World Press Photo 2026

The World Press Photo Contest 2026

The annual World Press Photo Contest, which recognizes and honors the best photojournalism and documentary photography from the past year, will announce its winners in spring 2026. On April 9, the organization announced 42 winners, and from this selection, the Photo of the Year winner and two finalists will be announced on April 23. These announcements will be made online via the World Press Photo website and its social media channels.

Luis’s distraught daughters cling to their father as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detain him after an immigration hearing in New York City, New York, United States.

“Please understand we are coming here for a better opportunity, not just for ourselves, but for our children,” said Cocha, after her husband, Luis, was detained by ICE agents following an immigration court hearing at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building. Luis, an Ecuadorian migrant living in the Bronx, served as his household’s sole provider. According to his family, he has no criminal record. Cocha and their three children – ages seven, 13, and 15 – were left inconsolable, facing immediate financial hardship and profound emotional trauma.

PUBLIC GUIDED TOURS

Every Sunday at 11 am, there is a public guided tour of the special exhibition WORLD PRESS PHOTO (only in german).

The admission fee is €2.

Guided Tours for Adults and School Groups

60-minute guided tour
Languages: German, English, Russian, Ukrainian

Further informations:

Selfguided Groups

60-minute tour

Further informations:

Farīsāt: Gunpowder’s Daughters

Chantal Pinzi,  Panos Pictures

Tbourida is a UNESCO-recognized Moroccan equestrian tradition dating back to the 16th century. Troupes of 15 to 25 riders gallop in unison, firing rifles in a choreographed performance of ancient cavalry military parades. Riders wear period costumes representing their tribe or region and carry a sword and a small copy of the Koran. They often give spiritual significance to the event, performing cleansing rituals and praying collectively beforehand. The tradition passes from generation to generation within families and demands advanced horsemanship, balance, and courage.

For centuries, Tbourida was exclusively male, but female riders have steadily fought for inclusion since Morocco’s 2004 family code reforms strengthened women’s legal rights. Today, seven all-female troupes ride among approximately 300. These farīsāt (horsewomen) bear significant personal costs, funding their own horses, costumes, and gunpowder permits. Their perseverance is a powerful assertion of women’s rightful place within Moroccan cultural heritage.

Burned Land

Brais Lorenzo,  EFE, Revista 5W, El País

In 2025, wildfires burned through an estimated 390 million hectares worldwide. More than 200,000 hectares burned across Galicia during Spain’s worst fire season in about three decades. Together with neighboring northern Portugal, the region accounted for two thirds of the one million hectares affected across Europe.
Born in Ourense, the photographer grew up with the smell of smoke every summer and has documented Galician wildfires since 2011.

Wedding in the Flood

Aaron Favila,  Associated Press

When Typhoon Wipha hit the Philippines in July 2025, it submerged the historic Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan province under several feet of water. Jade Rick Verdillo and Jamaica Aguilar faced a difficult decision: should they postpone their wedding ceremony, or proceed through knee-deep floodwaters? Despite warnings from wedding planners that the weather would only worsen, they decided to push through. The photos from that day would go viral, becoming a testament to not only love’s resilience against all obstacles, but also a mounting environmental crisis in the region.

Beyond the wedding ceremony, the floods of 2025 became a catalyst for widespread political unrest. A groundswell of public anger triggered protests over “ghost” infrastructure projects in which funds allocated to climate adaptation measures disappeared due to corruption. Dubbed the “Trillion Peso March,” the mass demonstrations were based on reports that 1.089 trillion Philippine pesos (17.6 billion US dollars) had been skimmed from these funds. This project captures not only a personal milestone for a happy couple, but also the larger context of political and environmental turmoil that defined the region.

Mexico, A Changing Climate

César Rodríguez,  Norwegian Red Cross, SNCA, The New York Times

Mexico is especially vulnerable to climate extremes, with 52% of its territory situated in arid or semi-arid zones. Over the last two decades, environmental disasters and ecological decay have internally displaced approximately 2.7 million people—a figure projected to reach up to 8 million by 2050. Rising seas swallow coastal towns while severe droughts drain the country’s water supply. Along the Gulf of Mexico, sea levels are rising three times faster than the global average, reclaiming entire communities like El Bosque in Tabasco, the first community in Mexico to be officially recognized as displaced by climate change. At the same time, in the industrial north and the central State of Mexico, renewable water availability has plummeted by 81% since 1950. In cities like Monterrey, the fluctuation between record-breaking heatwaves and catastrophic flooding has moved water from a public utility to a scarce commodity, often protected by police to prevent social unrest.