2026 Professional Competition Finalists and Shortlists Introduced

For nearly 20 years, the Professional Competition within the Sony World Photography Awards has honoured one of the best images sequence, highlighting numerous initiatives from each nook of the globe that inform tales which are each intimate and common.

From portraiture to documentary, sport to panorama, these initiatives shine a light-weight on modern tales and present distinct views of photographers and their topics world wide.

Discover the finalists under, and don’t miss the prospect to see them in particular person on the 2026 exhibition, open 17 April – 4 May at Somerset House, London.
 

Architecture & Design

Finalists

In Chinese Watchtowers, Chen Liang (China Mainland) paperwork the fortified towers in Jiangmen, exhibiting their Chinese and Western influences. Everyday Structures by André Tezza (Brazil) highlights the ignored fantastic thing about small neighbourhood grocery shops on the outskirts of Curitiba. In Homes of Haor, Joy Saha (Bangladesh) captures from above vernacular buildings which remodel into islands throughout monsoon.

Explore full Architecture & Design finalist and shortlisted sequence

Creative

Finalists

In The Palm, On Piru Ben Brooks (United Kingdom) explores the religious connections and collective identities of rappers from South Los Angeles. In Bilha, Stories of My Sisters, photographer Citlali Fabian (Mexico) collaborates with activists and artists from varied Indigenous communities in southern Mexico, mixing photographic portraits with digital illustrations. The Black Album by Pablo Ramos (Mexico) transforms archival imagery right into a haunting collective portrait of absence, loss, and unresolved grief.

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Documentary Projects

Finalists

In Sixteen and a Half: Eight Months in a Juvenile Prison, Alexandre Bagdassarian (France) paperwork the each day lives of younger detainees in France. Colin Delfosse’s (Belgium) Restitution explores the journey of African masks between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Belgium, from their unique use to their show in museums. Santiago Mesa’s (Colombia) Under the Shadow of Coca follows the farmers and households whose livelihoods depend upon coca cultivation.

Explore full Documentary Projects finalist and shortlisted sequence

Environment

Finalists

Shane Hynan’s (Ireland) Beneath | Beofhód – ‘life beneath the sod’ in Irish – evokes the primal significance of bogs in Celtic custom. Notes on How to Build a Forest by Isadora Romero (Ecuador) invitations us ‘to imagine how other organisms perceive the forest, and how the forest, in turn, observes us’. In Jinê Land: Where Women Keep the Earth Alive, Matteo Trevisan (Italy), tells the story of girls shaping the ecological and social way forward for Rojava in northeast Syria.
 

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Landscape

Finalists

In Mountain Roads by Michael Blann (United Kingdom), photopolymer etchings hint iconic European mountain roads. Andreas Secci’s (Germany) The Oyster exhibits summary landscapes depicting oyster farming on the French coast of Normandy and Brittany. Dafna Talmor’s (United Kingdom) Constructed Landscapes employs hand-printed and collaged color negatives which are reconfigured into summary panorama representations.
 

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Perspectives

Finalists

In Country Music in Kenya, Frederik Lerneryd (Sweden) information the style’s enthusiastic fan base on the International Cowboy Day competition in Nairobi and its rising recognition over an 11-month interval. Seungho Kim’s (Korea, Republic Of) Sunny Side Up: A Portrait of the Most Average Ok-Parenting is a fragile, vibrant and superbly messy document of the Ok-parenting world. Living Photographs by Hayate Kurisu (Japan) paperwork the expertise of the photographer and his spouse, following the loss of a kid to stillbirth, and the times spent collectively as a household earlier than the cremation.

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Portraiture

Finalists

Federico Borella (Italy) spotlights Koryo-Saram, descendants of Koreans in Uzbekistan reconnecting with their roots, influenced by the ‘K-Wave’. Jean-Marc Caimi & Valentina Piccinni (Italy) mix devotion and fandom, depicting pilgrimage goers on St Peter’s Square in Vatican City. Marisa Reichert (Germany) be:longing paperwork the lives of older Muslim trans individuals in Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia.

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Sport

Finalists

Todd Antony’s (New Zealand) Buzkashi, actually that means ‘goat pulling’ in Persian, surprises with the fierce, historical sport of Tajikistan. Beneath the Bridge by Morgan Otagburuagu (Nigeria) depicts the self-discipline and desires of newbie boxers at a makeshift health club beneath an underpass in Lagos. In It’s a Dog’s Life, Rob Van Thienen (Belgium) captures the depth of sighthound coaching periods because the canines chase a faux rabbit.

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Still Life

Finalists

Gargi Sharma’s (India) Experiments in Stillness displays the photographer’s long-standing reference to objects and their journey of utilizing them as a type of expression. In Vilma Taubo’s (Norway) Talking Without Speaking on a regular basis objects grow to be symbols of protest, every related to a selected historic interval, rights wrestle or nation. For The Bronte Pistachio, Daniele Vita (Italy) spent nearly a yr photographing, finding out and admiring the pistachios of Bronte, celebrating their singular attraction.

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Wildlife & Nature

Finalists

Will Burrard-Lucas (United Kingdom) in Crossing Point captures wildlife in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve by way of a distant digicam lure set as much as monitor endangered black rhinoceroses. WILD by Wolfgang Duerr (Germany) exhibits frames made by a digicam activated by way of movement sensors, capturing varied wildlife in motion. Anita Pouchard Serra’s (Argentina) sequence paperwork the conflict between capybaras and residents of a personal improvement in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Explore the total Wildlife & Nature shortlist

The class winners and the Photographer of the Year shall be introduced on 16 April on the Awards ceremony in London. Discover their works alongside over 300 pictures on the exhibition at Somerset House from 17 April – 4 May. Early Bird tickets on sale till 5 March. Book now.

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