We’re excited to share a glimpse into this year’s World Food Photography Awards sponsored by Bimi®, as the 2026 shortlist has just been revealed. Bringing together thousands of entries from over 50 countries, the competition once again highlights the incredible diversity and creativity found in food photography from around the world.
From growing and harvesting to cooking, eating, and celebrating, these images go far beyond what’s on the plate. They offer a powerful look into everyday life, culture, and tradition – captured through the universal language of food.
With an esteemed international judging panel led by renowned food photographer David Loftus, the competition continues to set the standard for visual storytelling in this field. The winners across 27 categories will be announced on June 2 in London, but for now, we invite you to explore some of the standout images that made it onto this year’s shortlist.
Scroll down to see the photographs that impressed the judges and celebrate the art of food photography at its finest.
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With Mount Semeru rising in the background, villagers in East Java of Indonesia rear goats as a vital food source. Goats provide nutritious meat and milk, supporting daily diets and festivals. Adapted to the volcanic terrain, they also offer steady income and food security for rural families.
Phuktal Monastery in the Zanskar valley is both picturesque and unique. The multi-story Gompa is only accessible by foot and is situated clinging to the cliff face above the Tsarap river. While exploring the monastery we passed the smoke-stained kitchen where the cook was preparing dinner for the resident monks.
Sushi Doughnuts reinterprets a familiar form through precise food styling and graphic composition. By transforming sushi into doughnut shapes, the work plays with expectation, repetition and symmetry. Bold colour, negative space and clean structure emphasise pattern and balance, allowing the ingredients to function simultaneously as food and design, creating a vibrant, visually dynamic composition.
“Dashitao”(peach-shaped cake making) has become a signature New Year folk custom in the rural Huizhou region of Anhui Province.China. The surface is often adorned with red or cinnabar, and the final product, resembling a peach, is symbolic of ‘double blessings’ and ‘good fortune.’ In 2018, it was listed as a representative item of ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage. In the scene, family members of all generations gather together in warmth and harmony, unfolding like a scroll of reunion. Rice and flour are blended and gently pressed into molds, forming the first shapes of shitao.Nearby, the daughter prepares vegetables and cooks,The photo fully shows the rich flavor of the New Year and the warmth of family unity.
This young woman ,engaged in domestic work in a traditional Danish setting, evokes a simpler way of life.The lighting plays a crucial role in this image, with sunlight streaming in from the windows creating highlights and deep shadows that enhance texture and dimension of the objects and surfaces. A glimpse into a rustic kitchen, where tradition meets the present time.
Use your imagination and you will see things differently. Then you might stick a toy airplane onto blue paper and use lots of biscuits to create a city. Lie down on the floor and take photos upwards through the glass. The photograph is part of my long-term project of surreal still lifes.
A Smoked Old Fashioned. A dramatic, aromatic twist of the classic Old Fashioned dating back to the 1800s. This image presents the historic cocktail on a cracked vintage leather table, highlighting its traditional ingredients with a contemporary touch of wood chips smoke, creating a beautiful sensory and visual experience.
A silent street; the scene unfolds at night, on a quiet street in Osaka. The air is cool, slightly humid, and the neon lights cast a cold, white glow that contrasts sharply with the surrounding darkness. A man dressed in red stands motionless before a vending machine. The machine illuminates the scene with an artificial light.
The image shows a close-up, highly detailed view of vibrant red pomegranate seeds. The seeds appear glossy and translucent, with tiny water droplets clinging to their smooth surfaces. The rich crimson tones dominate the frame, creating a vivid and almost luminous effect. The macro perspective highlights the juicy texture and natural shine of the seeds, making them look fresh and appetizing.
Vietnamese fishermen preserve the old traditions and commitment to providing fresh fish everyday on the beaches of the vibrant and modern city of Da Nang. The basket boat is a symbol of the fishermen’s dedication to their craft, the sea and to retaining Vietnamese culture.
Captured at the test kitchen of Masque in Mumbai, this image shows the chef experimenting with freezing food using liquid nitrogen. Known for its ingredient-driven philosophy, Masque champions locally sourced Indian produce, reimagined through progressive techniques and contemporary tasting menus.
The photographic possibilities offered by drones are incredible. This image was taken in Oltrepò Pavese, and captures the Poggio Pregana hill from a bird’s eye view. A magical place where excellent wine is produced and where you can spend wonderful moments in contact with nature or with friends. I shoot at dawn or dusk to capture these lights, and I enjoy these places to the fullest, in silence and admiration.
This wedding at The Royal Crescent Hotel sees a group of friends enacting their traditional race to eat dessert without using hands or cutlery. The winner, who inhaled his in no time at all, celebrated emphatically whilst the others attempted to finish with various degrees of success and decorum.
In Tanzania’s East Rift Corridor, water travels the way love often does, quietly, repeatedly, without witnesses. A father rides it home across cracked earth near Lake Eyasi, carrying the one thing a family cannot postpone. Each trip buys health, strength, and another day that holds together. In a landscape shaped by drought, care becomes logistics, and survival keeps rolling.