking down organic matter and returning nutrients to the ecosystem.” I particularly like how well Shan has balanced the vivid colors, harmonizing the blues, whites, and browns.

The 27 finalists were selected from over 100 entries by a panel of scientific experts and photographers. The winner will be chosen via a public vote, with the top 12 images exhibited in Nipaluna/Hobart at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery from August 6–17.

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There's something special about creating photos with a used camera that has years of stories behind it. But using a camera that has belonged to one of the most lauded fine art photographers of his generation, that’s just incredible.

Well now, Ralph Gibson, the esteemed monochrome photographer, has teamed up with camera resale site MPB and online photography magazine Blind to give one lucky winner his personal Leica Typ 246 rangefinder along with his Summilux 50mm f/1.4 ASPH lens.

Gibson has exclusively used Leica cameras since 1961 and, for the past 15 years, the Leica Typ 246 and Summilux 50mm prime combination has been his go-to setup.

The Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) is a specialized, full-frame digital rangefinder that shoots exclusively in black-and-white. By omitting the traditional color filter array, its 24-megapixel CMOS sensor renders detailed micro-contrast and achieves solid low-light performance.

And the Summilux 50mm f/1.4 ASPH is a Leica native prime lens known for exceptional center sharpness and subject separation.

Gibson’s original Leica camera gear is only one half of the giveaway; he’s also sending the winner a signed copy of what is perhaps his most famous book: Light Years – a major retrospective monograph covering the artist's career from 1960 to 1991, with all images taken using Leica models.

The giveaway is free to enter and opens on June 10, with entries closing July 10. What a fantastic opportunity to not only gain an iconic Leica camera but to use the exact camera that has been in the hands of one of photography’s greats and that has captured so many award-winning shots.

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Now that we're almost halfway through the year, BBC Culture felt it was a ripe time to share its picks for the best photos of 2026 so far. The list includes everything from hard-hitting press photography to stunning landscapes and creative, world record-attempting aerial shots.

There are the two images in particular that I want to focus on from the BBC’s list, and I'm curious to know whether you agree with its selections and my analysis—and what photos you would have chosen instead.

While it's not the strongest image on a purely compositional level, it's difficult to deny the significance of this photograph showing captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, arriving in Manhattan under DEA custody.

From a compositional perspective, I'm not convinced that the presence of the ousted president alone is enough to earn it a place on the list. But from a storytelling and historical record perspective, it certainly is.

For those who don't know, Maduro was the leader of Venezuela for 13 years (2013–2026), during a prolonged economic and humanitarian crisis. The leader and his wife were arrested in a US raid in January and are facing several charges.

He long appeared untouchable, even by the US, so seeing him seemingly powerless and finally answering for his alleged crimes is a powerful moment, especially for the Venezuelan people.

This next shot depicts some 10,000 Bodo dancers dressed in traditional attire preparing to perform the "Butterfly Dance" at Sarusajai Stadium in Guwahati, India, with the performance ultimately earning a Guinness World Record.

I love how the faces and colors seem to merge together, with the individuals forming a giant stitched tapestry, but I'm not sure it's the best aerial shot I've seen in 2026.

It's certainly among the strongest contenders, but if I were handing out the award for best drone photograph I’ve seen this year so far, I'd give it to this travel photography awards-nominated image instead, which, although not record-setting, has a stronger narrative in my view.

Whether or not you agree with the BBC's selections—or with my own analysis—I think we can all agree that both photographs are strong and the people who captured them know what they're doing.

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These award-winning photos pull on all the heartstrings in the most nostalgic way.

While all of us serious photographers grind for the slightest recognition of our best work, Iceland Air is about to sling US$50,000 (approximately £37,500 / AU$71,000) to a terrible photographer.

Back in March, the airline opened a competition in search of a “really bad photographer” to be sent on an all-expenses-paid, 10-day trip to, ironically, what is one of the most beautiful countries on Earth, for a marketing campaign, and offered the cash prize for their efforts.

After slogging through more “questionable compositions” than imaginable, the airline announced last week that its search had come to an end, proudly naming 28-year-old Blanche Mortemard of Paris, France, the worst of the worst.

Speaking to DPReview, the airline said: "Blanche Mortemard... impressed the judges with her admirable lack of skills and knowledge of basic photography."

Mortemard was chosen from precisely 127,642 applicants who submitted a “mountain of bad photos” and endured 2,000+ hours of screening to be crowned Iceland Air’s terrible photographer, having been shortlisted as a finalist alongside 12 other photographers whose photos were awful at best.

Her application includes photos of a Statue of Liberty overexposed to white, blurred city lights, and an unusual guest appearance of someone's ear in the corner of a shot.

Commenting in an Instagram post on her victory, Mortemard said “there was some seriously tough competition” and that she’d do her “absolute worst to make you proud!”

In the same victory post, she said her mission is now to “fully commit and let confidence and autofocus fight it out.”

A $50,000 travel photography assignment is a dream for many photographers. But the campaign intentionally went in the opposite direction of most photographer searches. As Icelandic Air puts it, "We want to prove that even the worst photographer can take great photos of Iceland."

The resulting photos could spark an interesting conversation on the balance between photography skills and epic locations. I'm eager to see what sort of images the winner comes back from the trip with.

Iceland Air has commented that now the “fun part” begins as Mortemard’s “lack of skills” gets put to the test, although the exact ten days over which the trip will take place haven’t yet been announced.

However, as Blanche sets out on her adventure this summer, it won’t be long before we are “treated” to her horrendous or, perhaps, iconic photography, which the airline says you can follow along with on its social media.

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A striking black-and-white photograph of a shepherd guiding hundreds of sheep through swirling dust has been honored at the 2026 World Food Photography Awards, sponsored by Tenderstem Bimi Broccolini.

Captured by photographer Serkan Dogus, en route back toward the pastures of Mount Nemrut in southeastern Turkey, the image transforms an everyday farming ritual into a scene that feels almost cinematic.

The 2,150m mountain is famous for its colossal stone heads and ancient Greco-Persian statues, which have earned the site UNESCO World Heritage status.

Framed through clouds and dust, illuminated by dramatic natural light, the viewer feels alongside the shepherd. The monochrome treatment strips away distractions, drawing attention to the movement, atmosphere and scale of a journey that is repeated every day by local shepherds and their flocks.

Food in the Field Category Winner

Dusty Journey by Serkan Dogus
Gear: Sony A7R III + FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens
Exposure: 1/400sec, f/8, ISO 100

"Every morning, hundreds of sheep arrive in the village from the high pastures of Mount Nemrut for milking," Dogus explains.

"After the milking is completed, at sunset, the sheep set out once again toward Mount Nemrut, and their dusty journey begins."

The image demonstrates exceptional compositional control in a scene that is constantly moving and impossible to direct. However, Dogus managed to position the shepherd at the center of the frame as the flock spreads outward through the dust.

Natural light plays an equally important role. The low sun cuts through the airborne dust, creating layers of contrast that separate the subjects from the background and gives the scene remarkable depth and dimension.

Converting the image to black-and-white further strengthens its impact. Without color competing for attention, the viewer is drawn to the textures, silhouettes and patterns created by the animals, dust, and landscape.

Dogus created an image that feels timeless, cinematic and immersive while documenting an everyday moment of rural life.

See the World Food Photography Award winners

Dogus' award-winning image and all over 200 winners of this year's competition are on display from June 03-07 at the Mall Galleries in London, England. A selection of the images hand-picked by Fortnum & Mason will be displayed at its iconic store in London Piccadilly from June 09.

For more information and to see all winning images, visit the World's Food Photography Awards website.

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While most photography competitions encourage a methodical approach to finding perfect compositions and precise editing in post-production, this photography challenge takes the opposite approach.

The Oxford Photomarathon sees participants capture 12 images across 12 different categories, with the aim of submitting a dozen edited final shots.

Behind the event is a group of passionate amateur photographers, who are calling it a “24-hour photographic adventure” challenging participants to think outside the box.

Starting at 10:00, participants will receive batches of 4 categories via text message every 4 hours until 18:00, forcing them to think on their feet – not dwell on compositions – and “embrace imperfection.”

The photographers then have until 10:00 the following day to edit and submit their final images. John Whittle, one of the organizers, said, “It’s as much about encouragement as it is about artistry, offering a low-pressure space where beginners can experiment and seasoned photographers can rediscover the joy of shooting for fun.”

Whittle hopes that, at a time when he often sees “endlessly perfected images,” the Photomarathon will remind photographers that it’s not about having the best gear; rather, it’s about “perspective, storytelling, and the willingness to look again.”

Winning images from each of the 12 categories will be chosen, as well as a best image taken by a junior photographer and the best overall set of images.

While the competition is based in the city of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and there is also a prize for the best image taken within the county of Oxfordshire, the marathon is open to photographers located anywhere in the world, without the need to travel to England.

The Oxford Photomarathon takes place over July 25-26, with the winning images exhibited at an awards ceremony in September where prizes will also be presented.

The organizers also plan to exhibit the winners' work within the wider Oxfordshire art scene. Head to the event webpage for further information; entry costs £18 (approximately $24 / AU$34) or £9 ($12 / AU$17) if you were born in 2009 or later.

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If legendary street photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson were still alive, I’m sure that he would’ve given a nod of approval to the image we are looking at today.

