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Photographer of the year

WEEKLY SELECTION 5 - 2026 PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Thursday, 26 March 2026

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Our Photographer of the Year 2026 is open for submissions. The overall winner, runners-up, and their partners will journey to Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda, staying at the newly built Munazi Lodge, the only lodge inside the park. Expect chimpanzee trekking, canopy walks high above the forest floor, waterfall hikes, and encounters with black-and-white colobus monkeys in one of Africa’s most biodiverse montane forests. Read more about the Photographer of the Year 2026 prizes here. In association with Ukuri and African Parks.

Photographer of the Year is open for entries from 16 February 2026 to midnight on 7 May 2026. Judging will take place from February to June, and the winners will be announced in June.

Here are the best Photographer of the Year submissions for this week

Photographer of the year 2026 — A pride of lions gathers shoulder to shoulder at a dusty waterhole, their faces briefly lit as they drink together in the night. Shompole Conservancy, Kenya. © Jaren Fernley

Photographer of the year 2026 — An African hummingbird hawk moth hovers with accurate precision as it seeks out nectar. Kruger National Park, South Africa. © Joschka Voss

In the half-light of the ebony forest, an elder baboon lifts an infant playfully in the air. South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. © Hannes Lochner

A leopard rests along the textured bark of a leadwood tree, its rosettes and the trunk’s fissures merging into an abstract study. Okavango Delta, Botswana. © William Steel

Off Paternoster on South Africa’s wild West Coast, a humpback whale rises, lunges, rolls and dives through rich Atlantic feeding grounds, allowing a glimpse of a modern leviathan at work. Paternoster, South Africa. © Rainer Schimpf

Africa Geographic Travel

Soaked by a downpour, a white-backed vulture tries to dry its feathers before nightfall, perched like a weathered statue overlooking the sunset. Mara North Conservancy, Kenya. © Michelle Rana

African safari — A family of elephants stands in shallow water, a calf sticking close to the adults of the herd as rain clouds roll in. Lumo Conservancy, Kenya. © Jaren Fernley

African safari — Crimson Flight. A small formation of flamingos cuts across Lake Magadi’s crimson waters, their pale bodies and dark shadows striking against this harsh soda-lake world. Lake Magadi, Kenya. © Caesar Sengupta

African safari — At sunrise in Etosha, a hyena kill draws in jackals from all sides, each scrap contested in a quarrel of teeth, rank and opportunism. Etosha National Park, Namibia. © Charmaine Joubert

African safari — An elephant bathes at night in Wali Baï, one of Nouabalé-Ndoki’s great forest clearings where the hidden life of the Congo rainforest can step briefly into view. Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, Congo-Brazzaville. © Chloe McCormack

African safari — Stormy Skies. In the Kalahari, two lions mate through hail and rain while a shaft of sunlight breaks the storm and a tawny eagle watches from a camelthorn. Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana. © Hannes Lochner

Africa Geographic Travel

Africa Geographic safari — “Wading through rain-flooded grassland, I found this water lily reed frog perfectly camouflaged among the blades, hidden in plain sight until it slipped back into the wetland.” Hoedspruit, South Africa. © Josh Shoebotham

Africa Geographic safari — A red lechwe clears an Okavango channel with effortless grace, perfectly at home in an amphibious world of reeds and floodwater. Okavango Delta, Botswana. © Werner Hoetzel

Africa Geographic safari — After a slow morning around Northern Farms, the photographer spots a pair of marsh owls hunting low over the grass. “They flew backwards and forwards without fearing us, and successfully made a kill.” Johannesburg, South Africa. © Wayne Parsons

Photographer of the year 2026 — Elements. As controlled burns sweep the Mara, a giraffe family moves carefully past the fire line while yellow-billed oxpeckers seize insects flushed from the grass. With rain clouds gathering beyond, it feels as though all elements are assembling in a single frame. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. © Abhilash Kar

Africa Geographic Photographer of the year 2026 — Phantom of the Night. A caracal pauses at a waterhole in the small hours, briefly revealed in dim light, before melting back into the dark bushveld. Shompole Conservancy, Kenya. © Tracy Miller

Africa Geographic Photographer of the year 2026 — A young leopard rests in the upturned roots of a dead tree in the Luangwa River, settled like a king on a throne, as white-fronted bee-eaters protest overhead. South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. © Lukas Walter

Africa Geographic Photographer of the year 2026 — Two elephants meet in the dark at a Shompole waterhole, tusks crossing in a quiet nocturnal encounter full of weight. Shompole Conservancy, Kenya. © Jaren Fernley

Africa Geographic Travel

Africa Geographic Photographer of the year 2026 — Her Highness. Tree-climbing lions are not a common sight in Lake Nakuru, Kenya. But here, a lioness perches above the ground like a queen on her throne, her cub partway up the trunk jestering below (out of frame). Lake Nakuru, Kenya. © Abhilash Kar

Africa Geographic Photographer of the year 2026 — A pair of hyena cubs tussle over dried bark, all oversized ears, busy paws and clumsy coordination. “It was a delight to watch these hyena cubs at play.” Okavango Delta, Botswana. © Simone Osborne

Africa Geographic Photographer of the year 2026 — A rare sighting of one of Africa’s most elusive antelopes: a sitatunga resting on a termite mound island in the Okavango. Seen from the air, the Delta’s channels and floodplains reveal the watery world this marsh specialist calls home. Okavango Delta, Botswana. © William Steel

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