Using her own image-making language, Mexican photographer beats 430,000 rivals to win Sony World Photography Awards 2026 – plus US$25,000

Now in its 19th year, the Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA) is regarded as one of photography’s most prestigious global contests – renowned for showcasing the most powerful and inspiring images from around the world.

The winners of the 2026 SWPA have just been announced in London, with the coveted Photographer of the Year title finally revealed at tonight’s ceremony – this year’s competition saw more than 430,000 images submitted from over 200 countries and territories.

In one of the most closely watched announcements in photography, the World Photography Organisation has crowned Citlali Fabián for her series Bilha, Stories of my Sisters, as this year’s overall winner. For Fabián, photography is about questioning how stories are made. She explains. “I believe it is important to continuously experiment with the medium and to question how we, as visual creators, can expand the possibilities of storytelling.”

Photographer of the Year: Citlali Fabián with 'Bilha, Stories of my Sisters'

Fabián is a photographer and visual artist from Yalálag, a Zapotec Indigenous community in the south of Mexico. Her work uses photography to think through questions of identity, belonging, and realities of Indigenous life today.

She says, “Through photography, I explore what Indigenous identity means today, as well as the challenges we face in relation to territory, migration, and community bonds – always intertwined with my personal experiences.

“As a person from the Global South, one of my main goals is to strengthen agency in the representation of the people I collaborate with. For me, it is essential that those who have historically been underrepresented feel heard, respected, and actively involved in the way they are portrayed.”

Her award-winning series Bilha, Stories of my Sisters, connects here. The project starts with a feeling many can relate to: growing up without clear role models, and trying to imagine futures that don’t always feel visible.

For the series, Fabián worked with activists and artists from Indigenous communities across southern Mexico – especially in Oaxaca – bringing together different voices without flattening them into a single narrative.

“I am committed not only to sharing their stories, but to doing so with the care and dignity they deserve,” explains Fabián.

To do so, she incorporated illustration into the photographic works, exploring new ways of image making. She says, “This approach allows me to add layers of meaning and create visuals that more closely reflect what my collaborators share with me.”

Alongside the photographic work, the project is also taking shape as a children’s book.

SWPA's exhibition in London

The Sony World Photography Awards 2026 exhibition is on display at Somerset House, London, from April 17 - 4 May 4, presenting over 300 prints and hundreds of images in digital displays, as well as a special presentation by Joel Meyerowitz.

For more information and to discover the full list of winners and shortlisted entries, visit the official Sony World Photography Awards website.

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