2026 Student and Youth shortlists announced

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.