World Photography Organisation

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The Place Where I Used to Play

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Student Shortlist

2026 Student and Youth shortlists announced

annasiemaszko@creoarts.com — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

2026 Student and Youth shortlists announced

Get to know the next generation of photographers

annasiemaszko@… Tue, 01/27/2026 - 00:00

The first Sony World Photography Awards announcement of the season - the Student and Youth shortlists - is a particularly exciting one, offering a fascinating glimpse into the future of photography. The 19th edition of the Sony World Photography Awards received more than 430,000 entries from over 200 countries and territories around the world.

Spotlighting photo projects, the Student competition introduces a new brief every year, inviting participants to exercise their creative thinking. This year, students were asked to showcase their series of 5-10 images responding to the brief Together, which encouraged entrants to explore the subject of communities in both the human and the natural world from any perspective they choose. Open to wide interpretation, the brief has resulted in a shortlist of ten that shows a broad range of individual perspectives from emerging photographers around the world.

This year’s Student competition was judged by Tess Raimbeau, a Photo Editor at Libération.

In Togetherness Through Space, Chanel Grobler (The Open Window Institute, South Africa) explores shared spaces that hold traces of human presence. Ci Song (Drexel University, United States) conveys the camaraderie of Mantua and Belmont communities faced with the challenges of gentrification in West Philadelphia – June-August 2025. Matte Dixon (Griffith University, Australia) invites viewers to form their own interpretations of Suspiria de Profundis, fostering an invisible bond between those who, through shared life experiences, arrive at similar understandings of these spaces.

In The Place Where I Used to Play, Jubair Ahmed Arnob (Counter Foto - a Center for Visual Arts, Bangladesh) documents the community affected by urbanisation of Dhaka, Bangladesh, in a series of surreal portraits. Julian Cabral’s (Universidad Nacional De San Martín, Argentina) Triplets playfully narrates the lives of three brothers and invites the viewer into their intimate spaces. Zifan Zhang’s (DMJX Danish School of Media and Journalism, Denmark) Being Young in Latvia examines the younger generation actively reshaping the country’s future.

Aakash Gulzar (India, MERC, University of Kashmir) invites viewers into the intimate world of pigeon keepers, highlighting the special connection between humans and these gentle birds. Yulai Xu (University of the Arts London, United Kingdom) observes the intricacies of family relationships in Fishtail. Laura Anna Rossa’s (LUCA School of Arts Sint Lukas Brussels, Belgium) In the Valley, Flowers Remain follows Patrick, a long-term patient of a psychiatric ward and the photographer as they embark on walks in the woods. Teresa Halbreiter's (University of Applied Sciences Hamburg, Germany) Stillgestanden ('Attention!') explores femininity and self-identity within Germany's armed forces.

The Youth competition celebrates striking single photographs shot by photographers aged 19 and under. Created as an open call, it encourages the next generation of image-makers to show us exactly what moves, inspires, and matters to those just starting out in the medium. With complete creative freedom, we witness what catches the attention of the next vanguard of photographers in our ever-changing world.

This year, the Youth competition was judged by Ruby Rees-Sheridan, Assistant Curator of Photography at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Jeirin Anton (16 years old, Sri Lanka) captures a majestic peacock against a glowing golden backdrop. Ayden Feagle (16 years old, United States) snaps a moment of teamwork during the Warner University Men’s Soccer match in Lake Wales, Florida. Abdallah Islam (19 years old, Egypt) frames the pyramid through a triangular object in his street photograph, creating a striking repetition of shapes.

In an 'over-under' shot, Doğa Ergün (15 years old, Türkiye) captures the moment a horse and rider entered the water. Riley Shickle (18 years old, United Kingdom) frames Mount Fuji and Lake Kawaguchi through autumn leaves. Jane Mozzi (15 years old, Argentina) captures a perfectly timed shot of a BMX rider and a plane, using an optical illusion to make the two appear to collide mid-air.

Victor Reichert (19 years old, France) captures a tender family moment between monkeys on Pidurangala Rock, Sri Lanka. Ruohan Wang’s (19 years old, China Mainland) portrait creatively uses shadow to obscure the sitter’s face, drawing the viewer’s gaze to their eyes.Philip Kangas (16 years old, Sweden) documents the surreal scene of firefighters rescuing paintings from a fire at Stockholm's Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Keira Pereira (17 years old, Canada) photographs a red-eyed tree frog in Costa Rica's rainforest.

The Student Photographer of the Year and the Youth Photographer of the Year will be announced on 16 April at the Awards ceremony in London. Their work will be showcased at the major exhibition at Somerset House from 17 April–4 May.

To view the full Student and Youth galleries, click here.

To be amongst the first to know when tickets to the Sony World Photography Awards 2026 exhibition go on sale, register your interest here.

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Announcements

2026 Youth Competition Shortlist

panos@creoarts.com — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

2026 Youth Competition Shortlist panos@creoarts.com Tue, 01/27/2026 - 00:00

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2026

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2026

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A modern triangular sculpture frames the Great Pyramid, accented by bold red fabric and a field of mirrors. The photographer sought to capture the harmony between the stark lines of the installation and the ‘eternal shape of the pharaoh’s tomb’, creating a ‘geometric interplay of past and present’.

