The LensCulture Street Photography Awards 2026 celebrate 41 remarkable photographers from 23 countries across five continents. Together, this year’s winners, jurors’ picks and finalists reveal the street as an endlessly surprising stage—alive with chance encounters, quiet dramas, fleeting gestures and moments of unexpected grace.
From Hanoi before dawn and the divided neighborhoods of Belfast, to unexpected views of Venice, Melbourne’s trams and the shifting light of Istanbul, these photographers show how the everyday can suddenly become mysterious, poetic and unforgettable. We are thrilled to share their work with you this year.
In addition to cash prizes, the top winners will be featured in a group exhibition in London. Congratulations to all!
Series Winner
1st Place
Thailand
Vica Bogaerts
Until Dawn Comes
Series Winner
2nd Place
Netherlands
Bouwe Brouwer
The Great Escape
Series Winner
3rd Place
United Kingdom
Adam Vincent
Venice Unseen
The work submitted for the Street Photography Awards is very interesting, it offers a powerful insight into the realities of contemporary everyday life and reveals where our society's attention is increasingly focused. The submissions come from all over the world, reflecting a remarkable diversity of perspectives and approaches. Exploring this richness and discovering the themes that emerge from it is both inspiring and deeply rewarding.”
— Audrey Delaporte, Le Monde
Single Winner
1st Place
Canada
Colin Helie-Harvey
Sublime Porte
Single Winner
2nd Place
Israel
Marina Koryakin
Sea Story
Single Winner
3rd Place
France
Wenpeng Lu
Street Scenes
Jurors’ Picks
Each of our jury members selected one photographer to be awarded special distinction. Here are the jurors’ special selections, with a brief quote from each expert explaining what they especially appreciate about these photographers and their work.
Yusuf Eminoglu
Turkey
Gulnara Lyabib Samoilova
Founder & Creator Women Street Photographers
United States
The Aquatic Ceremony by Yusuf Eminoglu immediately drew me in with its poetic storytelling and visual coherence. The photographer transforms a cultural ritual into a timeless narrative, creating photographs that are both intimate and epic in scale. It is a beautifully edited body of work that demonstrates a strong vision, sensitivity, and craftsmanship.
Audrey Delaporte
Picture Editor Le Monde
France
This photograph caught my attention at first glance because I couldn't fully grasp it right away. There is something truly interesting about pausing to question your first impression and wondering whether your initial reading of an image is the right one. This photograph is enigmatic, the composition is quite simple but it works : there is mystery, and magic at the same time, caught at the right instant.
Michael Foley
Gallery Director Leica Gallery
United States
Peering through, almost in secret, we spy a chicken seller captive in her own stall of cages. She and her goods look left and right, never directly at us. They huddle, waiting to be freed, performing before a swath of worn color. A foreign hand, coupled with retracting feet, hides us from the unfolding transactions. It’s an everyday moment in a market, filled with panic, hope, and despair.
Jirayut Thongwatcharapaiboon
Thailand
Sam Ferris
Photographer Educator & Curator
Australia
After the Celebration encapsulates what I look for in a strong photographic series: visual cohesion, meaningful individual images, and sequencing that creates something greater than the sum of its parts. While many of the photographs are quiet and understated in isolation, together they accumulate into a haunting meditation on absence, memory and impermanence. Through careful sequencing, ordinary places - parking lots, roadside structures, abandoned objects and artificial landscapes - take on unexpected emotional weight, inviting the viewer to linger rather than simply look.
What I admire most is that this is a photographer responding to their own environment. Rather than searching for visual spectacle or the exotic allure of somewhere unfamiliar, Jirayut demonstrates that originality comes through sustained observation and a deeply personal way of seeing. The series reminds us that compelling street photography isn't about finding extraordinary places, but revealing the extraordinary within the ordinary.
For anyone beginning a long-term street photography project, I'd encourage you to ask yourself not just what you're photographing, but why. What can your photographs say that another photographer couldn't say more authentically? The strongest projects - like this - are grounded in curiosity, personal connection and a clear point of view.
Katerina Stratos
Australia
Dr. Rebecca Swift
Senior Vice President Creative Getty Images
United Kingdom
I chose this particular image because the composition spoke to me as a commercial photography fan. It works so well in the way it guides the eye via the side light on the right and the more visually busy defocused area on the left. I love the central figure, the young boy, because he has bags of character but it is not clear why he is sat away from the congregation - does he want to be there, is he there because he has been told to wait there or is he up to mischief? It is a wonderful caught moment beautifully composed - everything I look for in street photography.
Scott Hall
Photo Director Travel & Leisure
United States
William Shakespeare’s famous line, “All the world’s a stage,” comes to mind when viewing Asako Naruto’s photo series Untold Signs. The series explores the intersection of light, movement, and everyday life within a Madrid subway station, where a narrow shaft of sunlight briefly cuts through the space each day, casting a theatrical spotlight on passing commuters. Through these fleeting moments, Naruto reflects on the passage of time and the ephemeral nature of the human experience. The sunlight momentarily transforms ordinary passengers into captivating subjects. By capturing these brief encounters with light, Untold Signs reveals the extraordinary beauty hidden within the mundane and invites viewers to see a familiar public space in an unexpected, poetic way.
Laura Sackett
Creative Director LensCulture
United States
The word ‘askew’ comes to mind when I look at the photographs in Levi Goldbaum’s Series: No Body Was Cast for This. The photos span many different subjects and places — Istanbul, Bangkok, New York, a stretch of desert in Arizona — and yet they are held together by something askew. None of the photos are staged, and yet the people are caught mid-gesture, as if they are in some kind of role they didn’t know they were playing. The result is a lovely strangeness.
Nanna Heitmann
Photographer Magnum Photos
Germany
“Don't Worry, Be Happy" immediately caught my attention, thanks to her unpretentious humor and her whimsical eye for the quiet quirks of everyday life. As she herself describes it, the emotions on China’s streets are "not intense, but rather subtle and understated, chaotic and bizarre“ and that is precisely what her photos capture. I also encourage you to explore the rest of her portfolio, particularly the series "Wander,“ a deeply personal photographic pilgrimage across China. She is an emerging artist with extraordinary potential, and I look forward to following her work.
Eslah Attar
Photo Editor New York Times
United States
Nika Pailodze’s image sticks with me because it shows a genuine found moment of intimacy. The small gesture of one hand reaching for the other’s finger is understated but deeply affectionate. Their body language guides our eyes through the frame, making that fleeting interaction the emotional center of the image.
Street photography is alive and well, reinventing itself and opening up new channels of seeing, stretching far outside the box and expected tropes. Impressed by the range and contributions that photographers from around the world continue to make.”
— Michael Foley, Leica Gallery
Finalists
International Jury
Nanna Heitmann
Magnum Photos
Germany
Eslah Attar
New York Times
United States
Michael Foley
Leica Gallery
United States
Dr. Rebecca Swift
Getty Images
United Kingdom
Audrey Delaporte
Le Monde
France
Scott Hall
Travel + Leisure
United States
Gulnara Lyabib Samoilova
Women Street Photographers
United States
Sam Ferris
Photographer, Educator & Curator
Australia
Laura Sackett
LensCulture
United States
Thank You
To everyone who shared their work with us, thank you! And huge congratulations to all 41 winning photographers!
