Tasty morsels: Aussies shine in hunt for world's best food photos
The winners of the annual World Food Photography Awards sponsored by Broccolini have been announced.
The 2026 awards drew close to 9,000 entries from more than 50 countries, celebrating food photography from farm fields and vineyards to restaurant tables and street markets.
For Australian photographers it also marked a standout year, with local photographers recording the second-highest number of category winners of any country in the competition.
Top honours went to British photographer Jo Kearney, whose quietly powerful image A Woman Eats in the Canteen of the Soviet-era Sanatorium was named Overall Winner and awarded £5,000.
The photograph, taken in a Soviet-era sanatorium in Tajikistan, captures an elderly woman pouring tea at breakfast inside the sprawling Khoja Obi Garm complex in the mountains.
“There is so much to see and so much to feel in this image,” said Caroline Kenyon, founder of the awards. “An old woman pours herself tea, but it’s so much more than that. The expression on her face is beautiful and deeply moving.”
Australian photographer Chris Elfes won the Louis Jadot Wine Photographer of the Year - Places category with his sun-kissed capture of a vineyard in Pokolbin.
Chris Elfes took out the Louis Jadot Wine Photographer of the Year – Places category with a glowing vineyard scene photographed in Pokolbin, while also placing second in Produce.
Danielle Marie won the Food Portraiture category with her polished still life Jelly with a Cherry, and Claudia Anton claimed the Cake Award with a mid-century-inspired image, alongside a third placing for another work.
Street photographer Kara Baird rounded out Australia’s category wins, winning Street Food with an image captured in Nishiki Market.
“With barely any space to stop, I raised the camera and captured a brief, unfiltered moment of the energy and intensity of the market at its busiest,” she said.
Other Australians recognised among the finalists included Therese Bourne, Kristyn Taylor, Marie-Helene Clauzon, Chee Kong Wong and Sammy Jones.
The awards were revealed at Mall Galleries by Italian chef and author Gennaro Contaldo, with the judging panel chaired by acclaimed food photographer David Loftus and featuring names including Jamie Oliver and Australian editor Kerrie McCallum.
You can see a selection of the winners below.
