Visual Story Award February 2026

1st Prize Aleisha Zoumaras

1st Prize Aleisha Zoumaras
“In bloom” - Oaxaca, Mexico
In Oaxaca’s cempasúchil fields, a collaborative project inviting women to be seen and honoured as they are. © Aleisha Zoumaras
2nd Prize Roberto Flores

2nd Prize Roberto Flores
“Playground of steel” - Ghazni, Afghanistan
An abandoned tank on a ridge above Ghazni has become a neighbourhood playground. Children climb its rusted hull and balance on the barrel, turning a relic of war into an ordinary afternoon. © Roberto Flores
3rd Prize Nicolas Vargas

3rd Prize Nicolas Vargas
“Tsai — Mongolian Tea” - Mongolia
It was the first time we shared a cup of tea, the first time we sat at the same table. We didn’t know each other. It was the day before the nomadic winter migration of the Kazakh herders, a time when families move with their livestock to find shelter for the winter and follow age-old traditions of seasonal life on the steppe. © Nicolas Vargas
Finalist Somenath Mukhopadhyay

Finalist Somenath Mukhopadhyay
"Leaf Life” - Purulia, India
Shot in 2021, the photograph shows a tribal father and son on a forest path, their head covered with a unique kind of headgear made of forest leaves, generally worn during the monsoon. © Somenath Mukhopadhyay
Finalist Michel Pedrero

Finalist Michel Pedrero
“Intergenerational relationship” - South Sudan
At dawn, the golden light illuminates the face of Grandfather Mundari, serene and wise. Seated beside his grandson, covered in cow ash, their bodies merge with the earth and the light, as if they were part of the landscape itself. The ash, derived from cow dung, protects their skin from insects, the sun, and the damp, and is part of their daily routine: a learned gesture, shared and passed down from generation to generation. Around them, the cows graze peacefully, indifferent, integrating the boy and the grandfather into the daily cycle of pastoral life. Without haste, the grandfather guides the boy with his hands and his gaze, teaching him to be present, to observe, and to respect. Each moment reveals the depth of their connection, the beauty of the everyday, and the power of what is learned in silence. © Michel Pedrero
Finalist F.dilek Yurdakul

Finalist F.dilek Yurdakul
“Life in Tent Cities” - Turkey
Women and girl children work both in the fields and in tent cities without access to clean water and electricity, while men, as is common in patriarchal and male-dominated societies, work only in the fields. Seasonal agricultural workers are an indispensable yet often invisible part of the labor force that sustains Turkey’s food system. Each year, 3–5 million of them migrate across the country, enduring six months in makeshift tents without electricity and with limited access to clean water, all while working under harsh and exhausting conditions. And as always, women struggle most. © F.dilek Yurdakul
Finalist Roman Jehanno

Finalist Roman Jehanno
“Jumanto - Sulfur Minor” - Kawah Ijen, Indonesia, 2016
Born in 1967, Jumanto is one of the 300 miners working in the crater of Kawah Ijen. At the base of the volcano, along the shores of what is considered the most acidic lake in the world, he extracts sulfur at a relentless pace: two weeks of labor followed by two weeks of rest. The sulfur, broken loose with a metal bar, is loaded into two baskets connected by a wooden yoke, then carried on a man’s back up to the rim of the volcano before being taken down to the factory. This load, transported across 600 meters of positive elevation gain and 4,000 meters of descent, often weighs up to 90 kilograms. Protective equipment is scarce, and clean air is equally rare. Fumes of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide accompany the workers daily. This penal labor is paid between $8 and $10 per day (a meager reward by our standards, yet roughly three times the regional average of $3 earned by coffee pickers). The miners’ life expectancy, however, is said to be reduced to around forty years. © Roman Jehanno
Finalist Tommaso Vecchi

Finalist Tommaso Vecchi
“Identity” - Cuba
In Cuba, kids don’t step into the ring to become famous: they step in to survive. Worn gloves. No air-conditioned gyms. Broken mirrors. Patched punching bags. They walk miles to train, hungry, eyes burning. Here, boxing isn’t entertainment. It’s discipline, dignity, and a chance in a country where chances are rare. They learn to take a hit before they learn to dream. Respect before punches. Silence before impact. Pride after every round. This is not just a sport. This is identity. © Tommaso Vecchi
Finalist John Lyon

Finalist John Lyon
“Protector” - Angola, 2024
The expression of the mother speaks of a fierce protective instinct. The hand represents dependence and security. © John Lyon
Finalist Michael Bednar

Finalist Michael Bednar
“The Cold Wait For Dawn” - Peru
As the first light of dawn approaches, the Ukukus, mythical beings that are part man and part bear, gather beneath the glacier during the Qoyllur Rit’i religious celebrations. The glaciers are deemed sacred and seen as holy entities that nourish the people of the Andes with their precious meltwater. © Michael Bednar

– Theme: Visual Story /
Competition Judge: Laura Pannack

A celebration of the art of photographic storytelling, the Visual Story Award is a search for the most powerful stories. Through personal and conceptual projects, portraits, travels, fine art, or documentary works, we aim to discover the most compelling visual storytellers.

Make sure to sign up for the newsletter and join us over on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter where we’ll be sharing all our favorite images from the competition. Congratulations to all the talented photographers who made it to the final!

Finalists

Jury's Feedback

“Making this selection was both a joy and a quiet challenge. The breadth of stories from across the globe stirred something restless in me — a desire to travel further into each frame, to linger a little longer. What I found myself returning to were images rooted in human connection — photographs that carried a sense of mystery and wonder, and that continued to unfold in my thoughts long after I’d stepped away. I am always drawn to images that feel inhabited — where the photographer seems present, connected, in conversation rather than simply passing through. Those are the photographs that endure.” — Laura Pannack

1ST PRIZE: Aleisha Zoumaras

“The winning image held me in this way. Its patchwork composition felt carefully balanced yet instinctive, revealing just enough while withholding enough to let the story breathe. I was left curious, gently unsettled, wanting to know more. It wasn’t there to shock and felt gentle.” — Laura Pannack

2ND PRIZE: Roberto Flores

“The second image moved me differently. It reminded me how powerfully a photograph can evoke emotion — how something both deeply nostalgic yet unfamiliar can create compassion.” — Laura Pannack

3RD PRIZE: Nicolas Vargas

“This beautifully painterly image sat with me as it held a sense of mystery. The colours and tones are painterly and transport me to join the family and wonder what story will arrive” — Laura Pannack

© Laura Pannack

Judge: Laura Pannack

Born in 1985, London-based photographer Laura Pannack is an acclaimed British social documentary and portrait photographer, renowned for her projects exploring youth culture and the complex, often intimate relationship between photographer and subject. Her work has been exhibited at major venues, including the National Portrait Gallery, Somerset House, and the Royal Festival Hall in London. In addition to her personal practice, she lectures and teaches at universities and workshops worldwide.