Paper Photo Award 2026
On August 28, 2026, a meeting of the jury for the Paper Photo Award / Paper Photo Dummy Award 2026 competition was held in Sosnowiec. A total of 160 publications from 38 countries (across 5 continents) were submitted to the competition in two categories.
In the “photobook” category, the jury decided to include 49 publications in the post-competition exhibition, from which a shortlist of 6 publications (finalists) was selected. In addition to the shortlist, the jury members awarded 5 honorable mentions (each jury member was entitled to select one).
Paper Photo Award 2026:
How to build a Telescope – Carlos Trancoso
For exploring the absurd, combining playfulness and seriousness, and offering both a personal and universal perspective. For intelligent wit that makes a smile give way to reflection. For reflecting on provincial life, viewing science through the lens of everyday life, and highlighting the tension associated with technological development.
Paper Photo Award – shortlist (in alphabetical order):
- Extreme Caution – Dan Szpara
- How to build a Telescope – Carlos Trancoso
- Inspiration – Matilde Søes Rasmussen
- Os Batimos da Meia-Noite – Joan Alvado
- Soft Spot – Michalina Kacperak
- To Be Like Everyone Else – Anaí Tirado Miranda
Paper Photo Award – individual honorary mentions from the jury:
- Honorary mention from Franek Ammer for Matilde Søes Rasmussen (Inspiration)
A captivating narrative, full of personal reflections, that also introduces us to the world of modeling through the story of one of the industry’s first models. A book about observing and being observed. Perfectly balanced in its use of text and photography, captivating from start to finish, and at the same time beautifully designed without being overwhelming in its form. It’s one of those publications that is more than just a “project” – it draws on the author’s own experiences and observations and shares them with readers. - Honorary mention from Jakub Dziewit for Matilde Søes Rasmussen (Inspiration)
For her intelligent, mature visual narrative, her subversion of meanings and perspectives, and her “disruption” of the relationship between the artist and his muse, the photographer and his model. For demasculinizing the gaze and inspiring us to recontextualize what inspires us. - Honorary mention from Magdalena Guzik for Michalina Kacperak (Soft Spot)
For a meticulously designed photobook in which the concept, editing, paper stock, binding method, and structure come together to form a cohesive and well-thought-out whole. Soft Spot is a project combining photographs, texts, and drawings to create a multilayered narrative about the experience of childhood in a family affected by addiction and codependency. What makes it unique is the inclusion of a child’s perspective in the narrative – drawings, stories, and a glossary of terms. By photographing the room of her youngest sister, Zosia, the artist creates a seemingly colorful and joyful space where a child’s imagination and play become a way of coming to terms with a difficult reality. Michalina Kacperek’s photobook is an example of how a documentary perspective is combined with creativity and the author’s unique sensitivity. - Honorary mention from Aneta Kowalczyk for Anaí Tirado Miranda (To Be Like Everyone Else)
An honourable mention for combining a personal, moving story with a sophisticated book design, in which the layout and variety of papers, textures, and formats enhance the narrative. AI-generated images, which explore themes of memory, absence, and the lack of photographs, become an integral part of the visual narrative. To Be Like Everyone Else is a cohesive and engaging fusion of form and content. - Honorary mention from Katarzyna Łata for Carlos Trancoso (How to build a Telescope)
For an exceptionally intelligent and consistently executed concept in which sophisticated humor becomes a fully-fledged means of artistic expression. The precisely balanced wit remains inextricably linked to the publication’s visual elements, creating a form that is at once lighthearted, engaging, and multifaceted. The book combines humor and reflection with exceptional ease, proving that lightness does not have to mean simplification.