This city scene was shot by Somdutt Prasad – an ophthalmologist and multi-award-winning photographer – on the streets of Kolkata, India, and recently won the Urban category of the National Geographic Traveller (UK) Photography Competition.

In the colorful frame, aptly titled Disconnected, we see a hooded man using his phone, just as the subject in the mural behind him uses his, in what is a brilliant example of Cartier-Bresson's Decisive Moment philosophy: the split second when all elements of a scene—geometry, movement, and human emotion—come together, producing a visually stunning and emotionally impactful image.

“I’d been photographing in the area when I came across this striking mural. What immediately attracted me was the vibrant palette and the large seated figure depicted in the artwork, absorbed in a mobile phone,” said Somdutt.

But instead of simply snapping the mural, Somdutt returned early the next morning when the streets were quieter, hoping to capture a pedestrian passing by in a way that would “create a meaningful visual relationship with the artwork.”

Eventually, a passerby entered the frame while using his phone, which was the final missing piece of the decisive composition. “For a brief moment, the real and painted worlds seemed to echo one another, creating a layered commentary on contemporary urban life and our relationship with technology,” said Somdutt.

Somdutt used a Fujifilm GFX 100S II with a Fujifilm Fujinon GF20-35mm f/4 zoom lens, opting for a 28mm focal length, an f/8.0 aperture, ISO 3200, and a 1/200-second shutter speed.

When deciding on the Urban category winner, I’m sure the National Geographic judges picked up on just how well Somdutt reflected Cartier-Bresson’s philosophy in his shot. Speaking on winning the award, Somdutt said it was both “humbling” and “deeply rewarding.”

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A fashion designer traveled to the "end of the Earth" – and captured this gripping, award-winning image with an 11-year-old DSLR.

An award-winning astrophotographer endured steep snow-covered slopes, ice, and freezing alpine winds to capture a rare view of the Milky Way above New Zealand's Remarkables mountain range near Queenstown. The image reveals a vivid and clear night sky that most people beneath those lights will never see.

The photograph, titled Night at the Remarkables by Tom Rae, shows the Milky Way arching over rugged peaks, with the flow of Queenstown's lights visible below. It's a visually striking capture that combines the galaxy with human presence.

His physically demanding expedition into harsh alpine conditions was now rewarded. The image has been selected for Capture the Atlas' 2026 Milky Way Photographer of the Year collection – a collection that celebrates some of the world's best night-sky photographs.

The story behind 'Night at the Remarkables'

Gear: Nikon Z6a + Sigma 28mm f/1.4 Art
Accessories: iOptron Skyguider Pro star tracker

Exposure:
Sky: 21 x 30sec, f/2.5, ISO 1600
Foreground: 12 x 30sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600 (+ 1 x 0.5sec, f/3.2, ISO 1600 for city lights)

Rae explains, "The winter Milky Way arch sets above the rugged Remarkables Range in the Southern Alps, while the lights of Queenstown, New Zealand, glow far below.

"That distant glow tells a larger story. Most people beneath those lights will never see this sky. Light pollution continues to erase the universe from view, even in places that still feel remote.

"There is something surreal about watching the quiet, ancient light of the Milky Way above a place filled with motion, noise, and activity.

"Clouds and conditions shifted constantly, and the final result remained uncertain until the image came together many days later.

"For one brief moment, everything aligned: mountain, light, and the fading presence of the Milky Way above."

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"The shape is something from another world," says eight-year-old photography talent Ariel Owliaei, describing the Romanesco cauliflower that caught his eye during a visit to Panzer's deli in London's St John's Wood after school.

The striking image, titled Romanesco at Panzer's, has now earned Ariel the Jamie Oliver Youth Prize (12 and Under) at the World Food Photography Awards, sponsored by Tenderstem® Bimi® Broccolini. Captured on a smartphone camera, the photograph impressed the judges.

This accolade is not Ariel's first success in the creative arts. The young photographer living in London, England, previously reached the grand final of the BBC 500 Words competition. At the photo award ceremony in London, Ariel was all smiles as he collected his trophy for the winning image.

Jamie Oliver Youth Prize 12 and under – Winner

Romanesco at Panzer's by Ariel Owliaei
Shot with the Apple iPhone 14 Pro via the back dual wide camera 9.86mm f/1.78

The phrase "the best camera is the one you have with you" couldn't be more fitting. When a Romanesco cauliflower caught Ariel's eye during a visit to a local deli, he had a smartphone at hand – and used it to create an award-winning image.

Ariel's image was judged by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, creative director of the Jamie Oliver Group, James Verity, and World Food Photography Awards' chair of judges, David Loftus.

He received a trophy and will be invited to attend the Jamie Oliver Headquarters in London.

See the World Food Photography Award winners

Ariel's award-winning image and all over 200 winners of this year's competition are on display from June 03-07 at the Mall Galleries in London. A selection of the images hand-picked by Fortnum & Mason will be displayed at its iconic store in London Piccadilly from June 09.

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The World Food Photography Awards sponsored by Tenderstem® Bimi® Broccolini has revealed the competition's overall winner – a prestigious honor going to British video journalist/photographer Jo Kearney for an image showing a quiet moment of a woman eating in the canteen of the Soviet-era Sanatorium – and it speaks volumes.

The scene was shot at the Kjoka Obi Garm Sanatorium in the mountains of Tajikistan. It's a colossal concrete complex built on radon-rich hot springs and is one of the few places that is still in operation.

Kearney works for broadcasters such as the BBC and the international press agency Associated Press, and is no stranger to the World Food Photography Awards. In 2024, she won the category Politics and Food – and this year, she brought the awards founder to tears, scooping the Fortnum & Mason Food at the Table category and the overall win.

'A Woman Eats in the Canteen of the Soviet-era Sanatorium'

The Khoja Obi Garm sanatorium (health hotel) offers prescribed treatments such as thermal bathing and steam therapy. Guests of the popular sanatorium are served meals of nourishing food ranging from soups to fruit, tea, and traditional Tajik fare.

"During Soviet times, communist workers were given two weeks annual holiday here. Today its low price - $28 per day including full board and treatments - attracts ordinary Tajiks plus tourists from the neighbouring 'Stans' and the odd backpacker," explains Kearney.

Award founder Caroline Kenyon says, "There is so much to see and so much to feel in this image. An old woman pours herself tea - but it's so much more than just that.

"The expression on her crevassed face is beautiful, it moved me to tears. She is alone, her simple breakfast on the table before her echoes the fruit in the painting on the wall behind.

"Against the parched colours of the scene through the window, the rich crimson chairs give a regal quality to the setting, and though humbly dressed, her dignified bearing is queenly too.

"She has seen much in life, we are sure, but holds her head high."

Kearney's award-winning images and all 203 winners of this year's competition are on display from June 3 to June 7 at the Mall Galleries in London. A selection of the images hand-picked by Fortnum & Mason will be displayed at their iconic store on Piccadilly from June 9.

For more information and to see all winning images, visit the World's Food Photography Awards website.

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The journey to capture this award-winning image of the Milky Way above Aoraki in New Zealand (formerly known as Mount Cook) required far more than technical expertise behind the camera – it became "one of the most demanding challenges I had set for myself," says the photographer.

To reach the remote alpine location, astrophotographer Owain Scullion navigated steep rocky terrain and snow-covered slopes in challenging winter conditions, pursuing a photograph that would test both his endurance and decision-making.

The effort ultimately paid off. Scullion's image Aoraki Mt Cook has been selected for Capture the Atlas' 2026 Milky Way Photographer of the Year collection, which celebrates some of the world's finest night-sky photography.

How 'Aoraki Mt Cook' was captured

Gear: Fujifilm X-T30 Astro-modified, Fujifilm XF 23mm f/2.8 R WR, Viltrox 27mm f/1.2 Pro
Accessories: MSM Nomad star-tracker, Kase star glow filter, Nantong H-alpha filter
Exposure for sky: 60sec, f/1.4, ISO 800,
Exposure for ground: 60sec, f/2.0, ISO 1600

Scullion says, "My goal with astrophotography has always been to combine my passion for mountains, adventure, and the landscapes of New Zealand.

"Capturing the Milky Way arch above Aoraki / Mount Cook, the central peak of the national park, became one of the most demanding challenges I had set for myself.

"The route presented constant challenges, including large washouts along the mountainside, unstable snow affected by solar radiation, and the demands of winter camping at altitude.

"Being positioned so close to Aoraki added a sense of scale and intensity to the moment, especially as the western arc of the Milky Way moved into alignment above the mountain.

"With only a brief window to capture the scene, there was little margin for error. This image represents that single opportunity, where preparation, experience, and timing came together to document a moment that felt both challenging and deeply rewarding."

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Whether you're a seasoned photographer, a beginner just getting started or someone who loves capturing beautiful moments, submitting your images to photo competitions is one of the best ways to gain exposure and recognition.

Entering competitions isn't just about winning – though prizes and publicity are great bonuses! It's also a chance to dive into your archives, rediscover your best images and refine your personal style. Many photographers say competitions were the stepping stone that helped them build a name, grow their audience or land their first big feature.

