Summary
- Marcin Giba is Photographer of the Year 2026 with The Last Winter
- The competition received more than 6,200 images from 66 countries
- Samuel Ioannidis took third place in Street Photography
- Spyridon Gennatas and Costas Kariolis received two Honorable Mentions each
The Minimalist Photography Awards 2026 have announced the winners of their eighth edition after receiving more than 6,200 images from 66 countries, naming Polish photographer Marcin Giba Photographer of the Year for “The Last Winter.”
The competition selected winners across 12 categories and awarded Giba the top title with a €2,000 prize. The official gallery also includes five Greek distinctions: Samuel Ioannidis took third place in Street Photography, while Spyridon Gennatas and Costas Kariolis received four Honorable Mentions between them.
This year’s selection shows that minimalism is not limited to empty space or strict geometry. The awarded images use reduction, scale, repetition, colour and controlled light to remove visual noise and make one element carry the narrative.
Marcin Giba is Photographer of the Year
Marcin Giba won Photographer of the Year 2026 with “The Last Winter,” which also placed first in Aerial Photography. The images were made by drone over frozen lakes around Rybnik, Poland, during the winters of 2025 and 2026.
From above, small groups of trees, cracks, tracks and dark marks in the snow become shapes resembling an eye, lips, a heart or a human face. Scale disappears and the landscape starts to look like a drawing on white paper.
The series does not treat the frozen landscape only as a graphic subject. Giba connects it to the sense that stable, snowy winters are becoming shorter and less predictable. “The Last Winter” therefore suggests loss while retaining a strict minimalist structure.
The second image relies almost entirely on the contrast between white ice and a dense circular field of dark detail. Its symmetry is not perfect, preventing the frame from becoming a digital graphic and keeping its organic origin visible.
In the third picture, a thin horizontal line cuts through the circle. It adds direction and encourages the form to be read as an eye or target without artificial construction. The series gains coherence through repeated circles, white space and small black marks.
The winners of all 12 categories
Abstract – Lucia Cooper, “Lines and Light in Antelope Canyon”
Lucia Cooper builds the winning series around Antelope Canyon’s curved parallel lines and the way light glances off the rock edges. The abstraction comes from isolating geology, texture and luminous contrast rather than constructing a scene digitally.
Architecture – Frank Loddenkemper, “Wall House #2”
Frank Loddenkemper photographed Wall House #2 in Groningen, designed by John Hejduk in 1973 and completed posthumously in 2001. It is the only one of the 24 Wall House designs ever built, and the photographs reduce it to planes, colour and geometry.
Conceptual – Vlada de Nooij, “Prism of Perception”
Vlada de Nooij printed and manually folded recognisable portraits so that light, shadow and the geometry of the folds gradually transform the image. The series treats perception as unstable and shaped by experience, emotion and the viewer’s position.
Fine Art – Steffen Reichardt, “controlled silence”
In Steffen Reichardt’s “controlled silence,” monumental cooling towers dominate while a small chapel provides a fragile human reference. Scale, shadow and reduction turn a real location into a psychological landscape of stillness and industrial control.
Landscape – Gianfranco Bove, “Tuscan Cypresses”
Gianfranco Bove turns to the cypresses of Tuscany’s Val d’Orcia, shown alone, in groups and in rows. Their slender silhouettes give rhythm to the landscape and connect with the tree’s symbolism of immortality.
Long Exposure – Tadej Cerkvenik, “Highway to nothing”
Tadej Cerkvenik made “Highway to nothing” in Slovenia in January 2026. The road disappears into snow, while the long exposure strips away detail and turns the route into a clean line leading towards an uncertain, almost white end.
Night Photography – Mihail Minkov, “The magic of the night sky over Atacama”
Mihail Minkov connects the Earth with the southern night sky in single frames from the Atacama Desert, Salar de Uyuni and Easter Island. Human presence remains small beneath the Milky Way but provides scale and a link between land and stars.
Open – Iris Dahan, “Guggug / Peek-a-boo”
In winter 2012 at Aurach near Kitzbühel, Iris Dahan photographed a stag briefly appearing behind a snowy ridge. The nearly empty frame depends on presence and absence: the animal meets the lens for an instant and then disappears.
Photomanipulation – Shirin Town, “Early Warning”
Shirin Town’s “Early Warning” creates the feeling of exposure to an unseen danger. The figure closes their eyes to heighten other senses, while the canary refers to the miners’ classic early-warning system for a toxic environment.
Portrait – Wiktor Franko, “El ultimo Vaquero en la Tierra”
Wiktor Franko made this minimalist portrait on a street in El Cotillo, Fuerteventura. The cowboy silhouette sits between clear colour planes and geometric forms, with a balance the photographer connects to Piet Mondrian’s painting.
