Image of Family Torn by ICE Wins World Press Photo of the Year
“I hope it stirs people out of any sense of complacency,” said photojournalist Carol Guzy.
A heart-wrenching image of a tearful family torn apart by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has won the 2026 World Press Photo Award’s top prize.
The contest, started in 1955, spotlights leading photojournalism and documentary photography. This year’s 42 global winners were chosen from a pool of 57,376 photographs by 3,747 photographers across 141 countries.
The Photo of the Year, “Separated by ICE” by American photojournalist Carol Guzy for the Miami Herald, was captured after an immigration court hearing in New York amid President Trump’s broader crackdown.
“I’ve been following families to put a face on the consequences of government actions and rhetoric,” Guzy said in a video interview. “This photo should be painful to view, and I hope it stirs people out of any sense of complacency.”
Finalists for the award include Palestinian photographer Saber Nuraldin’s “Aid Emergency in Gaza” for the European Press Photo Agency (EPA) and American photojournalist Victor J. Blue’s “The Trials of the Achi Women” for the New York Times Magazine.
Blue’s photograph, taken last May in Guatemala, shows Maya Achi women outside a courthouse after a 14-year legal process over wartime sexual violence during the country’s 36-year civil war. Of the 200,000 killed or missing during the war, 83% were Indigenous Maya.
Nuraldin’s image, taken last July, shows Palestinians climbing onto an aid truck entering Gaza to get flour during Israel’s aid blockade. The UN reports that between late May and early October, at least 2,435 Palestinians were killed seeking food near aid sites.
“My children are my first thought in this moment,” Nuraldin wrote on Instagram. “While I was documenting the hunger and suffering of people, they too were enduring the same hardship.”
Worldwide winners in the Singles section also explore issues of displacement, justice, and war. Ukrainian photojournalist Evgeniy Maloletka’s “Russian Attack on Kyiv,” depicting 65-year-old Valeria Synium near her damaged home following a Russian missile strike, was one of three European winners.
A clear thread of grief runs through the awards, including in environmental crisis coverage. Tyrone Siu’s “A Desperate Plea” for Reuters, a winner in the Asia-Pacific and Oceania region in the Singles category, shows Mr. Wong crying as fire engulfs his house in Hong Kong’s Tai Po housing complex. His wife was among the 168 victims trapped in their homes.
“It’s a picture that tells you everything straight away,” Siu said in a Reuters article. “No matter where you are from in the world, you can feel what Mr. Wong is feeling, the helplessness and the pain.”
Beyond single images, the contest also recognizes Stories and Long-Term Projects, both documentary forms that unfold over time.
The images awarded in the 2026 World Press Photo Contest will be shown to millions worldwide as part of the organization's annual traveling exhibition across over 60 locations, debuting in Amsterdam at the De Nieuwe Kerk church tomorrow, April 24.