And with so many open calls across all genres – there's something for everyone. So, here's a list of photography competitions with open calls that are accepting submissions from June until December 2026. It's a small selection to spark inspiration, but there are countless others out there…

photoED magazine 

Deadline: June 15

Open to: Photographers of all levels, worldwide exclusions: Residents of Russia, the Republic of Belarus and sanctioned countries (ie. Cuba, North Korea...)

Fee: Free for members, general submissions CAN$20

Theme: Home VS Away, “Fine art photography projects that present the idea of HOME, an experience of AWAY, or a juxtaposition the two”

Publication: Issue #76 of photoED magazine

Epson International Pano Awards

Deadline: Early bird: June 22, Final: July 13

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Awards: Amateur, Open, VR/360

Fee: Depends on category, $20-$22 per image

Categories: Amateur Awards & Open Awards: Nature/ Landscapes, Aerial, Built Environment. VR/360 Awards: Open VR/360

Prizes: TBA (last year’s prize pool was worth over $50,000)

World Nature Photography Awards

Deadline: June 30

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: $30 per entry

Categories: Animals in their habitat, Animal portraits, Behaviour – Amphibians and reptiles, Behaviour – Birds, Behaviour – Invertebrates, Behaviour – Mammals, Plants and fungi, Urban wildlife, Planet Earth's landscapes and environments, Underwater, Black and white, Nature art, Nature-related photojournalism, Humans interacting with nature

Prizes: Grand prize of $1,000 and the title of World Nature Photographer of the Year, media exposure, and more

Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Deadline: June 30

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

Categories: Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Insects, Fish and other Aquatic Species, Nikon Young Photographer (25 years and under), Nikon Junior (16 years and under), Portfolio, Nikon Video, Photo People's Choice

Prizes: Nikon Category winners: Nikon gear, category winners: premium ThinkTANK camera bag+ Amazing Internet website, top entrants have the chance to win a safari in the Maasai Mara, Kenya, hosted by Alex Walker's Serian

Travel Photographer of the Year

Deadline: Early bird: July 1, TPOTY Pass: July 16, Final: October 12

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: From £14, entry is FREE for young photographers aged 18 and under

Portfolio categories: Adventures & Journeys, Cultures, Traditions & Celebrations, Landscapes – Nature & Urban, Wildlife, Sealife, Birdlife

One Shot categories: In Nature, People of the World, Street, Travel in Black & White,

Special Awards: Travel Photographer of the Year, Young Travel Photographer of the Year, Travel Image of the Year, Rising Talent Award, People’s Choice Award

Prizes: Cash prizes from £1,000 to £200, industry portfolio reviews, media exposure, and more

Le Prix de la Photographie de Paris (PX3)

Deadline: July 22

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: €30 for single images, €50 for series (professionals), €20 for single images, €40 for series (amateurs and students), discounts for multiple categories

Categories: Advertising, Analog, Architecture, Book, Fine Art, Nature, Portraiture, Press

Prizes: Up to €11,500 in cash prizes, exhibitions in Paris, Athens, Ostuni & Budapest⁠, publication in the PX3 Annual Book, extensive global exposure ⁠

The Illume Awards

Deadline: July 31

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

Sports categories: Adventure, Aerial, Bike, Climb, Skate, Snow, Surf, Trail

Themed categories: Close-Up, Emerging, Innovation, Lifestyle, Masterpiece, Playground, RAW, Spirit

Prizes: Leica cameras, Angelbird storage gear, global exhibition tour, photobook feature

Brian Black Memorial Award

Note: The Digital Camera World team will join the judging panel

Deadline: August 30

Open to: Photographers of all levels living in the UK

Fee: Free

Theme: "Our Inspiring Seas"

Categories: Adult photo competition, Article competition, Junior photo competition (under 16 years)

Prizes: £3,000 prize pool – Winning article: £1,500 cash prize, publication in Yachting Monthly (print+online), interview on The Sailing Podcast; Adult photo competition: camera equipment worth £750; Junior photo competition: camera equipment worth £500

Charity contribution: The Black Memorial Award donates £500 to Sea-Changers.

Botanical Photographer of the Year

Deadline: September 30

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

Focus: Britain and Ireland's wild plants

Categories: Intrepid: Plants in wild, hard-to-reach, or dramatic landscapes, Inquisitive: Close-up shots highlighting the fascinating and minute features that are often used in ID, Inclusive: People interacting with plants, urban botany, or community recording, Open: For entries that fall outside the above.

Special: Young Botanical Photographer of the Year for an entry into any category, aged 18 or under

Prizes: To be announced

OPPO Photography Awards

Deadline: December 31

Open to: Photographers and videographers of all levels, shooting with OPPO, OnePlus, or realme devices

Fee: Free

Theme: "Super Every Moment"

Categories: Me, Journey, Video, Zoom, Live, Snap

Prizes: $76,500 prize pool across 38 awards – Gold Award (1): $20,000, Silver Award (2):$8,000, Bronze Award (3): $3,000, Honorable Mention photo categories (15): $1,000, Honorable Mention video categories (3): $1,500, Regional Award (10): $1,000, Audience’s Choice (4): $500

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Young photographer Jack Crockford has won the top honor at the British Wildlife Photography Awards 2026, winning the 12-14 Years category with a striking image showing a Eurasian hobby catching prey in mid-air.

Now 15 years old, Jack secured the prestigious award with a capture that freezes a fraction-of-a-second hunting encounter as the agile falcon reaches out to snatch its prey from the sky.

Capturing such a moment requires exceptional timing and plenty of patience – skills that wildlife photographers can spend years refining. Jack shot the winning image using a pro-level DSLR camera rather than one of today's latest AI-powered mirrorless cameras – combined with a super-telephoto lens.

'Acrobatic Hobby'

The photographer explains
"This is the Eurasian hobby, a small yet remarkably agile bird of prey. They combine their speed with this agility for a unique trait; catching insects mid-air.

"The size of their prey doesn't affect them, as it can vary from the smallest of flies to small birds.

"First, they lock on to their target. Next, they reach out with their super-sharp talons and snatch their prey. In this moment, a mayfly was unlucky as it became the hobby's next snack."

Shot info
Species: Eurasian hobby (Falco subbuteo)
Location: Staines Moor, England

Tech info
Gear: Nikon D500 + Nikon AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens
Exposure: 1/6400sec, f/8, ISO 800

The image has sparked discussion around gear and skill.

Capturing wildlife moments like this requires experience, dedication, and split-second timing to frame cleanly and avoid cutting the subject – especially in fast-moving scenes like a hunt.

Jack achieved the shot using a DSLR camera and lens without today's AI-assisted autofocus systems found in modern mirrorless cameras, making the result particularly impressive given his age of just 15.

For more winning images and full results, visit the BWPA website and explore the incredible work of this year's photographers.

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The winners of the OpenWalls Spotlight Awards 2026 have been announced, and this year’s champion images hit you straight in the feels, evoking all kinds of nostalgia and longing for friends and family, but also for years gone by.

Themed around homecoming, this year’s edition of the competition – which is organized by the British Journal of Photography – saw an impressive, deeply thought-provoking series delving into aging and the changes that life brings, along with ample single frames exploring the significance of returning to a place, a memory or a version of oneself.

American photographer Nancy Floyd took the crown in the Series category with Weathering Time, a profound documentation of her life and the changing faces, places, pets, trials and tribulations it has entailed over a period spanning more than 40 years.

To date, the ongoing series, which turns 50 in 2032, has chronicled Floyd’s youth through to the “dawn of her old age,” with the images also reflecting the wider experiences of her generation, including cultural and technological shifts in society. A fascinating long-term study, Floyd plans to continue the project “for as long as she’s able to.”

The series' emotional weight lies in its honesty. Rather than simply romanticizing the passage of time, Weathering Time leans into its realities, capturing the quiet, often bittersweet changes that shape us over decades.

There were 24 winning images in the Single Shot category, among them standout works such as Tony, a portrait by Joseph P Smith named after its subject.

In the image, we see Tony standing beside the defunct remains of a machine in his former workplace that tore off his right arm when he was just 16 years old. Now approaching old age, Tony reconciles with the place that “reshaped his body and future.”

The wider selection of winning images explores homecoming in all kinds of ways – from physical returns to emotional reckonings – with photographers documenting themes of family, identity, memory, loss and belonging through both intimate portraiture and documentary storytelling.

OpenWalls is an international photography award highlighting emerging and established photographers across two categories: Series and Single Shot. For the last six years, winning images have been displayed at Galerie Huit Arles in Arles, France, alongside the Les Rencontres d’Arles festival.

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This award-nominated aerial photo is a great lesson in how to combine shapes and complementary colors creatively.

The Ringed Kingfisher can perch up to 30 feet above the water before plunging headfirst toward its prey – creating a split-second burst of motion that is notoriously difficult to photograph.

But photographer Felipe Esteban Toledo Alarcó captured the moment perfectly.

His dramatic image of a Ringed Kingfisher explosively rising from the water, frozen at 1/3200 sec, has now won the Grand Prize in the Chile and Colombia competition at the Audubon Photography Awards.

Chile and Colombia: Grand Prize Winner

Image info
Species: Ringed Kingfisher
Image Location: Valdivia, Los Ríos, Chile

Shot info
Gear: Sony A7 IV + Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS
Exposure: 1/3200 secs, f/6.3, ISO 2500

The story behind the shot

Toledo Alarcón explains, "While looking to photograph frogs' mating rituals at a lagoon in Parque Saval, my friend and I noticed a pair of Ringed Kingfishers hunting fish, completely submerging themselves in the water.

