The winners of the biannual Hasselblad Masters of Photography competition have been announced and they showcase a remarkable collection of creativity, technical mastery and fresh perspectives in visual arts.
Competition overview
The Swedish Hasselblad Masters rewards industry professionals, emerging talents and photographers under the age of 21.
The 2026 competition drew more than 108,000 images from photographers across 160 countries and territories. Entrants submitted three-image portfolios across seven categories — Landscape, Portrait, Street, Architecture, Art, Wildlife and Project 21.
16 Amazing Winners Of Hasselblad Masters Of Photography Competition
A shortlist of 70 finalists was assembled before the Hasselblad Masters Grand Jury and public voting determined the category finalists. The Grand Jury selected one winner per category, each with three photos.
The seven winners earn the title of “Hasselblad Master.”
Winners and Prizes
The seven winners were selected for originality, creativity, craft, cohesive storytelling and conceptual strength. Along with the coveted title, each Hasselblad Master receives a Hasselblad medium-format camera, a €5,000 cash prize and an invitation to collaborate on a commissioned project that will be printed and featured in the biennial Hasselblad Masters book.
“These are images that require attention, that continue to unfold the longer you stay with them,” said Kalle Sanner, Executive Director at the Hasselblad Foundation and Grand Jury Chair. “What unites the winners is a shared understanding that photography’s real power lies not in what it shows, but in what it withholds, reframes, and quietly insists upon.”
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The Hasselblad Masters serves as a global benchmark for professional and emerging photographic talent. The 2026 winners highlight contemporary trends — cinematic composition, conceptual series work and technical excellence on medium format — and point to the next generation of influential image-makers shaping commercial, editorial and fine-art photography.
Ephemeral Visions, Landscape Masters Of Photography
Ephemeral Visions, Landscape
Rohan Reilly, Ireland -HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Rooted in the discipline of a composer, Rohan Reilly’s images strip away complexity to reveal the essentials, which are texture, tone and stillness.
The process is one of patience and preparation: studying weather patterns, returning season after season, and waiting for the precise conditions that cannot be engineered but only earned.
This winning series captures a row of poplar trees planted along the banks of the River Po in Italy, which are natural guardians against flooding, now standing immersed in perfectly still water beneath soft, diffused light.
What was once a purely functional landscape transforms into something surreal and dreamlike: nature distilled to its core, and time momentarily held still.
Ephemeral Visions, Landscape
Rohan Reilly, Ireland – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Ephemeral Visions, Landscape
Rohan Reilly, Ireland – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
The Forest I Roam, Wildlife Masters Of Photography
The Forest I Roam, Wildlife
Alfred Minnaar, South Africa — HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Alfred Minnaar’s creative process often begins with observation and patience. seeking to understand his subjects behaviour, environment and relationship with the surrounding ecosystem.
His fine-art philosophy has evolved from a traveler’s passion into a voice for wildlife preservation.
The winning images of a tiny goby living amongst coral were created to challenge our perception of scale and encourage viewers to look closer. Rather than focusing solely on the fish, the photographer wanted to use it as a point of reference within a much larger world.
The reef itself becomes the subject, inviting viewers to imagine its vastness from the perspective of one of its smallest inhabitants.
The Forest I Roam, Wildlife
Alfred Minnaar, South Africa – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
The Forest I Roam, Wildlife
Alfred Minnaar – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Waste Colonialism, Masters Of Photography Art
Waste Colonialism, Hasselblad Master In Art Photography
Yudha Kusuma Putera, Indonesia – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Inspired by everyday life and its complexity, Yudha Kusuma Putera turns a keen eye toward the social issues that hide in plain sight, exploring the tensions between humans, nature and the systems we build around us.
The winning images are part of a project examining how developed nations export their waste to developing countries, where labour and costs are lower.
At Yogyakarta’s Piyungan landfill in Indonesia, a city’s waste is sorted by scavengers and consumed by cows, quietly piling up into a hill, with their forms mirroring the landscape of trash around them.
