{"id":7951,"date":"2026-04-21T11:20:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T11:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/?p=7951"},"modified":"2026-04-21T11:23:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T11:23:05","slug":"sony-world-photography-awards-2026-vince-lo-sguardo-lento-e-litalia-entra-in-san-pietro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/sony-world-photography-awards-2026-vince-lo-sguardo-lento-e-litalia-entra-in-san-pietro\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony World Photography Awards 2026: Slow Gaze Wins (and Italy Enters St. Peter's)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sony World Photography Awards 2026: Slow Gaze Wins (and Italy Enters St. Peter's)<\/h1>\n

In London, 430,000 images were awarded, but the ones that remain are the most patient. Citlali Fabi\u00e1n is the Photographer of the Year for work done through listening. And in St. Peter's Square, two Italian photographers saw something that couldn't be seen on television.<\/p>\n

There are years when photography awards seem to compete to see who can shout the loudest. Then there are years\u2014rare, to be sure\u2014when one gets the impression that the jury decided to turn down the volume and award those who remain still. 2026 is the year of\u00a0Sony World Photography Awards<\/strong>\u00a0It's one of these. And I don't know if it's a coincidence or if photography, deep down, is trying to catch its breath again.<\/p>\n

The ceremony was held in London on Thursday, April 16th, the nineteenth edition of the competition organized by the World Photography Organisation. The numbers, as always, are staggering, to which we have become accustomed:\u00a0over 430,000 images submitted from more than 200 countries<\/strong>. Just speaking of the matter: even if one wanted to watch them all at the rate of one per second, without ever sleeping, it would take a good five days. But it's not the numbers that interest me, this time. It's the type of photography that won.<\/p>\n

\n

The facts in brief<\/h4>\n
\n
Edition<\/dt>\n
19th \u2014 Sony World Photography Awards 2026<\/dd>\n
Ceremony<\/dt>\n
April 16, 2026, London<\/dd>\n
Registrations<\/dt>\n
Over 430,000 images from 200+ countries<\/dd>\n
Prize money<\/dt>\n
$25,000 for the Photographer of the Year<\/dd>\n
Photographer of the Year<\/dt>\n
Citlali Fabi\u00e1n (Mexico) \u2014\u00a0Bilha, Stories of my Sisters<\/em><\/dd>\n
Outstanding Contribution<\/dt>\n
Joel Meyerowitz<\/dd>\n
Show<\/dt>\n
Somerset House, London \u2014 April 17 \/ May 4, 2026<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

The winner who doesn't photograph herself<\/h2>\n

The most coveted title, that of\u00a0Photographer of the Year<\/em>, he went to\u00a0Citlali Fabi\u00e1n<\/strong>, Mexican visual artist born in the indigenous Yalalteca community, now based in London. The project is called\u00a0Bilha, Stories of my Sisters<\/em>a series of portraits, accompanied by digital illustrations, dedicated to indigenous women from Oaxaca who, in various fields\u2014law, linguistics, art, ecology\u2014are doing things for which, in thirty years, someone will say, \u201cIt's a shame we didn't notice them sooner.\u201d Fabi\u00e1n wanted to notice them now.<\/p>\n

\n

The method is what makes the difference. Fabi\u00e1n doesn't go, he pounces and leaves. He builds the portrait\u00a0together<\/em>\u00a0alla persona ritratta, ne fa una co-autrice. \u201cI miei soggetti non sono semplicemente fotografati \u2014 ha detto Monica Allende, presidente della giuria professional \u2014\u00a0they are active participants in how their stories are told<\/strong>\u201c. It's a statement that seems obvious, but within the history of documentary photography, it's almost subversive. It means:\u00a0The photographer is no longer the hunter<\/em>. He is one who sits, waits, and listens. This year, the idea that authorship is shared is winning.<\/p>\n

The photographer is no longer the hunter. He is one who sits, and waits, and listens.<\/div>\n

Italy on the podium: two looks inside a square<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And now let's talk about us, because the news \u2014 for an Italian photography media outlet \u2014 is twofold. In the category\u00a0Portraiture<\/strong>, which for many is the heart of the competition, won an Italian job:\u00a0The Faithful<\/strong>, signed by the couple\u00a0Jean-Marc Caimi and Valentina Piccinni<\/strong>. Long-time photographers, published everywhere \u2014 from\u00a0Guardian<\/em>\u00a0a\u00a0The Mirror<\/em>, da\u00a0The World<\/em>\u00a0a\u00a0Internazionale<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 they did something that only those living in Italy could truly do: they went to St. Peter's Square\u00a0in the days between Pope Francis's death and the election of his successor<\/strong>, and instead of aiming the car at the balcony, they turned it towards the crowd.<\/p>\n