"No one can ignore such a scene. While the female was far away, the male dove unsuccessfully time and time again—and with each try, he moved closer to us.

"Even though the sun was not in the perfect position, I set up my camera in burst mode with a high shutter speed, moderate ISO, and “zone” focus.

"I was ready.

"After the bird made six dives, I got the image that I’d been chasing: a kingfisher explosively rising out of the water, displaying its beauty, elegance, and power."

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An extraordinary image showing silhouettes of frigatebirds flying beneath a dramatic sun halo has earned Canadian-based photographer Liron Gertsman another major accolade.

Previously recognized as the Bird Photographer of the Year, Gertsman has now won the Grand Prize in the United States and Canada contest at the Audubon Photography Awards with his striking image of magnificent frigatebirds.

To create the image, Gertsman used a wide-angle lens to frame the birds against a rare 22° solar halo – a natural phenomenon formed when sunlight is refracted through millions of ice crystals in high-altitude cirrus clouds.

United States and Canada: Grand Prize Winner

Image info
Species: Magnificent frigatebird
Image Location: Teacapán, Sinaloa, Mexico

Shot info
Gear: Canon EOS R5 + Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art (EF) and Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS R
Exposure: 1/2500 sec, f/16, ISO160

Judge’s Take (Daniel Dietrich)
"This image immediately stood out in this year’s competition. The layers are deep, the silhouettes remarkable, and the whimsical, mystical feeling of the image is outstanding. Planning, timing and skill combined to make this a truly extraordinary moment captured in time."

The story behind the shot

Despite being true seabirds, frigatebirds are unable to rest on the ocean surface for long periods, meaning they can spend days or even weeks soaring over the sea in search of food.

Gertsman explains, "Frigatebirds are a common sight in many coastal towns in Mexico. As a kleptoparasitic species, they may look to steal a meal from other seabirds – or from local fishermen.

"I photographed these birds as they passed a stunning halo in the sky. These rings of light form when millions of tiny ice crystals in the atmosphere refract sunlight, often when there are high-altitude cirrus or cirrostratus clouds.

"I utilized a small aperture to ensure both the birds and sky would be sharp and to get a “starburst” effect on the sun in the middle of the frame."

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I’ve seen plenty of animals doing funny things, but I’ve never seen one defy gravity the way the Bible says Jesus did when he glided across the surface of water without wetting his ankles.

However, in this video – which won the Nikon Video Clip Category of the Nikon Wildlife Comedy Awards 2025 – a heron seemingly confirmed Christ’s physics-bending abilities by copying them, until the hilarious truth was bestowed upon us toward the end of the unbelievable drama.

Shot by Tatjana Epp, at the Kruger National Park in South Africa early last year, the recording starts with the heron mesmerizingly gliding across the water on the soles of its feet as if the Messiah himself were returning to the world. However, not all was as hallowed as it seemed.

"At first we spotted the heron and didn't notice that it was actually standing on the back of the hippo," Epp explained. "A perfect shelter for him, because there were so many crocodiles around. So actually a really smart move."

Epp explained how, during this hilarious "once in a lifetime scene", the heron almost lost its balance before making a miraculous recovery and enjoying the rest of the ride.

She went on to say how the hippo was jiving its head to rid itself of the sinfully surfing bird but, unlike Judas Iscariot who betrayed his master, ultimately gave up, accepting the heron’s seemingly divine powers.

Over the years the Nikon Wildlife Comedy Awards has treated us to many a sidesplitting video, including of a red fox having some Christmas fun on a back garden trampoline, which was the 2023 winner, as well as an Antarctic penguin that couldn't quite handle the cold water, which took the 2018 crown.

The 2026 edition of the competition is now open with professional and amateur photographers using any camera brand encouraged to enter. The video category is one of eight, and you can submit up to two videos, no longer than fifteen seconds each.

After viewing the 2025 winning clip, perhaps Jesus was just catching a ride from a submerged hippo after all. Hopefully St Peter won’t turn me away at the gates to heaven for all this blasphemy…

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This TED Talk hilariously shows that the best way to make people care about wildlife is to make them laugh at comedy photos. To snap your own animal escapades, take a look at the best cameras for wildlife photography and the best lenses for bird and wildlife photography.

Now and again, I’ll see an image that just grips me in the best way possible. The composition, the visual narrative, and the color – everything about the scene feeds into a visceral narrative that seems to stop you in your tracks.

That’s exactly how I feel about this image that recently won the Adventure & Experiences Portfolio category of the Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) Awards 2025. The image was captured by Sara Bardotti, an Italian fashion designer turned seasonal receptionist, come documentary photographer, during a trip to the Yamal Peninsula, Siberia, Russia.

In the frame, two fishermen dressed in warm clothing smash through a frozen tundra in search of sustenance in what looks like one of the harshest environments on Earth.

While the frozen tundra and extreme-cold clothing of the fishermen, who are native Nenets indigenous to the Russian Arctic, already paint a visceral picture, what grips me the most is the shoveled snow flying toward the viewer.

Bardotti captured this at 1/250sec on a Nikon D750, and it almost makes you feel as though you’re standing there with her, about to be pelted by the cold snow.

However, the f/2.8 aperture and choice of focal point render the flying snow slightly out of focus, but the fishermen are perfectly in focus, which has your eye bouncing back and forth between these two main components in what I think is a perfect composition.

The ISO 2000 and black-and-white edit add the finishing visceral touches in the form of harsh contrast. I think that harsh edit works well for the subject matter, as the name of the location, Yamal, means “end of the Earth” in the local Nenets dialect.

For more stunning images, view the entire series Bardotti shot of the Nenets fishermen that day on the Siberian tundra at the Travel Photographer of the Year website.

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Travel Photographer of the Year founder, Chris Coe, shares all on how to win the competition.

The finalist images from the most recent Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) Awards were particularly impressive, and I continue to revisit the website not only to admire them, but also to learn from them.

The image we’re looking at here was the runner-up in the Adventures & Experiences Portfolio category, and what I love about this scene — and the biggest takeaway for me — is how the photographer creatively combined different shapes and complementary colors.

Shot by Teo Chin Leong (Singapore) on a DJI Mavic 3 drone, the scene depicts a fisherman in Hoi An, Vietnam, casting a large net over a river from his humble canoe.

While at first this might seem like another ordinary day at work for the fisherman, look more closely, and the way a range of shapes, along with complementary colors, combine becomes clear, and you realize just how brilliant this composition is.

The huge triangle formed by the net over the fisherman’s head mid-cast, which has been frozen with a 1/640 sec shutter speed and perfectly focused with a f/2.8 aperture, frames all the action in the scene.

And within this golden-yellow triangular frame we see a range of other shapes, including the narrow oval canoe and various lines and layers created by folds in the net, all of which combine seamlessly despite the presence of straight and curved lines.

The fisherman’s bright-red t-shirt glows through the net, indicating where your eye should look while complementing the dominant yellow hue of the scene. Further adding to the creative use of color is the tone of the water, which I suspect was edited slightly so the hue better matched the golden yellow.

The Travel Photographer of the Year is an annual competition covering categories from portraiture to wildlife. Amateurs and professionals alike can enter, and the 2026 edition of the competition is now underway.

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Want more travel photography award-winning images? Then how about this scene of a muddy duel to the death between a crab and a fish captured on a DSLR, which was a runner-up?

Experiencing new life developing in front of the lens is a moment few ever encounter. For photographer and biologist Julian Terreros-Martin, that opportunity came unexpectedly – and has now earned him one of the UK's most prestigious wildlife photography awards.

Terreros-Martin's striking image shows a developing embry of a common frog (Rana temporaria) inside a translucent egg – a rare glimpe into early life stages of amphibian development. The image was awarded a prize in the Hidden Britain category of the British Wildlife Photography Awards.

Armed with a Canon camera and 2x macro probe lens, Terreros-Martin was able to partially submerge the lens into the water to capure the embyro with extreme close-up detail. Built-in lighting at the top of the pool helped olluminate the underwater scene, revealing intricate biological structures not visible to the naked eye.

Hidden Britain | Winner

Image details
Title: New Life
Species: Common frog (Rana temporaria)
Location: Messingham, England

Shot info
Gear: Canon EOS R3 + Laowa 24mm f/14 2x Macro Probe lens
Exposure: 1/400sec, f/14, ISO 5000

The story behind the photo

Terreros-Martin explains, "During 2020, many of us around the world were isolating at home due to various lockdowns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"My dad and I decided to build a reflection pool in our back garden as a way to continue photographing the wildlife around our house, which mainly consisted of birds and hedgehogs at night.

"Fast forward four years, and the pool remains unused and unloved, at least by us. Over this time, however, it seems that various frogs have taken a liking to our pool, so much so that they have spawned in it.

"Using the Laowa 24mm Probe lens, I was able to partially submerge the lens into the pool and photograph what was happening underwater.

"The lights at the end of the probe illuminated the scene, allowing me to capture a close-up macro image of a single egg still attached to the rest but hanging on the edge of the spawn ball.

"Seeing the details of the developing embryo was an incredibly unique and special moment for me, both as a photographer and as a biologist.

"This experience also serves as a reminder that, given the chance, nature can bounce back. Even in our own gardens, we can find incredible wildlife moments."

