39 Award-Winning Photos From the 1839 Awards Photographers of the Year Contest
The 1839 Awards has announced the winners of its annual Photographer of the Year contest, celebrating exceptional, creative photography across multiple categories. Photographers from nearly 80 different countries entered the 2026 edition.
International Photographer of the Year 2026 — Giacomo Marchione
Giacomo Marchione was named the International Photographer of the Year 2026 for his series, The Invisible. Marchione’s five striking photos show underwater sea creatures, illuminated by light against a stark black background.
“At night, the sea doesn’t sleep,” Marchione says. “When the sun sets and the sea seems to fall silent, one of nature’s most extraordinary spectacles begins: the vertical migration of plankton. Millions of organisms rise from the depths to the surface in this upward migration.”
Marchione is a celebrated Italian underwater photographer as well as a practicing orthopedic surgeon. Marchione’s passion for underwater photography began in 1992 when he obtained his first scuba diving certification on vacation. He has photographed underwater all over the globe, including in the Maldives, Indonesia, Malaysia, and, of course, off the coast of Italy.
Marchione is not only the overall contest winner, but he also won the Underwater category.
International Discovery of the Year 2026 — Dammy Twitch
On the Non-Professional side of the competition, photographer Dammy Twitch took top honors for his series, What If We Lived Among Gods. It’s a medium-format 120 film analog series exploring “myth, divinity, and everyday Nigerian life.”
Apampa Oluwadamilola, known professionally as Dammy Twitch, was born in 1995 and raised in Oyo State, Nigeria. Twitch relocated to Lagos and built his fine art photography, film, and music career. He was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2022 and has received numerous accolades since, including the Rolling Stone Africa Mwamkom Vanguard Award for Visual Storytelling this year.
Twitch’s directorial debut, Call of My Life, has become one of the top five highest-grossing films ever in West Africa.
Other Winners
In total, there are many category winners across both Professional and Non-Professional sections. They can all be viewed on the 1839 Awards website. PetaPixel has selected a smattering of award-winning photos to share below, but everyone is highly encouraged to go view them all, organized by category, on the 1839 Awards website.
Image credits1839 Awards. Individual photographers are credited in the captions.
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