'Moved to tears': Winners of the 2026 World Food Photography Awards revealed
From Soviet spas to sacred rivers, this World Food Photography Awards offer a glimpse into the many ways food influences our lives around the globe.
If we eat with our eyes, then the World Food Photography Awards sponsored by Bimi is one of the most satisfying meals of the year.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The winners of the 2026 competition have been announced, with British photographer Jo Kearney taking the overall prize for her portrait of a woman pouring tea at a Soviet-era sanatorium in Tajikistan.
Drawn from nearly 9,000 entries across more than 50 countries, this year’s awards feature everything from rows of rickshaws overloaded with cabbage leaves in Bangladesh to ‘family portrait’ of eggplants.
A free exhibition of all 203 finalist images is on display at London’s Mall Galleries through 7 June, before a selection of photos heads to the luxury department store Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly.
Here is a selection of some of this year’s winners. To see the full collection, including finalists, visit The World Food Photography Awards website here.
Overall winner – Jo Kearney, UK
British photographer Jo Kearney’s award-winning photo captures a woman pouring tea in the Soviet-era Khoja Obi Garm sanatorium in Tajikistan. Caroline Kenyon, founder of the World Food Photography Awards, said the emotion in the photo moved her to tears.
“There is so much to see and so much to feel in this image,” she said in a statement. “She has seen much in life, we are sure, but holds her head high.”
The sprawling health spa in the Hissar Mountains, outside the capital Dushanbe, is one of few still operating in the former Soviet republic – but it sits on radon-infused hot springs. Although radon is toxic, it’s believed to have medicinal benefits in small doses, and customers still flock here for short breaks in the radioactive pools and steam rooms, as well as healthy meals and moments of calm across the complex.
Bring Home the Harvest – Marco Rutten, The Netherlands
A crew hauls in their catch at dawn on the Hooghly River near Kolkata, India.
Champagne Taittinger Food for Celebration – Pingyao Song, China
At a festival organised by China’s Zouchuan Hotpot brand, crowds gather for soup simmered with chillis, fermented bean paste, Sichuan peppercorn and more.
Claire Aho Award for Women Photographers – Kellie Carter, US
An elderly woman offers fresh-baked goodies in Carter’s photo, ‘Granny’s Welcoming Gift of Love’.
Food in the Field – Serkan Doğus, UK
A shepherd guides his flock down Mount Nemrut in eastern Turkey.
Jamie Oliver Youth Prize (13-17) – Indigo Larmour, India
Devotees pray to the sun god Surya and make offerings for Chhath Puja in West Bengal, India.
Louis Jadot Wine Photographer of the Year (Produce) – Luke Carver, France
Carver gives vieweres a point-of-view perspective from inside a traditional Georgian qvevri (winemaking amphora) during the autumn harvest.
Politics of Food – Glenn Vanderbeke, Belgium
Vanderbeke profiles a female miller at the Vocational Training Center Irebero in Rwanda.
Street Food – Kara Baird, Australia
Shot in Kyoto, Baird’s photo captures a fleeting moment of tranquillity in bustling Nishiki Market.
The James Beard Foundation Photography Award – Daniel D Kwak, US
At Hadja Marley, a Senegalese restaurant in New York, a worker pauses from counting cash to pose.
The Philip Harben Award for Food in Action – Lehóczki Balázs, Hungary
“Grandma went to the hairdresser, Grandpa shaved, and I filled their kitchen with studio gear,” says Balázs, who captured the couple in a quiet morning routine.
