STOP WAR
All About Photo has announced the winners of the 2026 All About Photo Awards – The Mind’s Eye, celebrating the competition’s 11th anniversary with acclaimed photographer Steve McCurry serving as the sole juror. This year’s edition brings together 45 winning photographs selected from entries submitted by more than 500 photographers around the world.
Spanning 15 countries and four continents, the winning images offer a broad and nuanced view of contemporary photography. The selection moves fluidly between documentary, conceptual, and poetic approaches, revealing how photographers continue to interpret the world through deeply personal and culturally specific lenses.
The awarded photographs travel from the streets and interiors of the United States to the landscapes of West Africa and Tibet, and from the layered urban life of Mumbai, Havana, and Beijing to quieter, more reflective spaces shaped by memory and ritual. What unites the work is not geography alone, but a shared attention to human experience.
The top honors reflect that range. First Place, Window to the Past by Matt McClain, offers a contemplative look at history through a rain-softened window. Second Place, Obscura by Brooke Shaden, turns inward with a surreal self-portrait that explores identity and transformation. Third Place, Celestial Ladies by France Leclerc, captures a powerful scene of presence and cultural resonance. Fourth Place, by Javier Arcenillas, presents an intimate moment aboard a train, where light and gesture create a sense of stillness in motion. Fifth Place, Bringing Home the Birds by Beamie Young, uses black and white photography to create a lyrical image filled with symbolism and emotional depth.
Notably, three women photographers appear among the top five, underscoring the growing visibility and influence of female voices in the field.
The Merit Award winners extend the story in multiple directions. Some images confront urgent realities such as labor, environmental fragility, and political unrest. Others turn toward faith, tradition, and the rhythms of daily life. A number of the selected works lean into the unexpected, finding meaning in fleeting or uncanny moments: a cyclist mirrored in a droplet, a diver among whales, a beam of light breaking through darkness.
Together, these photographs show a medium that remains both responsive and expansive. Photography is not only documenting the world; it is also questioning it, reframing it, and giving shape to emotion, memory, and imagination.
Steve McCurry’s Perspective
McCurry’s role as juror gives the selection a distinctive coherence without limiting its range. Rather than favoring one style or subject, his choices highlight images that are immediate yet lasting, rooted in a specific moment but capable of speaking across cultures.
The result is less a conventional competition outcome than a visual conversation—one that reflects the complexity of contemporary life and the many ways photographers make sense of it.
