The World Press Photo Foundation announced the Photo of the year this morning and two finalists of the 2026 World Press Photo Contest, awarding the world’s best photojournalism and documentary photography.

The Photo of the Year 2026 winner was taken inside one of the few US federal buildings where photographers were granted access – a single hallway where photographer Carol Guzy and others showed up, day after day, to document what was happening. It captures a harrowing moment: a family separated by the state. What Carol Guzy has documented is not an isolated instance, but a policy indiscriminately applied to people who arrive for hearings in good faith. It is evidence and documentation of a government policy being applied systematically to people who followed the rules they were given.

 

“This image shows the inconsolable grief of children losing their father in a place built for justice. It is a stark and necessary record of family separation following the US reform policies. In a democracy, the camera’s presence in that hallway serves as a witness to a policy that has turned courthouses into sites of shattered lives – it is a powerful example of why independent photojournalism matters.” points out Joumana El Zein Khoury, Executive Director World Press Photo.

You will find this large-format photograph on display from 26 August to 12 October 2026 at the Marché Bonsecours during the 19th Montreal World Press Photo Expo edition.