© Citlali Fabián | Mitzy Violeta Cortez
The Sony World Photography Awards Winners 2026
Citlali Fabián
Exhibition 17 April until 4 May
Words by
Creo
The Sony World Photography Awards announced the 2026 overall winners at a gala ceremony in London, bringing together leading figures in the contemporary photography world to honour this year's winners and their achievements.
The prestigious Photographer of the Year 2026 title was awarded to Citlali Fabián for the series Bilha, Stories of my Sisters. Citlali Fabián is a visual artist from the Yalalteca Indigenous community in Mexico, currently based in London, who uses photography to explore ways of addressing identity and its connections with territory, migration, and community bonds. Fabián receives a $25,000 (USD) cash prize, a range of Sony Digital Imaging equipment, and the opportunity to present a solo showcase at the Sony World Photography Awards 2027 exhibition.
Series Description: Growing up without role models can make it difficult to dream or recognise one’s ability to shape the future. This photographic series seeks to create a precedent through collaboration with activists and artists from various Indigenous communities in southern Mexico, particularly from Oaxaca state. Their stories offer a glimpse into the world we are living in, and how their roles and work are generating meaningful impact and change in their communities and beyond. This project is intended to be published as a children’s book, with digital illustrations made by the photographer.
Fabián was selected from the 10 Professional competition category winners, who were announced at today's ceremony, alongside the 2nd and 3rd place finalists in each category. The evening's programme additionally recognised the overall winners of the Awards' Open, Student and Youth competitions. Also honoured during the course of the evening was this year's Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient, celebrated photographer Joel Meyerowitz.
Now in their 19th edition, the Sony World Photography Awards set the standard for international recognition in photography; an unmissable moment in the global cultural calendar that continues to discover, celebrate and elevate the photographers shaping our visual world. Across this year’s competitions, over 430,000 images from over 200 countries and territories were submitted. Each edition of the Awards brings to the fore stories and images with profound resonance, offering an authoritative perspective on the ever-evolving art of photography.
The Sony World Photography Awards 2026 exhibition is on display at Somerset House, London, from 17 April to 4 May, presenting over 300 prints and hundreds of images in digital displays, as well as a special presentation by Joel Meyerowitz.
Image Description: Lety Gallardo is a musician, director and founder of the first regional women's band, Mujeres del Viento Florido. Through her work, she has become a girls' rights defender, promoting inclusion in a male-dominated field. In this image, Lety is shown directing her favourite Oaxacan musical composition, Dios nunca muere (God never dies).
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Citlali Fabián wins for her project Bilha, Stories of my Sisters, which blends carefully crafted photographic portraits with digital illustrations. The series tells the stories of iconic women from Indigenous communities across Oaxaca, Mexico, whose advocacy work generates meaningful impact across a range of spheres: in law, linguistics, the arts and ecology, among others. Conceived as a project to inspire young girls with positive role models, and created through close, sustained collaboration with the women in the photographs, the images in this series highlight their achievements as well as their lived experiences and motivations. The digital drawings applied to the portraits comprise symbols and motifs that reflect the sitters' personal trajectories and celebrate their cultural heritage.
Commenting on Citlali Fabián’s winning project, Monica Allende, Chair of the 2026 Professional jury says: ‘Through her work, Citlali Fabián reflects on urgent questions of visibility and representation. In many Indigenous cultures, stories are told collectively, shaped by conversation and lived experience rather than by a single voice. Fabián brings this spirit into her photographic practice by working closely with each woman she portrays. Her subjects are not simply photographed; they are active participants in shaping how their stories are told. Through this process, the artist highlights the presence, strength, and achievements of women who have often been overlooked, giving them the visibility and recognition they have long deserved within the wider social and cultural landscape.’
PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY WINNERS
The winning series in the 2026 Professional competition have been selected by a panel of expert judges. Each of the winning photographers displays an original approach to storytelling and outstanding technical ability.
All of the category winners receive Sony Digital Imaging equipment, and were invited to participate in Insights, a day of specialised sessions with industry experts in London. To learn more about this year’s Professional winners and finalists, please visit worldphoto.org.
This photograph was taken in the Hoanib Valley in northwestern Namibia. During dry periods, desert elephants seek out the Ana trees for their pods. The elephants do not break the trees, though, but instead trim them using their trunks; they are the gardeners of this gorgeous, harsh environment.
Image Description: Some of the first ice forming on Lake Superior in North America. Like a chilly cauldron, the ice is thrown together to create an abstract image that the photographer notes ‘looks like electricity.’ This photograph was taken during a snow storm, and the streaks of the snowflakes add to the chaos.
In this image the photographer describes how the black plastic covering most of the woman’s face is a sign of ‘dark thoughts and the imposition of beliefs’, while the red balloon falling to the ground could be ‘her lost hope’. The background evokes Iranian urban society, which has been the setting for the recent demonstrations involving Iranian women, noting that 'the red clothes and lips are the bloody price that women have paid.’
Charlotte lies with her cow Dolly, keeping cool in the cow barn between events at the 100th State Fair of West Virginia in Lewisburg. Outside, the temperature is upwards of 32°C.
Image Description: As the photographer was travelling in Ghana, she came across this man sitting outside a church and spoke with him about his life story, his beliefs and his dreams.
Image Description: This photograph pays homage to the Chicano style, the Virgin Mary and Frida Kahlo’s painting The Two Fridas.