The BWPA competition

The British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA) is one of the UK's most respected nature photography competitions, celebrating the diversity and wonder of wildlife.

Photographers compete across adult and youth categories, with winning images published in a hardback book by Graffeg.

For more winning images and full results, visit the BWPA website and explore the incredible work of this year's photographers.

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The Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) Awards always give us plenty of amazing images to gander at, and the latest from the most recent edition of the competition is of a heart-pounding fight for survival between a fish and a crab in sticky mud that brings to mind the abysmal conditions soldiers endured in the trenches of World War I.

Shot on a Nikon D850 DSLR camera with a 500mm lens, the scene, which came second place in the Wildlife, Sealife and Birdlife Portfolio category, perfectly frames the hunting crab as it hauls a blue-spotted mudskipper out of the liquid mud.

Behind the camera was American photographer Emma Parker, who created the image on a bright day at the mudflats near Broome, Western Australia.

Despite the sunlit conditions, Parker used an ISO of 500 to give a 1/2500sec shutter speed at f/10, which also ensured she captured the split-second action crisply. Whether the blue-spotted mudskipper became crab food or not is left to the imagination!

As part of the same series, Parker also captured two mudskippers in a separate duel, mouths agape and fins aflare, this time not fighting for life, but for territory and feeding-ground dominance in the mudflats.

Located primarily in Roebuck Bay and Dampier Creek, these massive mudflats, which stretch for miles when tides recede, are known for being ecological hotspots. Recognized as a wetland of international importance, they are home to hundreds of thousands of migratory shorebirds, mudskippers, and one of the most biodiverse marine invertebrate communities in the world.

The Travel Photographer of the Year is a prestigious global competition founded in 2003, accepting entries from professional and amateur photographers in categories covering travel, culture, and wildlife. The 2026 edition of the event is now open for entries, and you can view all 2025 winning images here.

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This Travel Photographer of the Year winning photograph is proof that award-winning images can be created from everyday, boring moments.

Macro photographer Barry Webb specializes in photographing slime mold – tiny organisms that come in remarkable shapes, textures, and iridescent colors. His striking work has earned awards before, including recognition at the Close-up Photographer of the Year for an image of a 15mm tall ear-pick fungus.

Now, Webb has won the Botanical Britain category at the British Wildlife Photography Awards 2026 with his image featuring a slime mold species measuring just '1mm tall'. But creating the image was far from simple.

Webb used focus stacking to overcome the razor-thin depth of field that comes with extreme macro photography, capturing a total of 87 separate images at different focus points before merging them into a single final shot – all captured with a Micro Four Thirds camera that introduced two world-first features.

Botanical Britain | Winner

Image details
Title: Slime Moulds and a Water Droplet
Species: Slimemould (Lamproderma scintillans)
Location: South Buckinghamshire, England

Shot info
Gear: OM System OM-1 + M.Zuiko 90mm f/3.5 Macro + 2x teleconverter
Exposure: 0.6sec, f/14, ISO 200

The story behind the still
Webb explains, "These 1mm-tall Lamproder mascintillans were found on a tiny fragment of wood, on a very wet woodchip pile.

"When the water droplet evaporated on the two fruiting bodies on the right, they dried out and reverted to their original blue colour.

"It is thought that the iridescent surface of these fruiting bodies may act as a water repellent in order to protect the spores within the sporocarp.

"A total of 87 shots were focus bracketed and then focus stacked to create the final image."

The BWPA competition

The British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA) is one of the UK's most respected nature photography competitions, celebrating the diversity and wonder of wildlife.

Photographers compete across adult and youth categories, with winning images published in a hardback book by Graffeg.

For more winning images and full results, visit the BWPA website and explore the incredible work of this year's photographers.

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Looking for competitions to enter? Here are 10 global photo contests now open for entries from May to December.

The winners of a scientific microscopic imaging competition have been announced and, mesmerizingly, the winning photo brings to mind stars and other cosmic phenomena you’d expect to see depicted in an image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.

This year marked the sixth installment of the Evident Image of the Year Award, a microscopy photography contest organized by microscope manufacturing company Evident (the new name for Olympus Microscopes).

The 2026 global winner was Katie Holden, an imaging specialist at the Cellular Imaging Core Facility (CICF) within the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Medicine.

Her winning image, entitled Neuronal Cosmos, shows a cluster of stem-cell-derived, lab-grown neurons that self-organize into structures resembling the layered architecture of the human brain.

While neurospheres are particularly important to scientists as they enable research into the effects of environmental and genetic factors on brain development, Holden’s winning image seems more like a study of the universe.

Speaking to Evident about her winning image, Holden said: “Visually, the star-like pattern reflects intriguing parallels between astronomy and biology at hugely different scales.”

The winning image in the Materials Science category also unveiled a microscopic structure resembling a natural wonder of the macro world. Muhammad Tahir Khan’s image shows a lignin fiber — a biopolymer found in plants — that looks just like enormous golden desert dunes under a scanning electron microscope.

Three regional prizes were awarded to Gerd Günther (Germany/EMEA) for depicting chicory plant and pollen grain cells, Igor Siwanowicz (USA/Americas) for revealing mallow pollen cellular structures, and Kentaro Mochizuki (Japan/Asia Pacific) for capturing cellular structures from a rat heart.

The winners received scientific imaging equipment, including microscopes and microscope cameras from Evident, as well as recognition within the scientific imaging community.

All adults, both hobbyists and scientific professionals, who use light microscopes to capture photos are encouraged to enter Evident’s annual competition, with a panel of scientific experts judging the winners.

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The heartwarming wildlife image Feathery Pillow shows a newly hatched cygnet resting its head on one of its siblings – a tender moment that earned 18-year-old photographer Ben Lucas the top prize in one of the UK's most prestigious wildlife competitions.

Ben was named Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 after capturing a quiet moment within a mute swan family at Hornchurch, England, revealing the softer, more intimate side of nature.

Armed with a Canon APS-C camera and telephoto lens, Ben used reach and precision to isolate the tiny cygnet. Photographed at around 359mm, the image features a shallow depth of field, no distractions, and keeps full focus on the resting bird.

Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026

Image details
Title: Feathery Pillow
Species: Mute swan (Cygnus olor)
Location: Hornchurch, England

Shot info
Gear: Canon EOS R10 + RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM
Exposure: 1/500sec, f/8, ISO 250

The story behind the still
Ben says, "This was such an adorable moment to witness. A whole family of mute swans swam up to me as I was quietly sitting on the bank of a beautiful lake.

"They all lay down for a rest right beside me.

"The five newly hatched cygnets curled up together in a fluffy grey bundle and I captured this photo as one lay its little head on the back of its sibling.

"Nature can often be so cruel, but tender moments like this warm my heart!"

Why APS-C cameras are great for wildlife photography

Wildlife photography is all about reach. While Ben was lucky enough to have a family of mute swans resting beside him, moments like that are incredibly rare in nature.

It's important to note that photographers need to keep a safe and respectful distance from wildlife – both for the animal's wellbeing and their own safety.

That's where APS-C cameras shine. Paired with a telephoto lens, cameras like the Canon EOS R10 used for Ben's photo offer extra "reach" thanks to their 1.5x to 1.6x crop factor.

The smaller sensor creates a narrower field of view – almost like using an in-camera teleconverter – making distant wildlife appear closer without needing a larger or more expensive lens.

There's an ongoing debate in wildlife photography over whether full-frame or APS-C cameras are best. Full-frame models are known for their high resolution, low-light performance, and ability to capture exceptional detail – but they often come with a much higher price tag.

APS-C cameras, meanwhile, hit a sweet spot between performance, portability, and affordability.

The BWPA competition

The British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA) is one of the UK's most respected nature photography competitions, celebrating the diversity and wonder of wildlife.

Photographers compete across adult and youth categories, with winning images published in a hardback book by Graffeg.

For more winning images and full results, visit the BWPA website and explore the incredible work of this year's photographers.

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Check out our guides to the best cameras for wildlife photography and the best lenses for bird photography and wildlife.

Looking for competitions to enter? Here are 10 global photo contests now open for entries from May to December.

Motorsport photography is one of the most technically demanding genres, often leaving little room for experimentation. But photographer Ellie Majumdar stood out by combining technical precision with creative angles and techniques.

Following three intense days of trackside photography tuition at the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli UK event at Silverstone, Ferrari UK has announced Majumdar as the first winner of its Motorsport Photography Competition.

Majumdar impressed the judging panel with her creative approach to motorsport photography. The judges praised her willingness to experiment with new ideas and techniques to create more dynamic and impactful images – all while shooting with a mirrorless camera and DSLR lenses.

Ferrari UK Motorsport Photography Champion 2026

Majumdar shoots with the Canon EOS R6, paired with DSLR telephoto lenses, such as the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM and EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM – using a Canon EF-EOS R lens mount adapter to use DSLR lenses on the mirrorless full-frame camera body.

Majumdar explains, "The competition has been a great opportunity to meet with and talk to other photographers, while also pushing ourselves to do our best.

"I've wanted to succeed in the industry for a long time and, while the journey has been long, this win has been a fantastic reminder that I’m on the right track."

As the competition winner, Majumdar will join the Ferrari UK social media team at the Ferrari Finali Mondiali at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from November 19-22. She also receives one year's membership of the Guild of Motoring Writers – the world's largest association of automotive editorial professionals.