Street – Marco Wilm, “On the Lookout”
Marco Wilm captured a decisive moment with teenagers on a platform in Hamm in June 2025. The figures, station lines and negative space form a strict street composition without losing the spontaneity of the encounter.
Greek distinctions
The Greek presence in this year’s competition includes one top-three finish and four Honorable Mentions. Samuel Ioannidis was recognised in Street Photography, while Spyridon Gennatas and Costas Kariolis received two distinctions each across Street Photography, Night Photography and Long Exposure.
Samuel Ioannidis takes third place
Samuel Ioannidis placed third in Street Photography with “Athens 2025 – Olympic stadium.” The photograph uses the white repeating lines of Olympic architecture as its dominant pattern and keeps the human figure very small inside the frame.
The result works on two levels. The curved structure creates rhythm and perspective, while the pedestrian adds scale, place and movement. Without the figure, the image would be pure architectural abstraction; with it, the frame gains street photography’s unpredictable element.
Two Honorable Mentions for Spyridon Gennatas
Spyridon Gennatas appears twice in the official gallery. “People watching” received an Honorable Mention in Street Photography. It isolates a woman in a red dress on a building opposite Wembley Stadium in London, the colour breaking the repetition of the grey façade.
The person does not fill the frame but becomes its only visual exception. The photograph shows how one small colour event can organise an entire composition without dramatic action.
His second work, “Making plans on top of the world,” received an Honorable Mention in Night Photography. It was made before sunrise at one of Madeira’s highest points, where small figures stand above a layer of cloud.
Minimalism comes from the vast sky and thin band of light on the horizon. The people are almost silhouettes, yet their position at the edge of the landscape turns a calm predawn scene into an image of anticipation.
Two Honorable Mentions for Costas Kariolis
Costas Kariolis was also recognised in two categories. “Final Whisper” received an Honorable Mention in Night Photography and shows two solitary trees on an Abu Dhabi dune as twilight fades.
The soft dune curves and limited sky create stillness. The trees are tiny, but their separation and the surrounding emptiness make them the frame’s main point of attention.
In Aerial Photography, “Dividing Path” received an Honorable Mention. Two groups of trees emerge from a frozen lake, separated by a faint straight track in the ice. The subject is visually related to “The Last Winter,” but the composition is based on duality and separation rather than a circle.
The 12 category winners
The competition announced one first-place winner in each of its 12 main categories:
- Abstract: Lucia Cooper – “Lines and Light in Antelope Canyon”
- Aerial: Marcin Giba – “The Last Winter”
- Architecture: Frank Loddenkemper – “Wall House #2”
- Conceptual: Vlada de Nooij – “Prism of Perception”
- Fine Art: Steffen Reichardt – “controlled silence”
- Landscape: Gianfranco Bove – “Tuscan Cypresses”
- Long Exposure: Tadej Cerkvenik – “Highway to nothing”
- Night: Mihail Minkov – “The magic of the night sky over Atacama”
- Open: Iris Dahan – “Guggug / Peek-a-boo”
- Photomanipulation: Shirin Town – “Early Warning”
- Portrait: Wiktor Franko – “El ultimo Vaquero en la Tierra”
- Street: Marco Wilm – “On the Lookout”
The list demonstrates how differently the same idea can be applied. Architecture is dominated by lines and surfaces, landscapes by repeated natural forms, night photography by isolated light and street photography by a moment that interrupts a pattern.
What this year’s numbers mean
More than 6,200 entries came from 66 countries. The number is not only a measure of scale; it means the jury compared very different photographic traditions and environments inside common categories. The final selection favours pictures with immediate visual clarity, but series such as “The Last Winter” gain depth through context.
The official gallery and individual artist pages publish the title, distinction, category and description. The images in this article were downloaded from the competition’s official material, converted to WebP and uploaded to PTTL’s Media Library with full credits and no hotlinking.
What we think
This edition is strong because the best photographs do not use minimalism as an easy visual formula. “The Last Winter” combines strict aerial form with a clear sense of environmental change, while the Greek distinctions show different approaches: architectural street work, colour as exception, nocturnal landscape and aerial abstraction.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Photographer of the Year 2026?
Polish photographer Marcin Giba for “The Last Winter,” which also won Aerial Photography.
How many images were entered?
The competition reports more than 6,200 images from 66 countries.
What are the Greek distinctions?
Samuel Ioannidis took third place in Street, while Spyridon Gennatas and Costas Kariolis received two Honorable Mentions each across Street, Night and Aerial Photography.
Where can all the winning images be seen?
In the official Minimalist Photography Awards 2026 Winners Gallery, with separate category and artist pages.
