The Sony World Photography Awards 2026 has just announced that street, portrait and landscape photographer Joel Meyerowitz will receive the prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Photography award at next year's ceremony.
The American's impressive body of work – including appearances in over 350 exhibitions and 57 monographs – makes him a formidable addition to the list of recipients that includes names like Susan Meiselas (2025), Sebastião Salgado (2024) and Rinko Kawauchi (2023).
But for today's photographers, this announcement is more than just a nod to a storied career. It's a potent reminder of how one individual can fundamentally shift the way we perceive and capture the world.
A career born of curiosity
While it seems strange now, back in the early 1960s, color photography was often dismissed as a serious medium, relegated to the realm of advertising or snapshots. Serious art photography, in contrast, was dominated by black and white. Meyerowitz was a quiet radical who changed all that.
His work broke this mold, using color not as an illustrative tool, but as an essential component of the scene, full of beauty and wit. From the bustle of city life to his depictions of coastal life and vast seascapes, he showed fine art photographers the extraordinary impact of vibrant color.
Meyerowitz's path to becoming a leading figure in 20th century photography began with a sudden, decisive moment. Born in New York City in 1938, he was working as an advertising art director when he witnessed the renowned Swiss-American photographer Robert Frank working on a shoot in 1962.
It was a transformative experience: Meyerowitz immediately quit his job and took to the streets with a borrowed camera and two rolls of color film. This spontaneous decision highlights the essence of his career, which is characterised by spirit and curiosity.
Across his career to date, his subjects have been typically diverse, ranging from his iconic street photography in New York and Europe, to his time in Cape Cod, and even his series documenting all the work inside Ground Zero in the aftermath of 9/11. Through it all, his work has been about finding the surprises that can be found by looking carefully at the scenes that surround us.
New retrospective
To mark the forthcoming award, a retrospective of Meyerowitz's work will be displayed at Somerset House, London, as part of the Sony World Photography Awards 2026 exhibition.
Running from 17 April 17 to 4 May next year, this won't just be a static display, but will feature specially commissioned new video and audio installations, created in collaboration with filmmaker Chris Ryan. The presentation ceremony itself will take place on 16 April, and a special public talk with the photographer will follow on 21 April.
If you'd like to attend the latter, you can register your interest here. Meanwhile to learn more about the work of Joel Meyerowitz, read our interview about how he became the magician of color photography.
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