Paper Photo Award – list of publications accepted for the exhibition (in alphabetical order):
- 275 Pesetas – Esther Perez Agudo
- After Kytice – Martijn Schmidt
- Ashes Of The Arabian’s Pearl – Valentin Valette
- Bone Foam – Maria Oliveira
- Breaking Point – Robin Dahlberg
- Cairu – Mario Lalau
- Die grüne Badehose meines Vaters – Torsten Dodillet
- Doesn’t the food taste a little strange to you? – Antonia Petriti
- EMA – Piotr Sobik
- Everybody Dance! – Masha Sviatahor
- Everything here is fine only I fell out of a tree the first hour I was here and I also cut my thumb – Jennifer Drabbe
- EXTRACTION – Michał Łuczak
- Extreme Caution – Dan Szpara
- FALU – Dániel Halász
- Frida Forever – Frida Lisa Carstensen Jersø
- God’s Children – Daria Izworska
- Goodbye Meadow – Filippo Zambon
- Gorzko! – Władysław Nielipinski
- How to build a Telescope – Carlos Trancoso
- HRTLND – Mads Holm
- Inspiration – Matilde Søes Rasmussen
- la colonia – Valerian Mazataud
- Like we could almost live forever – Carlotta Guerra
- Looking Inside – Sara Bennett
- Love Letters from the War – Hanno Ketterer
- Maputo Diary – Ditte Haarløv Johnsen
- Masokombinát – Sebastian Ożóg
- My Mother’s Tender Script – Asiya Al. Sharabi
- Orphan – A Film By László Nemes – Szabolcs Barakonyi, László F. Földényi, László Nemes
- Os Batimos da Meia-Noite – Joan Alvado
- Pavillon Fantôme – Benkemoun Nathan
- Photography, Video Game, Landscape – Pascal Greco
- Pidło – Łukasz Zając
- Polskę – Mariusz Forecki
- Potencjalnie odwracalne – Magdalena Hueckel
- Radiations of War – Yana Kononova
- Rattus Sapiens – Maryia Karneyenka
- Running to the Sun – Antonina Gugała
- Shine On – Alex Zoboli
- Soft Spot – Michalina Kacperak
- Svijet – Dominik Wojciechowski
- The Australian Journey – Regina Anzenberger
- The Plot – Martin Cregg
- This Much is True – Albert Elm
- To Be Like Everyone Else – Anaí Tirado Miranda
- To dopiero październik – Konrad Bryczek
- Traditional interior. People – Andrei Liankevich
- Tutejszy – Kuba Dąbrowski
- With ghosts and souls – Konrad Koźmiński
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
We invite you to submit your entries to the international Paper Photo Award 2026 competition dedicated entirely to photographic publications! Category “Photobook”:
- What publications can be submitted?
1.1. We accept publications in the “photobook” category that have been published in paper form and are a separate, original artistic expression in which photography plays a primary role. The basic criterion for evaluation in the competition is how the artistic expression resonates in book form. The photographs in the project are not evaluated, but rather the photobook as a specific creative expression. The book may be published by a publishing house or self-published, provided that the print run is at least 30 copies.
1.2. Publications published between January 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026, are eligible for submission. - Awards
1.1. Main prize: PLN 10,000! [approximately: 2300 EURO]
1.2. Six photobooks will be shortlisted, and their authors will be invited to Sosnowiec (Poland). The festival will provide them with accommodation during the opening weekend.
1.3. Each member of the jury will award their own individual honorary distinction.
1.4. Approximately 30 photobooks will be presented as part of the Paper Photo Award 2026 exhibition at Paper Photo Festival. - Dates
1.1. Start of the competition: July 10, 2026.
1.2. Extended deadline: August 25, 2026 (the date of delivery of the book is decisive!).
1.3. Announcement of the shortlist: by September 1, 2026.
1.4. Announcement of the winner and opening of the post-competition exhibition: September 18-20, 2026. - Submissions
To submit a book, you must:
4.1. Fill out the form available: [closed]
4.2. Send a properly secured copy of the book by August 25, 2026 (the date of delivery is decisive!) to the following address: Zamek Sielecki, 2 Zamkowa Street, 41-211 Sosnowiec, POLAND (with the note “PPF” on the envelope).
If you need to provide details for the courier, please provide the following: Paweł Pytel, email: pawel@paperphoto.pl, tel. (+48) 664910141 - The competition jury consists of:
– Franek Ammer (Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź / Fotofestiwal),
– Jakub Dziewit (Photography Department at JDU / unContemporary),
– Magdalena Guzik (Museum of Photography in Cracow),
– Aneta Kowalczyk (Blow Up Press),
– Katarzyna Łata (Zamek Sielecki). - Full contest rules: click here