Henley Spiers Wins Bird Photographer of the Year 2026 for Underwater Gannet Image
Henley Spiers, a British photographer, triumphed in the Bird Photographer of the Year 2026 contest with his stunning underwater shot, Sunball Rocket, depicting a northern gannet in mid-dive. Out of more than 24,000 entries, he was awarded a prize of £3,000. The photograph showcases the gannet immediately after it has breached the ocean's surface. Meanwhile, 16-year-old American Parham Pourahmad earned the title of Young Bird Photographer of the Year for his piece Moonlit Night, which features a great horned owl set against a full moon. Adult participants were judged across eight categories, and winning images will be featured in a hardcover publication by Graffeg. Will Nicholls, the competition director, highlighted the genuine nature of the submissions. Additionally, over £5,000 was donated to Birds on the Brink for bird conservation initiatives. The next round of entries is now open at birdpoty.com.
Key facts
- Henley Spiers won Bird Photographer of the Year 2026 for his underwater photograph Sunball Rocket of a northern gannet
- Spiers receives a £3,000 prize and the grand title
- The winning image was selected from more than 24,000 submissions worldwide
- Northern gannets can enter the water at speeds of up to 86 km/h (about 53 mph)
- 16-year-old American photographer Parham Pourahmad was named Young Bird Photographer of the Year for Moonlit Night, showing a great horned owl against a full moon
- Adult photographers competed across eight categories, plus Portfolio, Conservation, and Video prizes and three youth categories
- Awarded photographs are collected in a new hardcover book published by Graffeg with a foreword by Lizzie Daly
- The competition donated more than £5,000 to the charity Birds on the Brink
- Competition director Will Nicholls framed the winners as a reminder of photography's "value of authenticity" amid AI-generated imagery
- The next cycle of the competition is open for entries at birdpoty.com
Entities
Artists
- Henley Spiers
- Parham Pourahmad
- Lizzie Daly
- Will Nicholls
- Thomas Deliberto
- Donald Chin
- Ivan Sjögren
- Bernhard Schubert
- Åsmund Keilen
- David Stowe
- Romain Barats
- Rahul Sachdev
- Paula Czaeczine
- Kent Stuart
- Gianluca Damiani
- Volker Widmann
- Mark Carwardine
- Alex Pansier
- Patryk Kurc
- Raoul Slater
- Julian Terreros-Martin
- Yann Bigant
- Luca Eberle
- Julian Łoziński
- Julian Fernandez Quilez
- Ivan Sjogren
- Asmund Keilen
- Julian Lozinski
- Carlyn Kranking
Institutions
- Bird Photographer of the Year
- Graffeg
- Birds on the Brink
- My Modern Met
- Colossal
- The Guardian
- BirdLife Malta
- IUCN
- PetaPixel
- Smithsonian magazine
Locations
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Utah
- West Papua
- Shetland Islands
- Scotland
- Charcot Bay
- Antarctica
- Perth
- Australia
- British Colombia
- Canada
- Amboseli
- Kenya
- Rost
- Lofoten
- Norway
- Washington
- New Jersey
- Rome
- Italy
- Skomer Island
- Great Bear Rainforest
- US
- Germany
- UK
- Indonesia
- Sweden
- British Columbia
- Netherlands
- Hornøya
- Poland
- Dąbrowa Górnicza
- India
- Pomona
- Queensland
- Spain
- Tasmania
- Austria
- Tulum
- Mexico
- Yucatán peninsula
- Warren County
- France
- Phnom Penh
- Cambodia
- Malta
- Oslo
- Shetland
- Brodnica Lake district
- Deception Island
- Hellín
- Los Gatos
- California
- Fraser River Delta
- Western Canada
- Britain
- Antarctic Peninsula
- Mediterranean