Summary
- The IPA 2026 awards ceremony took place on October 11 at the Benaki Museum in Athens.
- Ali Jadallah was named Photographer of the Year for his series from Gaza.
- Fabio Domenicali won Discovery of the Year with his photobook TEREN ZIELONY.
- The ceremony closed IPA 2026 Photo Fest in the Greek capital.
Athens hosted the International Photography Awards 2026 ceremony, where Ali Jadallah was named Photographer of the Year for his images from Gaza. The ceremony took place on October 11 at the Benaki Museum on Pireos Street, while Fabio Domenicali won Discovery of the Year with his photobook TEREN ZIELONY.
The evening in the Greek capital answered the question left open by the announcement of the 22 category winners: who would take the two overall honours in the professional and non-professional sections? One award went to reporting on hunger, destruction and survival. The other recognised a book connecting two journeys through Poland, fifteen years apart.
The Benaki ceremony and Photo Fest in Athens
The ceremony closed IPA 2026 Photo Fest, which was scheduled for October 8–11. Its programme included the Best of Show exhibition, artist presentations, portfolio reviews and discussions at House of Lucie, ahead of the awards evening at the Benaki Museum.
The scale of the competition adds weight to Greece hosting the event: according to IPA, the jury assessed more than 14,000 entries from 139 countries. Eleven professional category winners and eleven from the non-professional section had reached the final stage.
Ali Jadallah: the images from Gaza that won the top award
Jadallah won Photographer of the Year with After two years of war, Gaza stands between ruins, hunger, and loss. He had already been named Editorial / Press Photographer of the Year. His entry lists Anadolu Agency and photographs made in 2025.
The empty containers held by people waiting for food and the crowd moving along the coast convey the human dimension of the destruction. Jadallah documents the struggle to survive, the search for safety and daily life amid the ruins.
Juror Alex Ng highlighted the variety across the eleven photographs and the distinct contribution of each. His observation touches on a crucial part of photojournalism: how editing and sequencing build a story beyond the impact of a single frame.
Fabio Domenicali: TEREN ZIELONY and a return to Poland
Discovery of the Year went to Domenicali, who had stood out in the non-professional Book category. TEREN ZIELONY brings together photographs from two winter journeys through Poland, in 2008 and 2023. His official entry lists analogue cameras.
On his first visit, he sought traces of the twentieth century, from the Holocaust to Soviet domination. Instead, forests, fields, frozen shores and the quiet landscape drew his attention. When he returned fifteen years later, he avoided cities to continue that exploration.
The snow-covered house and the dark room offer a glimpse of the work’s quiet character. In book form, images from both visits connect place and memory with the photographer’s perspective at different points in his life.
What we think
For the Greek photography community, the Athens ceremony gains particular interest from the accompanying programme of exhibitions, presentations and conversations about photography. The two winners also give us good reason to spend time with the work itself: Jadallah’s testimony from Gaza and Domenicali’s sustained exploration over many years.
