The 2026 shortlist features collaborative projects; long-term investigative documentary photography; installations, video and sound pieces; and experimental conceptual photography.

The shortlist explores themes of exile and memory; gender inequalities and advocacy; identity and belonging, subculture and class; and the shifting boundaries between photographic fact and fiction.  

Jane Evelyn Atwood (b. 1947, New York, USA) documented life in women’s prisons in the 1990s. Her advocacy and investigation expose the ongoing inequalities for incarcerated women. 

Weronika Gęsicka (b. 1984, Włocławek, Poland) humorously reimagines fake encyclopaedia entries. Her work spotlights the tensions between truth and invention, leading us to question what is ‘real’?  

Amak Mahmoodian (b. 1980, Shiraz, Iran) focuses on the effects of exile on memory and identity. Through collaboration, she imagines a world without borders, one where shared dreams bridge geography, politics and time. 

Rene Matić (b. 1997, Peterborough, UK) captures intimate moments in a vivid and layered portrait of everyday life. Their work explores how bodies and identities are shaped, and often constrained, by the political forces around them.  

The exhibition of selected work from the four artists’ shortlisted projects will be at The Photographers’ Gallery from 6 March to 7 June 2026. 

The winner of the £30,000 prize will be announced on Thursday 14 May, with each of the other shortlisted artists receiving £5,000.