Series Description: Restitution explores the journey of African masks between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Belgium, from their original use to their display in museums. By combining archives, contemporary scenes and performances, the series questions colonial legacies, institutional narratives, and the issues surrounding restitution. Between Kinshasa and Brussels, the images reveal the tensions between memory, power, and perception, and question what it means today to exhibit, move, or reactivate these objects steeped in history.
Series Description: What Blossoms Beneath the Earth is a documentary and symbolic photographic project that focuses on the LGBTIQ+ community living in the mining regions of southern Venezuela. The photographer explains that against this deeply masculine backdrop, ‘where the harshness of labour and territorial control impose silence, this project explores identity, resistance, and visibility’. Through interventions on images, portraits and symbolic objects, the work transforms documentary photography into a gesture, where gold and flowers become symbols of dignity, identity and rebirth, emerging from the violence and rigidity of the territory.
Image Description: This vessel was used for many years to transport people and goods between East and West Azerbaijan, but due to the gradual drying of Lake Urmia, it is now stranded on the salt flats.
Image Description: Many Kazakhs migrated to western Mongolia in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, preserving their customs, nomadic lifestyle and traditional clothing. Despite differences with other ethnic groups of the Mongolian steppe, they are hardy and welcoming people.
Image Description: This image combines two photographs: a portrait of a girl and the texture of a dry leaf, blending natural forms into a single visual narrative.
This year’s winners are:
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
WINNER: Joy Saha (Bangladesh) for Homes of Haor
Finalists: 2nd place André Tezza (Brazil); 3rd place Chen Liang (China Mainland)
CREATIVE
WINNER: Citlali Fabián (Mexico) for Bilha, Stories of My Sisters
Finalists: 2nd place Pablo Ramos (Mexico); 3rd place Ben Brooks (United Kingdom)
DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS
WINNER: Santiago Mesa (Colombia) for Under the Shadow of Coca
Finalists: 2nd place Colin Delfosse (Belgium); 3rd place Alexandre Bagdassarian (France)
ENVIRONMENT
WINNER: Isadora Romero (Ecuador) for Notes on How to Build a Forest
Finalists: 2nd place Matteo Trevisan (Italy); 3rd place Shane Hynan (Ireland)
LANDSCAPE
WINNER: Dafna Talmor (United Kingdom) for Constructed Landscapes
Finalists: 2nd place Andreas Secci (Germany), 3rd place Michael Blann (United Kingdom)
PERSPECTIVES
WINNER: Seungho Kim (Republic of Korea) for Sunny Side Up: A Portrait of the Most Average K-Parenting Today
Finalists: 2nd place Hayate Kurisu (Japan); 3rd place Fredrik Lerneryd (Sweden)
PORTRAITURE
WINNER: Jean-Marc Caimi & Valentina Piccinni (Italy) for The Faithful
Finalists: 2nd place Marisa Reichert (Germany); 3rd place Federico Borella (Italy)
SPORT
WINNER: Todd Antony (New Zealand) for Buzkashi
Finalists: 2nd place Morgan Otagburuagu (Nigeria); 3rd place Rob Van Thienen (Belgium)
STILL LIFE
WINNER: Vilma Taubo (Norway) for Talking Without Speaking
Finalists: 2nd place Gargi Sharma (India); 3rd place Daniele Vita (Italy)
WILDLIFE & NATURE
WINNER: Will Burrard-Lucas (United Kingdom) for Crossing Point
Finalists: 2nd place Anita Pouchard Serra (Argentina); 3rd place Wolfgang Duerr (Germany)
Image Description: On the ash plains of Mount Yasur, on the island of Tanna, Vanuatu, Phillip, an internationally recognised, self-taught volcanologist, stands barefoot atop a volcanic rock bomb. Wearing a lava-protection suit gifted to him by some visiting researchers, the volcano smoulders behind him, sending a plume of gas and sulphur into the sky. Phillip grew up beneath the active volcano, and this portrait captures him in his element.
OPEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
The Open competition is a celebration of the photographic image in all its power; standout images are chosen for the way they distil a moment into something that resonates far beyond it. The Open Photographer of the Year 2026 is Elle Leontiev (Australia), who receives a $5,000
(USD) cash prize and Sony Digital Imaging equipment.
Leontiev wins for The Barefoot Volcanologist, a striking portrait of Phillip Yamah, an internationally recognised, self-taught volcano scientist, standing atop a volcanic rock bomb on the island of Tanna, Vanuatu.
Commenting on her win, Elle Leontiev says: ‘In 2018 I stood in a London gallery at the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition and dreamed of being featured. Years later, my dream has become real. Seeing my work win has filled me with overwhelming gratitude and tears of joy. It's a reminder that quiet dreams, nurtured and pursued with heart, can come true.’
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO PHOTOGRAPHY
The prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Photography 2026 is awarded to acclaimed photographer Joel Meyerowitz. Meyerowitz’s practice is marked by his observant eye, finely tuned to the currents and textures of life. His work shows a fascination with life happening around him, and a remarkable instinct for framing images that are at once revealing and enigmatic, imbued with beauty and wit.
A selection of works by Meyerowitz, including excerpts from his series Europa (1966-1967) and two new artist videos, are on view at Somerset House as part of the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition, offering an insight into the spirit and curiosity that has characterised his practice for the past six decades.
More information
Exhibition
Don't miss the chance to view these award-winning images, shown alongside other incredible shots, at the Sony World Photography Awards 2026 exhibition, opening from 17 April until 4 May.
NOTE: 15% off with the special discount ARTDOC15.
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