The prestigious LensCulture awards have announced their standout winners for 2026, celebrating the enduring power and dramatic impact of monochrome photography. The competition's judges were captivated by a diverse range of entries that explored themes from stark human endurance to intimate personal reveries.
Celebrating Single Image and Series Excellence
The top honours were claimed by two powerful projects. Kartikeya Manan secured first place in the single image category with Patience. The photograph captures a man clinging to an open window of an overcrowded bus in New Delhi, seeking respite from the oppressive midsummer heat. The image forms part of a broader series examining the daily reality of public transport commuters in the Indian capital.
Meanwhile, the first-place series award went to Todd Antony for his gripping documentation of Buzkashi. This Central Asian sport, whose name translates to "goat pulling," is described as a wild and brutal nomadic tradition with barely any rules. Antony's work immerses viewers in the chaotic spectacle where hundreds of riders battle for control of a headless goat, with matches often spilling into the surrounding crowds.
Juror Picks and Thematic Depth
The juror selections highlighted further compelling narratives from across the globe. Maurice Wolf was recognised for Sheep Drive in Tusheti, documenting the arduous autumn journey of shepherds and their flocks to winter pastures in Georgia. Scott Offen's series Grace, created in collaboration with his partner, explores the ageing female body as a site of power within the New England landscape, challenging its historical invisibility in art.
Other notable winners included Francisco Gonzalez Camacho, who took second place in the series category for You Can’t Enter the Same River Twice, a meditation on impermanence and transforming landscapes. Nina Hauben won second place for a single image with Silent Dialogue, a work concerned with memory, absence, and silence.
A Global Snapshot in Monochrome
The awards also showcased the resilience of labour, as seen in Jozef Macak's juror-picked series Steel Framed Stories, set in Lahore's industrial heartland. Md Tanveer Rohan's poignant image of a Bangladeshi labourer carrying bricks, titled Blue Collar Workers of Bangladesh, offered a stark reminder of unseen effort.
Technical artistry was celebrated in Juul Kraijer's Untitled juror pick, which involved carefully staging live monarch butterflies on a model's face, eschewing digital shortcuts for physical challenge. The collection is completed by works exploring nostalgia, like Karine Joly's L’Ame des Objets, and personal pilgrimage, such as Anita Andrzejewska's third-place series Dancing Your Dream Awake.
All winning photographs from the LensCulture Black & White Photography Awards 2026 can be viewed in full on the organisation's official website. The collection stands as a powerful testament to the narrative depth and emotional range achievable within the monochrome palette.