This is the first year Ferrari UK has run the competition. For details of next year's event, aspiring motorsport photographers should keep an eye on Ferrari UK's social media channels.

Find more information on the Guild of Motoring Writers and its support for automotive photographers on the GMOW website.

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A retro-inspired compact camera has won another major award – but it continues to divide photographers.

Following its win at the iF Design Awards, the Fujifilm X Half – also known as the X-HF1 – impressed editors at the Camera Grand Prix 2026 with its unique concept, offering a film-camera-like shooting experience despite being a digital camera.

However, the X Half has sparked ongoing debates in the photographer community – and not everyone is convinced by its approach.

Editor's Choice R&D Award: Fujifilm X Half

The Camera Grand Prix 2026 published the editor's reasons for awarding the Fujifilm X Half.

"The Fujifilm X Half is a new concept compact digital camera inspired by the half-frame format of film cameras, primarily designed for vertical shooting. Its small and lightweight design (240g) and appearance reminiscent of film cameras make it particularly popular with younger generations due to its ease of use in everyday life.

"It features unique filter effects such as 'Expired Film,' 'Mirror,' and 'Light Leak.' Furthermore, it includes a 'Film Camera Mode' that lacks live view display and image playback functions, requiring the user to wind the film lever to take the next shot."

Why this compact camera isn't for every photographer

The Fujifilm X Half has sparked plenty of debate since its launch. It's often divisive, but is undeniably one of the most talked-about compact cameras of the past year.

When it was announced in May 2025, it caught the attention of photographers and enthusiasts thanks to its half-frame-inspired concept and nostalgic, film-like approach to digital photography.

The camera includes unconventional features such as two-in-one diptychs and a dedicated Film Camera Mode. However, it divided opinion so strongly that it even appeared on DCW's "worst cameras of 2025" list.

As Adam Waring put it: "This camera brings all the inconvenience of film into the digital age and charges a small fortune for it. Not only that, but it simulates one of the sorriest episodes of the film days: the half-frame camera."

At a time when manufacturers have increased the cost of compact cameras, critics have argued that the X Half feels expensive, for that is essentially a creatively focused camera with modest specifications.

At one point, the camera was even bundled as a free gift at US retailer Adorama with purchases of the Fujifilm X-T5 with the XF 16-80mm f/4.0 R OIS WR kit. Fujifilm later reduced the price from $849 to $649 in the US, and from £649 to £549 in the UK.

While the price cut was welcomed, it also raised questions about demand and positioning. Despite the criticism, the X Half is still praised for its nostalgic appeal, introducing film-inspired photography to a new generation of shooters.

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Archives, political cinema, and questions of representation define the longlist for the UK's leading prize celebrating excellence in photography and moving image publishing.

The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation published the 2026 longlist for its Moving Image Award, and this year's selections explore subjects including early Hollywood stardom, Pan-African cinema archives, Chilean exile filmmaking, experimental film typography and social media activism.

The selected titles revisit everything from marginalized performers in the studio era and radical filmmaking movements of the 1960s and 1970s to transnational solidarity networks and contemporary digital video. The books reflect how moving image publishing uses cinema and media to reinterpret the past and challenge dominant cultural narratives.

The Longlisted Titles for the 2026 Kraszna-Krausz Moving Image Book Award

Cosmosexuals: Screen Acting, Stardom, & Male Sex Appeal by Mark Gallagher (University of Texas Press)
Examines male screen sex appeal as a form of global cultural capital shaped by race, ethnicity, and performance. It analyzes how international stardom is constructed through appearance, voice and movement across film and television.

Hollywood's Others: Love and Limitation in the Star System by Katherine Fusco (Columbia University Press)
Explores early Hollywood stardom through performers positioned outside mainstream norms of gender, race, and ability. It examines how audiences formed emotional attachments to marginalized stars while the industry regulated identification and empathy.

June Givanni: The Making of a Pan-African Cinema Archive by Onyeka Igwe (Lawrence Wishart)
Onyeka Igwe traces the work of curator June Givanni and her Pan-African film archive spanning Africa, the Caribbean and the diaspora. The book highlights women cultural workers and positions the archive as a feminist counter-history of global cinema.

Out There in the Dark by Katharine Coldiron (Autofocus Books)
Katharine Coldiron blends film criticism, memoir and experimental writing to explore how cinema shapes memory, truth and perception. The essays move between Hollywood films and personal reflection to question how stories construct reality.

Read Frame Type Film: Or, Written on the Screen by Enrico Camporesi, Catherine de Smet, and Philippe Millot (MUBI Editions)
This book explores the role of text in experimental and arists' cinema, from subtitles to title cards. Based on research at the Centre Pompidou, it examines how typography and moving images interact in avant-garde film history.

The Animist Imagination in East Asian Cinema by Pao-chen Tang (Amsterdam University Press/ Routledge)
Pao-chen Tang examines East Asian cinema through the lens of animism, where humans and nonhuman forces coexist on screen. The book explores exological and philosophical themes through films that reimagine agency and perception.

Shaping Global Cultures Through Screenwriting: Women Who Write Our Worlds edited by Rose Ferrell and Rosanne Welch (Intellect)
This collection highlights women screenwriters working across film, TV and digital media who use storytelling as a form of activism. The book explores how screenwriting engages with issues of gender, race, war and social change.

Toward a More Perfect Rebellion: Multiracial Media Activism Made in L.A. by Josslyn Jeanine Luckett (University of California Press)
This book tells the story of the Ethno-Communications Program at UCLA, where filmmakers of color created radical independent cinema in the late 1960s and 1970s. It highlights cross-racial collaboration and media activism outside Hollywood.

Transnational Cinema Solidarity: Chilean Exile Film and Video after 1973 by José Miguel Palacios (University of California Press)
José Miguel Palacios traces Chilean exile cinema after the 1963 coup, focusing on global networks of solidarity that sustained production. The book examines how films travelled, circulated and were preserved across borders.

Understanding Video Activism on Social Media by Jens Eder; Britta Hartmann; and Chris Tedjasukmana (Intellect)
This study examines how online video shapes political communication and activism in the age of social media. It explores how digital platforms influence public discourse, power structures and civic engagement.

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"Sometimes, the most memorable images emerge when conditions seem to fail, only to align in ways you could never have planned," says photographer Andrea Curzi, reflecting on a stunning 200° panorama night sky image captured during a two-week camper trip along the coasts of Normandy and Brittany in France.

Despite constant battles with wind and cloud cover, one night completely changed Curzi's trip. The conditions finally aligned, revealing an unexpected combination of rare night sky phenomena.

Armed with his Canon cameras, Curzi captured an astro image that revealed details he hadn't anticipated – a hard-to-believe moment unfolding in the sky. The image Where Earth Meets the Cosmos, has now been selected for Capture the Atlas' 2026 Milky Way Photographer of the Year collection.

How 'Where Earth Meets the Cosmos' was captured

Gear: Canon EOS R (for foreground), Canon EOS 6D astro-modified (for sky), Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4
Accessories: Sirui AM324 tripod, Minitrack LX2 star-tracker, Astronomik 12nm Max FR filter
Exposure: Sky: 7 shots at 180sec, f/4, ISO 800, 17mm for RGB + 20 shots at 180sec, f/4, ISO 3200 with H-alpha filter for red nebula, foreground: 12 shots at 180sec, f/4, ISO 800, 17mm with focus stacking

Curzi says, "I was positioned on the Pen Hir peninsula, scouting for a wide panoramic composition of the Milky Way. As darkness fell, I began capturing a 200° panorama using focus stacking.

"While reviewing one of the final frames, I noticed an unexpected red glow in the sky: aurora. At first, it was hard to believe.

"After completing the planned sequence and confirming the phenomenon, I shifted my attention fully to the sky. As the night unfolded, zodiacal light also became visible, adding yet another rare element to the scene.

"Within a single composition, the sky revealed an exceptional combination of phenomena: airglow, the winter arc of the Milky Way, Orion with Barnard’s Loop, the Pleiades, the Rosette and California nebulae, Andromeda, Jupiter, zodiacal light, and aurora borealis.

"This image captures what astrophotography often represents at its core: careful preparation meeting complete unpredictability.

The final result is a blend of 12 focus-stacked exposures for the foreground and seven tracked exposures for the sky, captured using an Omegon Minitrack LX2 star tracker mount, an astro-modified camera, and an H-alpha filter."

The 2026 Milky Way Photographer of the Year

Now in its 9th edition, Milky Way Photographer of the Year brings together 25 remarkable images captured under some of the darkest skies on Earth. From deserts to mountains to coastlines and remoter wilderness, each photograph reflects a blend of planning, patience, and technical precision required to capture the Milky Way in all its detail.

Beyond their visual impact, these images also highlight a growing concern: the loss of dark skies due to increasing light pollution. Together, they celebrate not only the beauty of our galaxy but also the importance of preserving the night sky for future generations.

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Looking for competitions to enter? Here are 10 global photo contests now open for entries from May to December.

Abbey Road Studios has opened entries for the 2026 Abbey Road Music Photography Awards (MPAs), marking the fifth edition of the global competition dedicated to music photography – at which legendary punk photographer Roberta Bayley will be honored.

