2026 European Photography Awards: Michelle Valberg Wins Professional Photographer of the Year
The 2026 European Photography Awards attracted more than 3,000 entries from over 40 nations across 13 categories. Michelle Valberg, a Canadian photographer, earned the title of Professional Photographer of the Year for her work Edge of the Feast, which portrays a humpback whale breaching in the Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia. With a career spanning over 40 years, Valberg also established Project North, which has raised upwards of $2 million for youth in the Arctic. The Amateur Photographer of the Year Award was awarded to Thea Mihu for her piece The White Harvest, depicting salt harvesting in Vietnam. Additional recognized works include BLACK HOLE by Eva Wang, Vanishing Worlds by Roberto Pazzi, and Silent Resilience by Lucas Dragone. The awards honor photography that captures wildlife, urban beauty, and preserves traditions.
Key facts
- The 2026 European Photography Awards received over 3,000 submissions from more than 40 countries.
- Entries were judged across 13 categories covering fine art, nature, architecture, and human photography.
- Michelle Valberg won Professional Photographer of the Year for Edge of the Feast, a humpback whale image taken in British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest.
- Thea Mihu won Amateur Photographer of the Year for The White Harvest, showing salt harvesting in Vietnam's Hon Khoi Salt Fields.
- Valberg founded Project North, which has raised and delivered more than $2 million in sporting equipment to youth across more than 40 Arctic communities.
- Roberto Pazzi's Vanishing Worlds is part of a larger project documenting communities threatened by globalization and modernization.
- Lucas Dragone's Silent Resilience depicts a woman in a partially demolished neighborhood in Wuhan, China.
- Felipe Martín-Serrano Ortiz's L'Arbre Urbain: Montpellier's White Canopy looks up at L'Arbre Blanc in Montpellier, France.
Entities
Artists
- Michelle Valberg
- Thea Mihu
- Eva Wang
- Roberto Pazzi
- Lucas Dragone
- Felipe Martín-Serrano Ortiz
- Satheesh Nair
- Derry Ainsworth
- Andreia Costa
- Ryuta Suzuki
- Thibault Gerbaldi
- Elke Braet
- Philipp Schmieja
- Sou Fujimoto
- Leni Riefenstahl
Institutions
- European Photography Awards
- Project North
- My Modern Met
- International Awards Associate
- Nikon
- Order of Canada
- Canadian Geographic
- Royal Canadian Geographical Society
- The Explorers Club
- World Photographic Cup
- PetaPixel
Locations
- Canada
- British Columbia
- Great Bear Rainforest
- Germany
- Vietnam
- Hon Khoi Salt Fields
- China
- South Georgia
- Italy
- Belgium
- Wuhan
- Spain
- Montpellier
- France
- India
- Hong Kong SAR
- Portugal
- Japan
- United States
- Dong Ninh Hoa Ward
- Hong Kong
- Kowloon
- Central
- South Kordofan
- Sudan
- Guatemala
- Fuego volcano
- Iceland
- Arctic