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Photographer of the Year

WEEKLY SELECTION 7 - 2026 PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Thursday, 9 April 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 — In the dim understory of Kakamega Forest, a juvenile blue monkey peers out. Kakamega Forest National Park, Kenya. © Steffen Foerster

Photographer of the Year — At Bilimungwe Camp, where the Kapamba meets the Luangwa, early rains had swollen the river and cut the pack off from crossing. As the collared alpha assessed currents and crocodile risk, the adults moved with purpose while nearby juveniles turned the tension into play along the bank. South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. © Sameer Kumar

Photographer of the Year — The first thundershowers break over the pans – and with them, the dryness gives way to the promise of renewal. Nxai Pan National Park, Botswana. © Christo Giliomee

Photographer of the Year — High in Bwindi’s canopy, a young black-backed gorilla sits in the early morning, eyes closed, breathing in the cold air. A quiet moment in the forest’s steep, tangled slopes. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. © Mark Fernley

Africa Geographic Travel

Photographer of the Year 2026 — A group of Himba tribespeople move across the dunes at sunset, silhouettes against the vast Namib sky. Marienfluss Conservancy, Namibia. © Panos Laskarakis

Photographer of the Year 2026 — In the winterthorn forest at first light, the youngest members of a pride – hurrying to catch up – move through dust. Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia. © Lukas Walter

Photographer of the Year 2026 — An African oystercatcher lifts off with a mussel in its bill, carrying its catch to safer ground beyond the reach of rivals. Vleesbaai, South Africa. © Pierre van den Berg

Africa Geographic Travel

Photographer of the Year 2026 — An unsettling encounter: a Cape cobra consumes a puff adder, predator turned prey in the theatre of the Kalahari. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. © Helgardt Pretorius

Photographer of the Year 2026 — After days of waiting at an abandoned kill site, the leopard returned: the wide frame revealing its place within the broader Mara landscape. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. © Remi Vacher

Photographer of the Year 2026 — What began as an ordinary morning at the end of the dry season along the Chobe River turned into a brutal lesson in survival. A pride of lionesses, hungry after three days without a kill, watched from a rise as two five-month-old leopard cubs emerged to drink some 300 metres away. When one lioness noticed them, the charge was immediate. The cubs vanished into the thicket, but the pride followed, searching relentlessly. Moments later, from a nearby shrub, the air filled with roars and a piercing scream: one cub had been found. In a cloud of dust, it fought back with astonishing courage, even biting a lion cub before being overpowered and killed. The pride moved off, the outcome stark and final – the removal of future competition between apex predators. Note: This image, along with a sequence of photos preceding and following the capture, has been carefully reviewed by our judges and authenticated. It is not AI-generated and not manipulated using AI processes. The image faithfully represents the original scene. Chobe National Park, Botswana. © Petr Slavík

Photographer of the Year 2026 — After rare rain, water traces fleeting veins along a Sossusvlei dune – delicate lines soon erased by wind and time. Sossusvlei, Namibia.
© Johan Enslin

Photographer of the Year 2026 — A leopard cub peers out from the bough of a tree: rough bark, soft light and a striking young predator. Sabi Sands, Greater Kruger, South Africa. © Wesley Cragg

Africa Geographic Travel

Photographer of the Year 2026 — A red-billed oxpecker sits perfectly framed between a buffalo’s horns – a small partner in an ancient alliance. Zimanga Private Game Reserve, South Africa. © Pierre van der Berg

Photographer of the Year 2026 — At sunrise, the lion known as Olepolos drags and guards his pride’s buffalo kill, keeping an eye out as hyenas and jackals wait tentatively nearby. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. © Lukas Andersen

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