Free to enter and open to all photographers, the awards will culminate in a ceremony at Abbey Road on September 24 2026 as the studio continues to expand its wider Music Photography Accelerator program.

This year’s competition will be judged by a star-studded panel spanning music, photography and film, led by photographers Rankin and Platon alongside Nile Rodgers, Raye and Måneskin frontman Damiano David.

Since launching in 2022, the MPAs have grown into one of the industry’s most visible platforms for emerging music photographers.

“There’s something incredibly powerful about music photography,” said Abbey Road managing director, Sally Davies. “Those images stay with us and often become part of how we remember music itself.

"For me, the Music Photography Accelerator is about making sure we’re giving equal recognition to the creatives behind the lens.”

The 2026 awards include categories covering live music, portraiture, festivals, behind-the-scenes photography and underground music scenes, alongside a guest category celebrating 50 Years of Punk.

Images entered into the open categories must have been taken during 2025, while the punk category is open to photographs from any year.

Winners will be revealed during the official ceremony at Abbey Road Studios in September, with shortlisted photographers also gaining exposure through exhibitions, workshops and networking opportunities thanks to the Accelerator Programme.

This year’s Icon Award will be presented to Roberta Bayley, whose photographs helped define the visual identity of New York’s punk movement during the 1970s. Bayley, known for documenting artists including Blondie, Iggy Pop and The Ramones, said she was “very honored” to receive the recognition.

Alongside the awards, Abbey Road will also launch its first Music Photography Festival in New York later this month, featuring exhibitions, workshops and portfolio reviews designed to support photographers working across music culture.

Entries for the Abbey Road Music Photography Awards 2026 are now open until midnight 30 June (UTC+1), with photographers from around the world invited to submit images across eight open categories. Visit the official competition website to enter.

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Whether you're a seasoned photographer, a beginner just getting started or someone who loves capturing beautiful moments, submitting your images to photo competitions is one of the best ways to gain exposure and recognition.

Entering competitions isn't just about winning – though prizes and publicity are great bonuses! It's also a chance to dive into your archives, rediscover your best images and refine your personal style. Many photographers say competitions were the stepping stone that helped them build a name, grow their audience or land their first big feature.

And with so many open calls across all genres – there's something for everyone. So, here's a list of photography competitions with open calls that are accepting submissions from May until December 2026. It's a small selection to spark inspiration, but there are countless others out there…

Irys / Leica competition

Deadline: May 24

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free for Premium subscribers

Theme: Portrait

Prize: Leica Q3 43mm

HIPA 2026 (Richest Photography Award)

Deadline: May 31

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

Categories: Families, Dreams Through AI, Sports Photography, Portfolio (Story-telling), General (B&W + Color)

Prizes: Grand Prize: $200,000, Category Prizes: $40,000-$20,000, Portfolio Prize: $50,000-$30,000, Photographer of the Year: $80,000, Content Creator Award: $50,000, Appreciation Award: $100,000

photoED magazine 

Deadline: June 15

Open to: Photographers of all levels, worldwide exclusions: Residents of Russia, the Republic of Belarus and sanctioned countries (ie. Cuba, North Korea...)

Fee: Free for members, general submissions CAN$20

Theme: Home VS Away, “Fine art photography projects that present the idea of HOME, an experience of AWAY, or a juxtaposition the two”

Publication: Issue #76 of photoED magazine

Epson International Pano Awards

Deadline: Early bird: June 22, Final: July 13

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Awards: Amateur, Open, VR/360

Fee: Depends on category, $20-$22 per image

Categories: Amateur Awards & Open Awards: Nature/ Landscapes, Aerial, Built Environment. VR/360 Awards: Open VR/360

Prizes: TBA (last year’s prize pool was worth over $50,000)

Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Deadline: June 30

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

Categories: Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Insects, Fish and other Aquatic Species, Nikon Young Photographer (25 years and under), Nikon Junior (16 years and under), Portfolio, Nikon Video, Photo People's Choice

Prizes: Nikon Category winners: Nikon gear, category winners: premium ThinkTANK camera bag+ Amazing Internet website, top entrants have the chance to win a safari in the Maasai Mara, Kenya, hosted by Alex Walker's Serian

Le Prix de la Photographie de Paris (PX3)

Deadline: July 22

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: €30 for single images, €50 for series (professionals), €20 for single images, €40 for series (amateurs and students), discounts for multiple categories

Categories: Advertising, Analog, Architecture, Book, Fine Art, Nature, Portraiture, Press

Prizes: Up to €11,500 in cash prizes, exhibitions in Paris, Athens, Ostuni & Budapest⁠, publication in the PX3 Annual Book, extensive global exposure ⁠

The Illume Awards

Deadline: July 31

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

Sports categories: Adventure, Aerial, Bike, Climb, Skate, Snow, Surf, Trail

Themed categories: Close-Up, Emerging, Innovation, Lifestyle, Masterpiece, Playground, RAW, Spirit

Prizes: Leica cameras, Angelbird storage gear, global exhibition tour, photobook feature

Brian Black Memorial Award

Note: The Digital Camera World team will join the judging panel

Deadline: August 30

Open to: Photographers of all levels living in the UK

Fee: Free

Theme: "Our Inspiring Seas"

Categories: Adult photo competition, Article competition, Junior photo competition (under 16 years)

Prizes: £3,000 prize pool – Winning article: £1,500 cash prize, publication in Yachting Monthly (print+online), interview on The Sailing Podcast; Adult photo competition: camera equipment worth £750; Junior photo competition: camera equipment worth £500

Charity contribution: The Black Memorial Award donates £500 to Sea-Changers.

Botanical Photographer of the Year

Deadline: September 30

Open to: Photographers of all levels

Fee: Free

Focus: Britain and Ireland's wild plants

Categories: Intrepid: Plants in wild, hard-to-reach, or dramatic landscapes, Inquisitive: Close-up shots highlighting the fascinating and minute features that are often used in ID, Inclusive: People interacting with plants, urban botany, or community recording, Open: For entries that fall outside the above.

Special: Young Botanical Photographer of the Year for an entry into any category, aged 18 or under

Prizes: To be announced

OPPO Photography Awards

Deadline: December 31

Open to: Photographers and videographers of all levels, shooting with OPPO, OnePlus, or realme devices

Fee: Free

Theme: "Super Every Moment"

Categories: Me, Journey, Video, Zoom, Live, Snap

Prizes: $76,500 prize pool across 38 awards – Gold Award (1): $20,000, Silver Award (2):$8,000, Bronze Award (3): $3,000, Honorable Mention photo categories (15): $1,000, Honorable Mention video categories (3): $1,500, Regional Award (10): $1,000, Audience’s Choice (4): $500

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"Their experimental approach expands what photography is and how we experience it," says Anne-Marie Beckmann, director of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, about the work of artist Rene Matić.

Now Matić – based in London, England – has been announced as the winner of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2026 for the exhibition As Opposed To The Truth (which the artist stylizes in all caps).

Founded in 1996 by The Photographers' Gallery, the Prize honors major contributions to contemporary photography in Europe over the past year.

Rooted in themes of identity, belonging, subculture, class and family, Matić's body of work presents a diaristic portrait of life in Britain. Shot in a snapshot-like photographic style, it captures the quiet poetry of everyday life with a sense of intimacy and observation.

"Their photography captures everyday life with tenderness and intimacy," Beckmann adds.

"The importance of chosen family and community shines through. Rene's photographs celebrate the togetherness of people – whether they are laughing, kissing or partying."

As Opposed To The Truth

The exhibition extends beyond photography to include installation and sound, with Matić combining images, found objects, film and audio into a layered portrait of contemporary life.

Matić's practise spans photography, film and sculpture, coming together in what they describe as a space of 'rude(ness)' – a focus on the in-between.

Set against a context of rising right-wing populism and performative compassion, the work turns to interpersonal relationships as sites of resistance and care, exploring how people hold onto one another and live with vulnerability in relation to dominant 'truths.'

In As Opposed To The Truth, intimacy, desire and vulnerability function as tools for survival.

"Rene's deeply personal work is rooted in community and belonging – and their power both to heal and bring people together," says Shoair Mavlian, director of The Photographers’ Gallery and chair of the jury.

"Rene's raw and honest photographs bring a story of Britain today to audiences outside the UK."

Matić wins £30,000 (approximately $40,200 / AU$55,00) and their award-winning project – as well as this year's shortlisted works from Jane Evelyn Atwood, Weronika Gęsicka, and Amak Mahmoodian – is on show at the Photographers' Gallery in London until June 07 2026.

For more information, visit the Photographer's Gallery website.

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"The world’s most recognized adventure and action sports photography awards" is back – and it's starting a new chapter.

The Illume Awards, held for almost 20 years as the Red Bull Illume photo contest, is now open for entries. And it will expand its legacy by not only celebrating photographers, but also the environments in which they capture stories – so The Illume is teaming up with NGOs including Leave No Trace and World Bicycle Relief.

"The Illume continues its mission to celebrate photographers who go to extraordinary lengths to capture the spirit of adventure and action sports," says the organization.

"But this next chapter comes with a renewed focus. The Illume now shines its light on human-powered sports and protecting the places we are privileged to explore and photograph, from mountains and oceans to forests, deserts, and trails across the globe."

Since 2006, the competition has received almost a quarter of a million submissions from photographers all over the world, of all experience levels.

To broaden the spectrum and better represent this community, The Illume now features eight dedicated sports categories:

• Adventure
• Aerial
• Bike
• Climb
• Skate
• Snow
• Surf
• Trail

These join the contest's eight theme categories, enabling entrants to submit their images twice to double their chances of winning and their work to be recognized:

• Close-Up
• Emerging
• Innovation
• Lifestyle
• Masterpiece
• Playground
• RAW
• Spirit

The judging structure has also been expanded this year. A dedicated panel of five world-class judges, selected for their expertise within each sport, will judge the individual sports categories.

A total of 60 international judges will take part in the selection process, including previous Illume winners, athletes, and media representatives from media outlets like ESPN, Sports Illustrated DE, GQ and 500PX. I will also be a member of the judging team, representing Digital Camera World, as I have since 2001.

Enter the contest

The Illume is open for entries until July 31 2026. The competition is free to enter and open to all levels of photographer, from amateur to professional.

Semifinalists and finalists will be announced in fall 2026, with 160 finalists being featured in physical The Illume Photobook and may be part of The Illume Exhibit Tour. The overall winner will be announced at the global award ceremony in December 2026.

Prizes include products from The Illume's media partners, including Leica cameras and Angelbird storage gear.

For more information and to enter, visit The Illume website.

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If you haven't heard of the Saltzman-Leibovitz Photography Prize yet, now's the time to pay attention. Launched in 2025 by New York photographer and philanthropist Lisa Saltzman, through the Saltzman Family Foundation, and created in collaboration with Annie Leibovitz, it's explicitly designed to spotlight emerging female photographers at a pivotal point in their careers. It comes with real money ($15,000 for the winner, $5,000 for the runner-up), a serious jury and, crucially, an exhibition at Photo London. Only in its second year, it's already making a strong case for itself.

The 2026 edition takes Leibovitz's book Women as its inspiration, with five international nominators each putting forward a candidate, whose work is then judged by a panel of experts. This year's winner is Marisol Mendez, a photographer and researcher from Cochabamba, Bolivia, whose project MADRE takes the $15,000 top prize. And it's worth listening to how Mendez explains her own practice.

"It's usually easier to understand love or time through a poem or song than through a chemistry lesson or the manual of a clock," she said on receiving the nomination. That's a line worth pinning above your monitor: not because it's particularly original, but because it articulates something photographers often know instinctively, yet struggle to act on. Documentation is a floor, not a ceiling.

The winner and her work

MADRE weaves Andean folklore and Catholic iconography into an exploration of Bolivian identity and matriarchal lineage, drawing on archival family photographs alongside Mendez's own staged and naturalistic imagery. It's ambitious, layered and formally striking.

The connection to Leibovitz isn't merely institutional, either: Mendez cites being "enamoured" by Leibovitz's images as what first drew her toward fiction and storytelling, which gives the whole thing a pleasingly circular quality.

Diverse voices

The shortlist around Mendez makes for a compelling survey of where serious photography is happening right now. It includes Cole Ndelu, working at the intersection of fashion, spirituality and Zulu identity in Johannesburg; Lindeka Qampi, a self-taught South African photographer documenting township life with formal rigour; Bettina Pittaluga turning her lens on queer community life in Paris with an emphasis on the quiet and unguarded over the spectacular.

Then there's runner-up Miranda Barnes, whose project Social Season documents Black debutante balls in the United States.

A Brooklyn-born artist who studied humanities and justice before turning to photography, Barnes receives $5,000 for a project that uses colour photography to explore African American cotillion culture (a coming-of-age tradition where young women are introduced into society).

It's simultaneously glamorous and pointed, a reminder, as she frames it, that within living memory "being a well-dressed, articulate black person was deemed inappropriate, even a dangerous offense".

The images, shot with a warm and unhurried eye, treat their subjects with the seriousness the tradition deserves, and the tradition has rarely been photographed this carefully.

Why this matters

Awards like this one matter beyond the prize money, though $15,000 is genuinely useful at an early stage of a career. They matter because they set a standard and this prize is setting an interesting one.

The jury, the nominators and the winning work all seem to share a conviction that photography is most valuable when it's doing something that a phone camera and a caption can't do alone: building a world, interrogating a system of belief, finding the mythic inside the domestic.

A selection of works by all five nominees will be on show at Photo London, Olympia, from May 13-17 2026. If you're going, it's worth making time for: this is the kind of work that reminds you why you picked up a camera in the first place. For more information, visit saltzmanfamilyfoundation.org.

Submissions are now open for the Cewe Photo Award 2026 – the world's largest free photography competition, offering photographers of all levels the chance to win more than €250,000 (around $295,000 / £216,000 / AU$407,000) in prizes and have their work judged by an international panel of experts.

Cewe, Europe's leading photo printing company, has officially launched the latest edition of its global contest, which runs until May 31 2027 and is free to enter worldwide.

Whether you're a professional photographer or just starting out, the competition invites anyone with a passion for photography to submit up to 100 images across 10 categories – along with a special award for young photography talents.

Cewe Photo Award 2026: "Our world is beautiful"

Theme
This year's theme, 'Our world is beautiful', encourages photographers to capture the diversity and wonder of life around the globe, from everyday moments to striking scenes from far-flung locations.

Chris Wood, managing director at Cewe UK, says, "Whether you’re an experienced professional or a budding amateur photographer, the competition is free to take part in, so we would encourage anyone who has a passion for photography to enter."

Categories
• Nature and Wildlife
• Animals
• Landscapes
• People
• Architecture
• Sport and Action
• Travel and Culture
• Street Photography
• Close-up and Macro Photography
• Abstract and Forms

Young Talent Award
For young photography talents between 16 and 25 years old

1,000 Prizes
More than €250,000 worth of prizes are up for grabs, including photography equipment, travel experiences, vouchers and Cewe products, with category winners selected before an overall winner is crowned.

Cewe will also continue its partnership with a charitable organization, donating €10 ($12 / £9 / AU$16) for each submitted image.

Entries are open now until May 31 2027, via Cewe's website.

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Historical narratives, documentary photography, and deeply personal visual storytelling define the longlist for the UK's leading prize celebrating excellence in photography and moving image publishing.

The Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards published the 2026 longlist, and this year's Photography Book Award selections explore subjects including Victorian portraiture, colonial legacies, race, war, and climate disaster. The books revisit everything from the 19th-century Black portrait photography to slavery in North Carolina, Nazi medical research imagery and contemporary

Spanning collage, documentary work and reinterpreted archives, the selected titles show how contemporary photographers continue to use the medium to examine memory, identity and historical record.

The Longlisted Titles for the 2026 Kraszna-Krausz Photography Book Award

Black Chronicles: Photography, Race and Difference in Victorian Britain, edited by Renée Mussai (Thames & Hudson/ Autograph)
This collection of 19th-century portraits reexamines the representation of black identities in Victorian Britain. The book reshapes historical understandings of race and portrait photography.

A Reprise by David Alekhuogie (Aperture)
David Alekhuogie revisits Walker Evans' 1935 photographs of African sculptures through layered collages and rephotographed image sculptures. The work explores African art, archival photography and the legacy of museum representation.

Index2025 by Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa (Roma Publications)
Blending images, citations and fragmented visual language, INDEZ 2025 reflects on identity, memory, and contemporary culture. The experimental work challenges traditional photographic narratives.

It's Hard To Stop Rebels That Time Travel by Raymond Thompson Jr (Void)
Using archival fragments and photography, Raymond Thompson Jr focuses on previously concealed stories of slavery, maroons and resistance in North Caroline. The project explores memory, race and historical erasure.

MAN by Erik Kessels and Karel De Mulder (RVB Books)
This conceptual photography project examines recurring gender dynamics in group portraits. The images question masculinity, social positioning and photographic convention.

Red Horse by Sasha Kurmaz (Éditions Images Vevey)
Created after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Red Horse combines documentary photography, collage and found materials into a personal visual diary. The work captures everyday life shaped by war.

Sound the Sirens by Bryan Anselm (Overlapse)
Bryan Anselm documents the devastating human impact of climate disasters across the United States. The project combines documentary imagery with themes of environmental crises and displacement.

Swan Moon’s Swan Moon by Swan Moon (TBW Books)
Set in 1990s Los Angeles, this diaristic portrait explores youth, identity, and performance through personal photography. The work reflects on Korean American identity and Hollywood mythology.

The Fold by Hoda Afshar (Loose Joints)
Hoda Afshar investigates colonial photography on Orientalist depictions of veiled women through reappropriated archival imagery. The project critiques historical photographic practices and representation.

The Ramble NYC 1969 by Arthur Tress (Stanley / Barker)
Arthur Tress documented queer cruising culture in NY's Central Park during the late 1960s. The photos are now considered an important visual record of LGBTQ+ history.

The Weight of the Word by Piero Martinello and Piero Casentini (Fw:Books)
This documentary project examines the histories and crimes of Nazi doctors through archival research, photography and medical texts. The work reflects on ethics, accountability and the lasting impact of scientific abuse.

Too Many Products Too Much Pressure by Janet Delaney (Deadbeat Club)
Janet Delaney documents the exhausting routines of sales work through the experiences of her father in 1980s Los Angeles. The project reflects on labor, family and everyday American life.

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