Photograph by Kristina Steiner, 1st place winner of the Walk of Water Photography Contest 2026
From spiritual rituals to the struggle for survival, a global photography contest lays bare the intimate connection between water and human identity.
The winners of the Walk of Water International Contest 2026, an initiative organised by Onewater gUG in collaboration with the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), have just been announced: with more than 1000 entries from 114 countries, the stories offer a sharp look at the role of water in everyday life.
- German photographer Kristina Steiner, won the first prize for documenting Belgium’s last horse shrimpers;
- The youth award went to Gastón Zilberman, for his story on the Qotzuñi people and the disappearance of Bolivia’s second largest lake;
- Regional winners include Giacomo d’Orlando highlighting the Agta peoples’ fight to save the last of the Philippine Crocodile and Abyan Madani from Indonesia;
Read the Press Release to discover more about the contest and the winners.
The selected stories will serve as the visual curtain-raiser to the UN World Water Day 2026 focus on “Water and Gender” and will embark on a global traveling exhibition throughout 2026, following previous showcases at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris and the UN Headquarters in New York. Institutions interested in hosting the exhibition may apply until May 30, 2026.
View the full gallery of the winning stories at this link.