The work invites collective reflection on the waste we produce and the future we are building. On the surface, the images appear unambiguous. Yet, they consistently resist easy reading, generating a sense of visual uncertainty.
Waste Colonialism, Hasselblad Master In Art Photography
Yudha Kusuma Putera, Indonesia – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Waste Colonialism, Hasselblad Master In Art Photography
Yudha Kusuma Putera, Indonesia – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Otherness, Portrait Masters Of Photography
Otherness, Portrait
Svetlana Jovanovic,, Netherlands – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
With a psychology background, Svetlana Jovanovic’s portraiture is driven by a deep curiosity about identity — how we experience the world, construct our sense of self and see ourselves through the eyes of others.
Her style brings together fine art portraiture and a commitment to visual beauty,
The winning images are components of Otherness, an ongoing long-term project exploring identical twins and the tension between shared identity and individual presence. While twins share so much, it’s the small differences that emerge over time.
The subtle ways each person’s character becomes visible within the shared image s what lies at the heart of the work.
Each portrait is a collaboration, shaped as much by the relationship between the twins as by the photographer’s own vision, inviting viewers to reflect on how we define ourselves both apart from, and through one another.
Otherness, Portrait
Svetlana Jovanovic,, Netherlands HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Otherness, Portrait
Svetlana Jovanovic, Netherlands – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Dwellers Of The Night, Project 21 Master of Photography
Dwellers of the Night, Project 21
Panitbhand Paribatra Na Ayudhya, Thailand – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Panitbhand Paribatra Na Ayudhya is a young underwater photographer and scuba diver from Thailand. His work is rooted in a quiet dedication to the ocean, documenting its life, fragility and the ecosystems that sustain it in the hope that what is seen through his lens will not be forgotten.
His winning series was captured in the waters of Anilao, Philippines, where pelagic and larval marine life migrate from the depths each night to feed under the cover of darkness. He illuminates a world rarely seen.
Some of these creatures spend their entire lives in the open ocean, making the pelagic ecosystem as fragile as it is extraordinary.
Dwellers of the Night, Project 21
Panitbhand Paribatra Na Ayudhya, Thailand – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Dwellers of the Night, Project 21
Panitbhand Paribatra Na Ayudhya, Thailand – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Movieland Architecture Masters Of Photography
DaySleeper – Movieland, Architecture
Kevin Boyle, Canada – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Kevin Boyle was shaped by the open skies and close-knit communities of the Canadian prairies. After the loss of his father, he returned home only to find the places he once knew hollowed out and silent, their gathering spaces boarded up and left to disappear.
For more than 10 years, his photographic journey has been a profound tribute to the abandoned architecture of North America’s local communities.
The winning series is comprised of photographic montages, with each part of the building lit by flashlights to create an ethereal “portrait” of once important meeting places.
The forgotten spaces become vibrant, glowing symbols of community heritage and shared human connection.
DaySleeper – Movieland, Architecture
Kevin Boyle, Canada – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
DaySleeper – Movieland, Architecture
Kevin Boyle, Canada – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Morning Ritual, Street Master Of Photography
Morning Ritual, Street
Gosse Bouma, Netherlands – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Gosse Bouma’s work is driven by a quiet pursuit of moments of tranquility in a world that rarely slows down. His distinct style lies at the intersection of urban geometry and natural elements invoking serenity amidst the chaos of everyday life.
His winning series, taken across the Netherlands, turns to the street markets, a space where people of all ages and backgrounds meet, exchange words, share warmth and move on.
In capturing these small, unhurried encounters, Bouma preserves something increasingly rare in contemporary life: a genuine sense of togetherness.
Morning Ritual, Street
Gosse Bouma, Netherlands – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Morning Ritual, Street
Gosse Bouma, Netherlands – HASSELBLAD MASTERS 2026
Since 2001, the Hasselblad Masters of Photography competition has been a global stage for the world’s creative photographers. The photo competition looks for great images with unique vision, digital or film, any brand, and any frame size are welcome from professionals and emerging talents across seven categories.
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This article was originally published on Forbes.com
