VIENNA.- An impressive total of 27,846 photographs were submitted to the Global Peace Photo Award 2026 – a new record! Entries came from 119 countries, with the majority originating from India, followed by the USA, China, Italy and Germany.
The Global Peace Photo Award is organized by Edition Lammerhuber in partnership with Photographische Gesellschaft (PHG), UNESCO, Austrian Parliament, Austrian Parliamentary Reporting Association, International Press Institute (IPI), World Press Photo Foundation, POY LATAM, LensCulture, APA – Austria Presse Agentur, Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Photographie (DGPh) e.V., UNICEF Austria and Vienna Insurance Group, and will be presented for the 14th consecutive year in 2026.
The selection process
In an anonymous process, the international jury of the Global Peace Photo Award globalpeacephotoaward.org/jury assessed all entries on the basis of their artistic and photographic quality, whilst taking into account the theme ‘What does peace look like?’. This assessment resulted in a shortlist of 22 entries in the ‘Stories’ category, 25 entries in the ‘Single Images’ category and 21 entries in the ‘Children‘s’ category.
From this shortlist, the jury selected, in a further selection process, the entries to be awarded the Alfred Fried Peace Medal. From these four winners, the overall winning image was then chosen in a subsequent stage, which will bear the title ‘Peace Image of the Year’.
The Peace Image of the Year comes with a prize of 6,000 euros; all winners of the Alfred Fried Peace Medal will receive 1,000 euros, as will the winner of the Children’s Peace Image of the Year.
The awards ceremony will take place on 24 September 2026 at Vienna City Hall in the presence of all winners at in Vienna.
The jury and all the institutions involved in the Global Peace Photo Award would like to thank all participating photographers for sharing their vision of peace with us. Together, we are all sending a strong message about the importance of peace in our world.
Shortlist of the Global Peace Photo Award 2026 – Stories
Ramadan Elagha Palestine An Underground Tent
Shang HuaGe China Be rare, be real, and don't be sorry
Shazia Khan Denmark Beneath the Heart-Shaped Mountain
Rima Maroun Lebanon Driven
Gustavo Minas Brazil Festa do Imprio Kalunga
Lin Lin China Free Clinic in the Square
Dmitrij Leltschuk Germany Hamburg
Antonio Denti Italy Il Mare in Mezzo (The Sea In Between)
Minh Nhon Viet Nam Into The Light
Daniel Kempf-Seifried Germany Kibera Nutcracker - From Slum to World stage
Ali Hamarna Palestine Movement as Resistance
Sarfo Emmanuel Ghana New Makers
Milena Schilling Germany O R I G I O
Tommy Trenchard South Africa Reclaiming the Ocean
Chantal Pinzi Germany Sisterhood on Wheels
Tommy Trenchard South Africa The Flying Doctors of Lesotho
Valentina Sinis Italy The Last Butterflies
Lucia Alonso Garrido Portugal The Shape of Time
Noa Perez Israel The traveling Peace Circus
Aleksandra Kossowska Poland The World by Touch
Julia Forrest USA Trancendence
Mahmoud Abu Hamda Palestine Wings of Childhood and Peace
Shortlist of the Global Peace Photo Award 2026 – Single Images
Ala Kheir Sudan Amna and her home town in Darfur
Roberto Corinaldesi Italy Bound
Samuel Zuder Germany Football World United
Leonie Buchegger Austria Freediving
Helge Skodvin Norway Happy parade!
Synchrotania Ukraine Innerland: Birth
Sandeep Rasal India Land they call Home
Agostio Iglesias Spain Link
Adriana Muoz Mexico Madre herida, madre viva
Zienab Adel Egypt Messages of Peace
Maria Bratana Moldov Mixing of Times
Harjan Pratama Indonesia Planting Mangrove Seedlings
Hamir Da Silva Mozambique Resilience of Comunication
Liu Yu China Snow Mountain Prayers
Ruby Okoro Nigeria Sonnet of the Fiery Tide
Mohammad Rakibul Hasan Bangladesh The Climate Talk
Silvia Alessi Italy The Cut
Brunno Kawagoe Brazil The Desire of Peace
Noa Perez Israel The traveling Peace Circus
Yuri Bakun Ukraine The Weight of Tenderness
Claudia Grnig Germany The Young Chicken Breeder - Night
Emiliano Joanes Canada Watching Snowflakes
Thibault Gerbaldi France Weightless Morning
Pinu Rahman Bangladesh Wheels of Freedom
Soumayan Biswas India When Knowledge Waits for Connection
Shortlist of the Children’s Peace Image of the Year 2026
Amelija Juškytė Lithuania (no title)
Donatas Apavicius Lithuania (no title)
Julia Tabor Poland (no title)
Sesilia Shainidze Georgia (no title)
Una Grašarević Bosnia and Herzegovina (no title)
Ojas Solanki India A Child's World of Peace
Savithya Rajapakse Sri Lanka Children of Peace
Zoe Wacker USA Faces of Peace
Hachi Hiraoka Japan I now have a little brother
Elliott Kent Viet Nam My Brother with my Kitty
Nimrat Kaur Mamman India My fav clicks
Keira Weitz New Zealand My Life - Peace
Pang Mu'En China Peaceful Lives
Rea Balotia India Silent Paths to Peace
Savithya Rajapakse Sri Lanka Smile of Peace
Noah Arroyabe USA The Arroyabe Kids
Ruotong Yang China The Heart of Peace
Davi Monteiro Brazil The peace of flight
Ibrahim Filali Zehri Morocco True Moments of Father
Zun Moe Sett Ye Myint Myanmar Unspoken Peace
Manuk Hofmann Germany Where fire becomes peace