The result, from what I've read in the jury's descriptions and the few circulating images, is a collective portrait that has much more of fandom than liturgy. Pilgrims, tourists, people in tears, people with their smartphones held high, people who don't quite know why they're there but are present. In a week when television showed the same shot\u2014fixed camera, closed balcony\u2014Caimi and Piccinni photographed the only thing truly worth photographing:\u00a0the faces of those waiting<\/em>. It's photography that does what journalism sometimes can't:\u00a0turn the chronicle into a face<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And it doesn't end here, because among the Italian awardees there are also three other names worth keeping an eye on:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • 1st place medal<\/span>\n
    Jean-Marc Caimi & Valentina Piccinni<\/strong>\u2014 Portraiture (winners)The Faithful<\/em>\u00a0Crowd at St. Peter's between Francis and the new Pope<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • Silver medal<\/span>\n
    Matteo Trevisan<\/strong>\u2014 Environment (2nd place)Recognition in a category that is increasingly central to contemporary photographic debate<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • Bronze medal<\/span>\n
    Federico Borella<\/strong>\u2014 Portraiture (3rd place)Documentation of the Koryo-saram community in Uzbekistan and its rediscovery of identity through the K-Wave<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • Bronze medal<\/span>\n
    Daniele Vita<\/strong>\u2014 Still Life (3rd place)An Italian presence in one of the most difficult categories to interpret today<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Four Italians among those awarded in the professional categories. This doesn't happen every year, and in fact, for those who have been following these competitions for a while, it's surprising. I don't know if it's a particularly good season or if, quite simply, we are learning to submit more thoughtful and less spontaneous projects. I lean towards the second hypothesis. I would like that.<\/p>\n

    What photograph will win this 2026 award<\/h2>\n

    If I read the list of winners\u2014Fabi\u00e1n for listening, Caimi and Piccinni for the crowd,\u00a0Santiago Mesa<\/strong>\u00a0for a long investigation into Colombian communities within the coca economy,\u00a0Isadora Romero<\/strong>\u00a0for a \u201cmanual on how to build a forest,\u201d,\u00a0Todd Antony<\/strong>\u00a0for the\u00a0Buzkashi<\/em>\u00a0Afghan \u2014 I find a thread that interests me to follow.<\/p>\n

    None of these projects are stock photography in the classic sense. None are \u201cI arrived, I shot, I left.\u201d They are all works that imply\u00a0time<\/strong>months, sometimes years, spent in a place and with a community. And they are works in which the author agrees not to be the main voice, but the\u00a0sound box<\/em>\u00a0of voices that without him would not arrive. It is a photograph that has stopped being primarily aesthetic and has begun again, with a lot of stubbornness, to be\u00a0ethics<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    (Parenthetically: the lifetime achievement award \u2014\u00a0Outstanding Contribution to Photography<\/strong>\u00a0he went to\u00a0Joel Meyerowitz<\/strong>, someone who knows more or less everything there is to know about patience on the field and long games. I don't think it's a coincidence. Juries send signals through these awards as well. This year, the signal seems clear to me:\u00a0Slow down<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    It's a photograph that has stopped being primarily aesthetic and has begun again, with great stubbornness, to be ethical.<\/div>\n

    Where to see it<\/h2>\n

    The works are exhibited at the\u00a0Somerset House in London<\/strong>\u00a0From April 17th to May 4th, 2026: over 300 prints plus hundreds of images on digital displays, with a special section dedicated to Meyerowitz. If you're in London during these two weeks, it's a visit that will likely be worth more than any online masterclass.<\/p>\n

    For those who haven't figured it out, the winners' selections are online on the World Photography Organisation's website. I took a look at the portraits of\u00a0The Faithful<\/em>\u00a0I've already done it, and I had that rare feeling\u2014when you look at a photo and think:\u00a0Anyone could have done this, but they did it.<\/em>. And that's the difference between those who win an award and those who don't. Nothing else.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Sony World Photography Awards 2026: vince lo sguardo lento (e l’Italia entra in San Pietro) A Londra hanno premiato 430.000 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102044,"featured_media":7953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[764],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mondoarteefotografia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102044"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}