For 71 years, the annual World Press Photo Contest has honored the best photojournalism and documentary photography of the previous year. This year's winners represent the best of the 57,376 photographs submitted by 3,747 photographers from 141 countries. The winning photographs offer a powerful reflection of our world and highlight the reality we face globally: a world marked by division and urgency, yet also by an innate resilience.
World Press Photo has announced the 2026 Photo of the Year and the two finalists in the World Press Photo Contest 2026, honoring the world's best photojournalism and documentary photography.
Winner of the Year 2026
The Photo of the Year is 'Separated by ICE' by Carol Guzy, ZUMA Press, iWitness, for the Miami Herald.
This photograph was taken in one of the few federal buildings in the United States where photographers were granted access—a single hallway where Carol Guzy and others appeared day after day to document what was happening. The photograph captures a harrowing moment: a family torn apart by the state.
Luis was detained on August 26, 2025, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after a hearing at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York City, New York, United States. Luis, a migrant from Ecuador who, according to his family, had no criminal record, was the family's sole breadwinner. His wife Cocha and their three children (ages seven, thirteen, and fifteen) were inconsolable and faced immediate financial hardship and profound emotional trauma.
This image was selected from Guzy's larger body of work, ICE Arrests at New York Court, which received an award in the Stories category for the North and Central America region.
2026 Yearbook
Since 1955, the World Press Photo Foundation has annually recognized the best photojournalism and documentary photography of the preceding year. This book brings together the 42 stories that won this year, selected by independent, specialized regional and international juries. They prevailed over thousands of other photographs.
The result is a collection of images created by strong, challenging, and courageous photojournalists and documentary photographers from around the world.
World Press Photo 2026 Yearbook
Pages: 240
Price: € 32.00
Publisher: Lannoo
