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Photographer of the Year 2026

WEEKLY SELECTION 11 - 2026 PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Thursday, 7 May 2026

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Our Photographer of the Year 2026 closes for submissions at midnight on 7 May. 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.

Winners will be announced in June.

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

Africa tours — Whether confrontation or courtship, these helmeted guineafowl seemed utterly engrossed in the exchange: heads constantly darting in typical guineafowl fashion. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Karin Tieche

Photographer of the year 2026 — In the lingering haze after a chase by a wild dog pack, a lone zebra calls for its herd while a solitary wild dog pauses nearby, both searching for their own. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Botswana © Hannes Lochner

Africa tours — In the Okavango’s fractured rock and shadow, a leopard emerges from a hidden resting spot. Okavango Delta, Botswana © Panos Laskarakis

Photographer of the year 2026 — Winning the battle. Captured during a rhino dehorning procedure, this image reflects the difficult but necessary realities of modern conservation. South Africa © Meghan McCabe

Africa tours — As morning light burns through the valley mist, the monoliths of Pedras Negras appear to drift like ancient islands in a white sea. Pedras Negras de Pungo Andongo, Angola © Cliff Fawcett

Photographer of the year 2026 — Tempers flare on a hippo carcass as a Cape vulture refuses to surrender one of few prized feeding positions. Greater Kruger, South Africa © Benjamin Loon

Africa Geographic Travel

Africa tours — The summoning. In Amboseli, elephants move through the barren landscape, unphased by a dust devil picking up in the distance. Amboseli National Park, Kenya © Srikanth Santhinathan

Africa Geographic safari — A leopard tortoise ambles from plant to plant, grazing methodically and entirely unbothered by its audience! Hoedspruit, South Africa © Benjamin Loon

Photographer of the year 2026 — A crocodile basks on the banks of the Kavango River as the last warmth of the day slips across the Delta. Okavango Delta, Botswana © Abrie Du Plessis

Africa Geographic safari — The last crossing. Fleeing a pursuing lioness, a baboon plunges into a hippo pool in desperation, only to find twenty hippos rising around him before the chase finally ends on shore. Okavango Delta, Botswana © Devon Jenkin

Africa Geographic safari — Beneath a moonless Madagascan sky, sacred baobabs stand silhouetted against the Milky Way while distant firelight glows softly from a nearby village. Kirindy Mitea National Park, Madagascar © Beverly Houwing

Africa Geographic Travel

Africa Geographic safari — A forest buffalo emerges from Pongara’s dense coastal wilderness. Pongara National Park, Gabon. © Eduardo del Alamo

Photographer of the year 2026 — One of the last surviving brothers of the famed Tano Bora coalition launches into a high-speed hunt, the intensity of the chase revealed in kicked-up dung balls mid-stride. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Xuejun Long

Africa Geographic safari — A black rhino crosses the vast grasslands of Damaraland, a solitary survivor in one of southern Africa’s harshest landscapes. Damaraland, Namibia. © Johan Enslin

Photographer of the year 2026 — After heavy rains flooded the Central Kalahari, a shallow puddle became an unlikely theatre of chaos: butterflies gathering at the water’s edge while dozens of young bullfrogs lunged at anything that moved. In the midst of this, one butterfly perches on the back of its predator, in a short-lived stalemate. Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana © Jens Cullmann

Africa Geographic safari — A young leopard cub chooses the quickest route out of a tree, in the midst of a scramble to catch up with its mother. Mara North Conservancy, Kenya © Patrick Maurer

Photographer of the year 2026 — Flower power. A leopard moves low through yellow devil’s thorn flowers, using the blooms as cover while a warthog feeds unsuspectingly ahead. Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana © Hannes Lochner

Africa Geographic Travel

Photographer of the year 2026 — Rare floodwaters transform Ruacana Falls into a roaring spectacle along the border of Namibia and Angola. Ruacana Falls, Namibia © Johan Enslin

Photographer of the year 2026 — The storm. As dark clouds gather over Lake Nakuru, a final burst of sunlight illuminates pelicans still fishing beneath the approaching rain. Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya © Paolo Torchio

Photographer of the year 2026 — On the Serengeti kopjes, playful cubs repeatedly break from their games to head back up toward the reassurance of their mother. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania © Zita Quentin

Photographer of the year 2026 — An elephant carcass lies between Hwange in Zimbabwe and Pandamatenga in Botswana. Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. © Eduardo del Alamo

Photographer of the year 2026 — A young giraffe bounds after its mother across Pardamat’s open plains. Pardamat Conservancy, Kenya © Hanna Wigart

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