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- SWPA is one of the most prestigious global photo contests
- This year attracted Over 430,000 entries from more than 200 countries
- The winner takes home a $25,000 top prize and Sony camera gear
I've had the pleasure of attending the Sony World Photography Awards 2026 in London, where the overall winner and 10 category winners have unpacked their photography projects to the press.
Legendary street photographer Joel Meyerowitz was also in attendance to receive the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award, and he was as engaging as ever.
It has been a real treat, and if you get the chance, I encourage you to visit the contest's exhibition, which contains over 300 works, is situated in London's Somerset House, and is open to the public from April 17 to May 4, 2026.
In previous years, it very much felt like AI was an inescapable subject around the contest, but in 2026, it feels like that AI storm has passed, and we purely enjoyed the photography and the stories inspiring the works.
I had a fascinating long chat with the wildlife category winner, Will Burrard-Lucas, and will share my conversation very soon, but for now, do check out some of the category award winners below.
Where the information is available — I've made a note on what camera gear was used in the gallery below — there has been such a surprising range this year, which once again proves that gear isn't the be-all and end-all of great photography.
SWPA 2026 category winners and their gear
Having covered photo contest news for the last three years working in a gear-focused role as TechRadar's Cameras Editor, I'm always happy to see a range of camera gear being used among winning entrants, and SWPA 2026 is no different.
Take Will Burrard Lucas's wildlife series — he fits his own camera traps with low-cost Canon EOS 6D cameras — a necessary compromise because he often requires several cameras in tough environments, but he still praised the quality these old DSLRs delivered.
Or how about the 'Documentary' and 'Perspectives' category winners, Santiago Mesa of Colombia and Seungho Kim of Korea, who used a Fujifilm X-Pro 3 and Fujifilm X100 VI, respectively, for their reportage photography projects.
At the other end of the spectrum is the 'Sport' category winner, Todd Anthony of New Zealand, who used a large-format Phase One camera, which costs tens of thousands, for his monochrome images of riders and their horses.
Photography can be a beautiful thing, and many of us already have the capable tools in hand to go and create. Who knows, if you find that story that needs to be told and the persistence and craft to do it justice, perhaps one day you could have your images hanging on the walls at Somerset House.
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