The Minimalist Photography Awards (MPA) 2026 has announced its winners, and the overall crown of this year’s edition has been awarded to Polish photographer Marcin Giba for his aerial depiction of a natural frozen phenomenon, which he says is disappearing.
To produce the winning photo series, entitled “The Last Winter,” Giba flew a DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone over the frozen lakes near his hometown of Rybnik, Poland, capturing the “incredible forms” created by nature on the icy waters.
“Snow in the city is becoming a fleeting, almost ephemeral phenomenon,” he told the competition organizers. “So when the conditions finally allow and I take flight, I feel like I’m documenting a vanishing beauty.”
Image credit: Marcin Giba
Marcin Giba's winning series was shot in manual mode, with each image comprised of a single frame, the photographer said
Image credit: Marcin Giba
Image credit: Marcin Giba
Image credit: Marcin Giba
The Minimalist Photography Awards is an annual competition celebrating simple yet compelling images. This year, the international competition saw more than 6,000 entrants from over 66 countries compete across 12 categories, including abstract, architecture, aerial and street photography.
Other notable winners this year included Bulgarian astrophotographer Mihail Minkov. He took first place in the “Night Photography” category with a starry series of an Indigenous Bolivian woman at Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat, where the water-clad surface reflected the Milky Way above.
And in the “Fine Art” category, architecture photographer Steffen Reichardt (Germany) placed first for a creative approach to juxtaposing a small chapel against the huge cooling towers of the nearby Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant in the Czech Republic.
Overall competition winner Marcin Giba was awarded €2,000 (approximately $2,300 / £1,715 / AU$3,200). Along with all other category winners, he’ll gain wider recognition at a winners’ exhibition (date/location to be announced).
The top three photographers in each category will also feature in this year’s competition photobook. You can see all the winners in the MPA 2026 winners’ gallery.
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