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Photographer of the Year 2026: Top 108 - Gallery 2

Thursday, 21 May 2026

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Our Photographer of the Year 2026 is now closed for entries. 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 is Gallery 2 of the best Photographer of the Year submissions for this week. To see the other galleries, follow the links to: Gallery 1, Gallery 3 and Gallery 4

Africa tours — A lioness surveys Samburu with easy authority. Samburu National Reserve, Kenya. © William Steel

Africa tours — Ecosystem engineer. Endemic to the Bale Mountains, the giant root-rat spends most of its life underground, shaping the afro-alpine ecosystem with its burrows and mounds. Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia. © Amit Eshel

Africa tours — A Verreaux’s eagle carries a leopard tortoise high above a quarry – a precarious meal destined for a fall, cracked open on rock below. Cape Town, South Africa. © Braeme Holland

Africa tours — A forest elephant registers its displeasure – smaller, rarer, more temperamental and more secretive than its savannah cousin – in Loango’s coastal wilderness. Loango National Park, Gabon. © Frank Jacobs

Africa tours — At close range, ring-tailed lemurs reveal the intimate bond between mother and offspring. Mothers carry pups on their backs for months to ensure safety and mobility while foraging. Ambalalova, Madagascar. © Jochen Kruip

Africa tours — A solitary hippo allows a cautious approach – until the car engine starts, and his agitation begins to show. Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana. © Bruna Mentrup

Africa Geographic Travel

Photographer of the year 2026 — A quiet moment between crowned cranes reveals the intricate gold of their crests and the startling blue of their eyes. Amboseli National Park, Kenya. © Juerg Schmidlin

Photographer of the year 2026 — The rare white lioness of the Birmingham Pride – pale, powerful, and unforgettable to encounter on the plains of Kruger. Kruger National Park, South Africa. © Karin Tieche

Africa tours — A gorilla holds its young baby close in Bwindi’s dense forest – an intimate portrait. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. © William Steel

Photographer of the year 2026 — Samburu night watchmen dance around the fire at Ol Pejeta as stories, laughter and safari dust linger long after sunset. Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya. © Andrew Morgan

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 — 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

Photographer of the year 2026 — A mother lion of the Nsefu Pride watches helplessly from above as a large crocodile targets – and succeeds in taking – her cub below. A tragic chapter in the pride’s ordeal on the Luangwa’s steep banks. South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. © Marc Mol

Photographer of the year 2026 — Schools of strepies fish (Sarpa salpa) weave through the kelp forests of False Bay, feeding on algae in one of the Atlantic’s great underwater ballets. False Bay, South Africa. © Geo Cloete

Africa Geographic Travel

Photographer of the year 2026 — In the quiet of a Saharan morning, a North African gerbil scrambles up a dune slope and digs its daytime refuge. Fifteen minutes later, the desert closes over the entrance and the tiny architect vanishes from the heat. Sahara, Morocco. © Alex Brackx

Photographer of the year 2026 — In the Richtersveld’s Gannakouriep area, a wasp drags a paralysed grasshopper over a remarkable distance (at least 50 metres as observed by the photographer), pausing occasionally to fly off to navigate.”It eventually disappeared with its prey into a hole in the ground.” ǀAi-ǀAis/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, South Africa. © Micho Ferreira

Africa Geographic safari — 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 Geographic safari — A 14-year-old leopardess grapples with a crocodile she ambushed on the Zambezi River’s edge – a rare choice for a leopard but one sure to leave her satiated for days. Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia. © Marc Mol

Africa Geographic safari — After catching a young lechwe on the Busanga Plains, this collared lioness fiercely defended her meal from an opportunistic young male. Busanga Plains, Kafue National Park, Zambia. © Lori Dove

Africa Geographic safari — Along the edge of a towering dune in Erg Maqhier, the immense silence and scale of the Mauritanian Sahara become almost overwhelming. Erg Maqhier, Mauritania. © Cliff Fawcett

Africa Geographic safari — An Ethiopian wolf pup plays with a burrowing tree frog, tossing it into the air – youthful practice for a hunter still learning the skills of survival. Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia. © Amit Eshel

Africa Geographic Travel

Africa Geographic safari — An elephant carcass lies between Hwange in Zimbabwe and Pandamatenga in Botswana. Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. © Eduardo del Alamo

Africa Geographic safari — A young male leopard crouches over a monitor lizard kill, pausing just long enough to meet the lens with an unblinking, measured stare. South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. © Harry Martin

Africa Geographic safari — After the first rains mark the end of the dry season, wild dogs revel in the water. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe. © Leighton Lum

Africa Geographic safari — Little beauties and the young beast. African bullfrog in a sea of butterflies in the heart of the Kalahari. Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana. © Jens Cullmann

Africa Geographic safari — Two ground squirrels spar in quick bursts, kicking up sprays of Kalahari dust. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. © Dewald Tromp

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