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Abdallah Islam

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Egypt

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(کوتر باز)Kotar’baaz by Aakash Gulzar

panos@creoarts.com — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

(کوتر باز)Kotar’baaz by Aakash Gulzar panos@creoarts.com Tue, 01/27/2026 - 00:00

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2026

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This series explores the intimate world of Indian-administered Kashmir’s pigeon keepers, where, as the photographer explains, ‘care for these gentle birds becomes an act of hope and quiet resistance.’ Captured across Srinagar’s rooftops, shrines, and markets, the images reveal how, in times of uncertainty, people find peace in the simple rhythm of feeding, training, and watching their pigeons soar. Gulzar notes, ‘it’s a story of love, patience, and the enduring spirit of a place that refuses to lose its soul.’

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Aakash Gulzar

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6466907

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Kotar’baaz (کوتر باز)

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Student Shortlist

In the Valley, Flowers Remain by Laura Anna Rossa

panos@creoarts.com — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In the Valley, Flowers Remain by Laura Anna Rossa panos@creoarts.com Tue, 01/27/2026 - 00:00

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2026

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For over 30 years Patrick has lived in De Vallei, ‘The Valley,’ a long-term psychiatric ward for chronic psychosis in the Belgian countryside. He walks in the woods, and since 2024 Rossa has followed him, sometimes bringing her camera, as a gesture to say ‘we are here.’ Each image grew from their time together, which she describes as ‘sharing shadows, grief, light and flowers.’ When he asked Rossa if he was still human, she said: ‘you are the most human person I have met.’

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Laura Anna Rossa

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6541443

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In the Valley, Flowers Remain

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Student Shortlist

Stillgestanden (‘Attention!’) by Teresa Halbreiter

panos@creoarts.com — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Stillgestanden (‘Attention!’) by Teresa Halbreiter panos@creoarts.com Tue, 01/27/2026 - 00:00

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2026

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In Stillgestanden (‘Attention!’) Teresa Halbreiter explores the search for femininity and individuality in the male-dominated institution of the German Armed Forces. She encounters women who look to define their own role in this system. What is life as a soldier really like? This project underlines the tension between obedience and self-assertion, between toughness and vulnerability. Halbreiter draws out the need to be part of a whole, and the quiet desire to be seen as an individual.

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Teresa Halbreiter

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6550621

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Stillgestanden (‘Attention!’)

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Student Shortlist

Fish Tail by Yulai Xu

panos@creoarts.com — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Fish Tail by Yulai Xu panos@creoarts.com Tue, 01/27/2026 - 00:00

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2026

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Yulai Xu grew up in a family shaped by both care and restraint, where intimacy and distance overlapped. The photographer notes that in many Chinese homes, love appears as a ‘quiet sacrifice,’ the ‘fish tail,’ where children receive the tender belly and parents take the tail. This self-denial, taught as ‘for your own good,’ shapes how people learn love and worth, but also creates silent tension as emotions and expectations diverge. By gathering peers’ stories, Yulai Xu observed this fragile balance within family relationships.

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Yulai Xu (玉来徐)

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6539509

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Fish Tail

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Being Young in Latvia by Zifan Zhang

panos@creoarts.com — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Being Young in Latvia by Zifan Zhang panos@creoarts.com Tue, 01/27/2026 - 00:00

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2026

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In Latvia today, the younger generation is actively reshaping the country’s future. They address challenges in various ways, including bridging social divides stemming from the Soviet legacy, tackling the mental health crisis, advocating for gender equality, and engaging with national security concerns. During a visit to Latvia in March 2025, Zifan Zhang connected with young people across different sectors of society to gain a deeper understanding of how they are acting collectively as agents of change.

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Zifan Zhang

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6230425

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Being Young in Latvia

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Student Shortlist

Triplets by Julian Cabral

panos@creoarts.com — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Triplets by Julian Cabral panos@creoarts.com Tue, 01/27/2026 - 00:00

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2026

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Julian Cabral and his two brothers first saw the light of day two minutes apart. They shared the womb, the crib, feeding times, clothes, friends, and the colour of their eyes. This work attempts to narrate the lives of the triplets, to document the passage of time, and to show what life is like for three middle-class young people in Argentina today. Through this project, Cabral looks ahead to the future and enjoys the present; perhaps it is a way for the brothers to stay close.

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Julian Cabral

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6554189

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Triplets

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Suspiria de Profundis by Matte Dixon

panos@creoarts.com — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Suspiria de Profundis by Matte Dixon panos@creoarts.com Tue, 01/27/2026 - 00:00

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2026

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Suspiria de Profundis engages Jean-Paul Sartre’s proposition that meaning arises from nothingness, requiring meaning to be formed through experiences. The tactile, analogue nature of this series guides the viewer towards a deeper, more intuitive encounter with their own existential orientation. Perhaps, this may even tune the audiences towards a shared understanding of spaces and places in time. The images in Suspiria de Profundis evoke relic-like atmospheres and gothic unease, inviting sustained reflection on the human condition.

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Matte Dixon

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