Image description
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.
Shortlist
Megan Tavarez
Mount Fuji at Yamanakako Lake
Taken on a crisp February morning, the photographer had envisioned this image for weeks, waiting for the light and the stillness to converge. As dawn began to unfurl its golden thread across the horizon, there it was: majestic Mount Fuji, crowned by a solitary lenticular cloud, suspended in the sky.
© Megan Tavarez, United States, Shortlist, Open Competition, Travel, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
John Edwards
Driving Across the Sky at Salar de Uyuni
Salar de Uyuni, in Bolivia, is the world’s largest salt flat. In this image, recent rains had created a vast mirror, so driving across the water was like floating through the sky. The photographer notes it was an ‘unforgettable journey into a truly unique landscape.’
© John Edwards, United States, Shortlist, Open Competition, Travel, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
David Sykes
Milky Way, Namibia
This image blends a 2-minute exposure of the night sky and horizontal Milky Way (taken using a star tracker) with a foreground shot of the prehistoric looking Quiver tree forest in Keetmanshoop, taken earlier in the day from the same location.
© David Sykes, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Open Competition, Travel, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
Filip Hrebenda
Earth’s Palette
Seen from above, an ordinary landscape can become something extraordinary, as is often the case in Iceland. Each lake had a different hue, which reminded the photographer of a painter’s palette. The effect was enhanced by the dramatic lighting conditions after a heavy rain.
© Filip Hrebenda, Slovakia, Shortlist, Open Competition, Travel, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
Swati Biswas Guha
Banjaran
A candid portrait of a Banjaran girl at Pushkar Camel Fair, which is held annually in Rajasthan, India.
© Swati Biswas Guha, India, Shortlist, Open Competition, Travel, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
Liping Jiang
Snowfall in the Buddhist Kingdom
The first snow gently falls on the crimson monk quarters, contrasting with the vermilion walls. Amid the empty spaces left by red and white lies the serenity of the Buddhist realm.
© Liping Jiang, China Mainland, Shortlist, Open Competition, Travel, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
Jet Huynh
The Three Layers of a City
This image was taken in Ho Chi Minh City along a canal, during a New Year fireworks celebration. It portrays the contrasts and transformations within a developing city, with temporary riverside houses (soon to be cleared) reflected in the water, typical three- to four-story townhouses, and high-rise buildings and landmarks in the city center.
© Jet Huynh, Vietnam, Shortlist, Open Competition, Travel, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
ChenYu Hsieh
Above the Neighbourhood
An ordinary residential street is quietly overshadowed by a monumental presence in the distance.
© ChenYu Hsieh, Taiwan, Shortlist, Open Competition, Travel, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
Sawyer Alcázar-Hagen
Mr Toad’s Wild Ride
At dawn on the wide riverbed of Varanasi, India, a Baba sits cross-legged beside a resting camel, as horses thunder past across the sand. The rising sun hangs in the haze, the scene suspended between spectacle and stillness — a meeting of ceremony, performance and movement in the morning light.
© Sawyer Alcázar-Hagen, United States, Shortlist, Open Competition, Travel, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
Marie-Line Dentler
Another World
This image depicts an ice cave in Iceland.
© Marie-Line Dentler, France, Shortlist, Open Competition, Travel, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards