World Press Photo 2026 in Turin: the present told through images

From 18 September to 13 December 2026, the Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti in Turin is hosting the World Press Photo Exhibition 2026, the international exhibition dedicated to photojournalism and documentary photography.

The 2026 edition presents the winning works from the 69th World Press Photo Contest: 42 photographers selected from 57,376 images submitted by 3,747 professionals from 141 countries.

The exhibition explores conflicts and humanitarian crises, climate change, protests, migration, inequality, rights, communities and social transformation.

But above all, it tells stories.

Photography means providing context

One of the most interesting aspects of the exhibition is the relationship between image and narrative.

Each photograph is accompanied by the information needed to understand its context: who took it, where it was taken, what was happening at that moment and what broader story lies behind the image.

This is far from secondary.

We live immersed in a continuous flow of photographs, videos and content that move quickly before our eyes. Photojournalism reminds us that seeing an image does not necessarily mean understanding it.

It takes time.

It takes context.

And it takes someone willing to document what is happening.

A desperate plea

One of the most powerful images in the exhibition was taken by Tyrone Siu for Reuters in Hong Kong.

On 26 November 2025, a major fire broke out at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in the Tai Po district.

The photograph shows a man shouting in front of the buildings engulfed in flames. His wife was inside the complex. Shortly before, he had called her on the phone: those would be their final words.

The fire, the deadliest recorded in Hong Kong since 1948, claimed 168 lives.

A single photograph is thus able to transform a statistic, a place and a collective tragedy into an immediate human story.

Farisāt: daughters of gunpowder

The exhibition also explores very different stories.

Chantal Pinzi’s project focuses on the farisāt, Moroccan horsewomen who are carving out a place for themselves within Tbourida, an equestrian tradition recognised by UNESCO from which women were historically excluded.

Today, some groups are made up entirely of women.

The images therefore tell not only the story of a tradition, but also of how a culture can change from within, opening up spaces that were once inaccessible and redefining the relationship between identity, gender and cultural heritage.

Emma, the social robot

Another photograph takes us inside a German care home.

Emma is a social robot designed to recognise faces, remember previous conversations and interact with the people living in the facility.

The trial responds to two increasingly visible challenges: staff shortages and loneliness among older people.

In Paula Hornickel’s photograph, Waltraud is sitting opposite Emma. Initially sceptical, she says that over time she began to feel a certain connection with the robot.

But she also stresses something important: human contact is always preferable.

It is a photograph that opens up a much broader question about the relationship between technology, care, loneliness and human relationships.

Scorched earth

Climate change also features prominently in the 2026 edition.

Photographer Brais Lorenzo documents the wildfires that struck Galicia in 2025, one of the worst fire seasons in recent decades.

His images show mountains engulfed in flames and landscapes that have been profoundly transformed.

Drought and high temperatures, intensified by climate change, intersect with rural depopulation and forest management policies.

The photographs therefore tell the story not only of the fire itself, but also of what remains after it has passed.

Not one single theme, but many stories of the present

World Press Photo does not build its narrative around a single theme.

Its strength lies precisely in its plurality.

Wars, humanitarian crises, protests, the environment, migration, technology, loneliness, emancipation, community and resilience all coexist within the same exhibition.

These stories are geographically and culturally very different, but they share one clear choice: putting people and the tangible consequences of the major changes of our time at the centre.

The value of photojournalism

The exhibition also gives particular attention to press freedom.

Many of the images on display exist because photographers chose to be present in places that were complex, dangerous or difficult to report from.

Their work is not simply about producing visually powerful photographs.

It means collecting testimonies, documenting events, preserving memory and allowing viewers to approach realities they might otherwise know only through statistics or headlines.

In this sense, World Press Photo is not simply a photography exhibition.

It is also an exercise in attention.

An invitation to slow down, observe and try to better understand what is happening around us.

Information

World Press Photo Exhibition 2026

Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti

Turin

From 18 September to 13 December 2026.