The 2026 World Press Photo winners trace a year defined by conflict, migration and climate shocks, while also revealing moments of hope, dignity and perseverance.
The contest’s Photo of the Year, Separated by ICE, by Carol Guzy for the Miami Herald, captures the raw anguish of a family being torn apart in a New York courtroom. The image, singled out by NPR, became a shorthand for the year’s deep personal costs.
Other images emphasize quieter triumphs. Ihsaan Haffejee’s photograph of young dancers from the Joburg Ballet School backstage at Soweto Theatre before a year‑end performance (Dec. 7, 2025) records an intimate moment of pride. Haffejee notes the picture’s resonance: ballet was largely closed to nonwhite South Africans under apartheid, and the school now provides subsidized training to children from historically marginalized communities.
Regional prizewinners focus on lived realities across the Global South.
West, Central and South Asia — Stories: Elise Blanchard (Time) produced ‘I’m Afraid,’ documenting the fallout from cuts to U.S. aid in Daikundi province, Afghanistan. The funding shortfall shuttered or suspended hundreds of health facilities, forcing many pregnant women to give birth at home in a country with one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates. Blanchard’s portrait of Fatemah — who had delivered at home the day before and had already lost an infant — conveys both grief and stoic strength.
West, Central and South Asia — Stories: Nicole Tung (The New York Times) won for ‘A Syrian City Rebuilds, Still Divided,’ a photo of a shepherd tending sheep along the Euphrates in Deir al‑Zour (Aug. 21, 2025). The river is a frontline between opposing forces; Tung recalls the calm of the scene, abruptly punctured by an explosion when scavengers were injured by an unexploded bomb — a reminder that war’s hazards remain even as rebuilding continues.
South America — Stories: Ferley A. Ospina’s ‘Name the Absence’ uses intimate family portraits from Norte de Santander, Colombia, to examine the country’s high rate of single‑mother households. One image shows 5‑year‑old Valeria playing behind a curtain at her aunt’s home (Sept. 10, 2025). Ospina, who lost his father to violence in 1999, frames the project as an exploration of the ‘weight of absence’ felt by children growing up without fathers.
South America — Single Image: Priscila Ribeiro’s ‘Territory of Hope’ portrays Sandra Mara Siqueira with her grandchildren in the Parque dos Lagos occupation in Colombo, Paraná, Brazil (Nov. 15, 2025). The improvised settlement of roughly 200 families lacks official water, sewage and electricity. Ribeiro, who lives nearby, says the photograph captures the fragile balance of vulnerability and resilience in intimate family life amid a national housing crisis.
Africa — Single Image: Halden Krog’s ‘When Giants Fall’ documents a controversial elephant cull at Sango Wildlife Conservancy in Zimbabwe (Oct. 23, 2025). The cull, authorized by authorities amid human‑wildlife conflict and drought‑driven movements, drew condemnation from conservation groups. Krog, who has long covered elephants, says those involved mourned the animals and that men wept after the shootings.
Africa — Stories: Chantal Pinzi (Panos Pictures) explores women entering Morocco’s equestrian Tbourida tradition in ‘Farīsāt: Gunpowder’s Daughters.’ At Sidi Rahal (Aug. 6, 2025), a striking moment shows Ghita Jhiate — once forbidden by her father to ride — calmly handling an agitated stallion after a fall and continuing to ride bareback among male troupes. Pinzi calls the image iconic: a young woman asserting control within a male‑dominated tradition.
Gaza: Saber Nuraldin (EPA Images) captured the chaos of aid delivery at the Zikim crossing into Gaza (July 27, 2025) in ‘Aid Emergency in Gaza.’ The photograph of Palestinians climbing onto a truck amid a blockade documents desperation and deadly disorder at points of distribution. Nuraldin, who was born in Gaza and has worked there since 1997, said it was one of the hardest scenes he had witnessed; some people returned with supplies, others with nothing, and some did not return at all.
Philippines / Climate: Aaron Favila (Associated Press) won for ‘Wedding in the Flood,’ which shows newlyweds Jade Rick Verdillo and Jamaica Aguilar sharing a kiss as guests cheer in the floodwaters after Typhoon Wipha submerged Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan (July 22, 2025). The couple, together for a decade, chose to carry on with their ceremony despite the storm — a small, defiant celebration of love amid climate‑exacerbated disruption.
Long‑term Project — West, Central and South Asia: Diego Ibarra Sánchez’s ‘Hijacked Education’ examines how conflict and extremism have stolen schooling from children across multiple countries. Drawn from years of reporting, a prominent image from Pakistan shows female students in a school targeted by the Taliban, part of a wider study of learning under threat.
Taken together, the winners document both suffering and endurance: images of separation, hunger and displacement sit alongside photographs of cultural reclamation, family ties and quiet achievement. The collection underscores photojournalism’s dual role — to witness hardship and to affirm human resilience.
Kamala Thiagarajan is a freelance journalist based in Madurai, Southern India, who covers global health, science and development.