The 10 best images from Sony's World Photography Awards
The Sony World Photography Awards has announced the 10 category winners and shortlisted photographers for the 2026 Open Competition.
Now in its 19th year, the Open Competition recognises single images taken during the past year. Entrants submitted photographs made in 2025, with the winners and shortlisted works covering a broad range of subjects, including landscapes, portraits and scenes from the natural world.
Across the 2026 Awards, more than 430,000 images were submitted from over 200 countries and territories.
The winners include Australian photographer Elle Leontiev Portraiture category with her image of Phillip, an internationally recognised, self-taught volcanologist, in Vanuatu.
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. Copyright: © Elle Leontiev, Australia, Winner, Open Competition, Portraiture, Sony World Photography Awards 2026 The Open Photographer of the Year will be announced at the awards ceremony in London on 16 April and will receive a USD $5,000 cash prize, along with digital imaging equipment from Sony.
A selection of winning and shortlisted images will be exhibited at Somerset House from 17 April to 4 May 2026, before touring to other locations.
The Abare Festival has been passed down for 350 years in Japan's Noto region. This image captures the festival’s finale, as men leap into the river amidst fiercely burning torches that send sparks flying everywhere. They rampage wildly, believing the more they rage, the more the deity rejoices. Copyright: © Megumi Murakami, Japan, Winner, Open Competition, Travel, Sony World Photography Awards 2026 A family marvels at the view from Ørnevegen (Eagle Road), Norway, in this candid shot. Copyright: © Giulia Pissagroia, Italy, Winner, Open Competition, Street Photography, Sony World Photography Awards 2026 Taken in the Bo-Kaap neighbourhood of Cape Town, South Africa, this image centres on a parked car set against a sharply divided colourful facade. The composition balances geometry and saturation; everyday architecture becomes graphic and deliberate, reflecting how colour and place shape urban identity. Copyright: © Robby Ogilvie, United Kingdom, Winner, Open Competition, Object, Sony World Photography Awards 2026 A punk show in Providence, Rhode Island, featuring the band Sailboat. Copyright: © Franklin Littlefield, United States, Winner, Open Competition, Motion, Sony World Photography Awards 2026 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. Copyright: © Vanta Coda III, United States, Winner, Open Competition, Lifestyle, Sony World Photography Awards 2026 Taken on a dark night, this view of the paper mill in Obbola, Sweden, reveals layers of shadows, concrete, clouds and sky. Copyright: © Markus Naarttijärvi, Sweden, Winner, Open Competition, Architecture, Sony World Photography Awards 2026 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.’ Copyright: © Siavosh Ejlali, Iran, Islamic Republic Of, Winner, Open Competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2026 An early morning glow brings out the rich pastel colours of the Sossusvlei dunes in Namibia. The contrast of the green and delicate peach colours almost overwhelms the senses; the patterns and textures emerging from the shadows give the landscape a distinctive, painterly look. Copyright: © J Fritz Rumpf, United States, Winner, Open Competition, Landscape, Sony World Photography Awards 2026 A blue arctic fox in a blizzard, photographed on the Varanger Peninsula, Norway. Copyright: © Klaus Hellmich, Germany, Winner, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, Sony World Photography Awards 2026 You can see all of the shortlisted images at the World Photography Organization website .
