Photography can communicate stories and emotions across languages, cultures, and borders, and the winners of the 2026 reFocus Color Photography Contest offer a striking reminder of its universal power. Bringing together photographers from around the world, the competition celebrates the expressive possibilities of color through extraordinary wildlife encounters, intimate portraits, dramatic landscapes, conceptual projects, and everyday scenes transformed by careful observation.
The reFocus Awards recognize professional and non-professional photographers in separate divisions. For this collection, we are focusing exclusively on winning images from the Professional division, selected across the contest’s categories. The only exception is Domestic Animals, which we recently explored in a separate Bored Panda post dedicated to the category’s memorable animal photography.
Scroll down to explore this selection of winning photographs from the 2026 contest, and be sure to vote for the images that impressed you most.
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#1 “Living Palette Of Vietnam” By Maria Gabriela Rocha Gomez
Silver in the Aerial Category, Professional Division
“Seen from above, Vietnam unfolds as a tapestry of color, craft, and tradition. These scenes reveal enduring practices passed through generations, where everyday labor becomes a vibrant expression of cultural identity.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
Among the contest’s overall professional winners is Deji Oluokun’s first-place project, Kaleidoscope, which uses vivid colors to represent the experiences and emotions that shape a creative person’s journey. Ysabela Coll received second place for Underwater Garden, a dreamlike underwater scene filled with water lilies, fish, and light emerging from the darkness of a cenote cave.
#2 “Might As Well Jump” By Donna Feledichuk
People’s Vote Award in the Wildlife Category, Professional Division
Nominee in the Wildlife Category
“A young red fox launches between mounds in evening backlight, caught at full extension for a brief second where behavior, light, and form align.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#3 “A Refined Floral Palate” By Alejandro Olguin
Gold in the Event Category, Professional Division
“I was photographing the bridal party with the Highland cows, chasing a cleaner angle against the sky, when a bridesmaid’s bouquet wandered just a little too close. The cow saw its moment to get a taste of the flowers. It was a close call but the flowers survived.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
Wiktor Franko earned third place with El ultimo Vaquero en la Tierra, a deceptively simple street photograph taken in El Cotillo, Fuerteventura. Its bold planes of color and carefully arranged geometric forms create a composition reminiscent of Piet Mondrian’s paintings. Together with the category winners featured below, these photographs demonstrate just how differently color can be used to create atmosphere, guide the eye, reveal unexpected details, and give a fleeting moment lasting emotional impact.
#4 “Inscribed In Stone” By Amaury Antonio Alves Dos Santos
Silver in the Wildlife Category, Professional Division
“Between flight and stone, a macaw casts its shadow across the ancestral cliffs of Chapada dos Guimarães. More than an absence, the shadow becomes an extension of being, revealing the bond between life, territory, and time.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#5 “Legacy Of The Li River” By Will Palmer
Gold in the Travel Category, Professional Division
People’s Vote Award in the Travel Category, Professional Division
“A traditional cormorant fisherman prepares his lamp before sunrise on the Li River in southern China. The practice of fishing with trained cormorants in this region dates back more than a thousand years and remains closely associated with the dramatic Karst landscape around Yangshuo and Guilin.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#6 “Insects, Architects Of A Sustainable Future” By Maud Delaflotte
Gold in the Nature Category, Professional Division
“A scientist collects black soldier fly eggs inside an aviary to examine them (France). Black soldier fly are use to produce flour and oil for animal feed.
A market estimated to be several billion $ by 2030, as well as significant ecological gains in terms of deforestation and intensive aquaculture.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#7 “Turtle Cleaners” By Don Hurzeler
People’s Vote Award in the Underwater Category, Professional Division
Honorable Mention in the Underwater Category, Professional Division
“Turtle visiting the cleaning station off of Puako, Hawaii.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#8 “Chasing Colors” By Derry Ainsworth
Silver in the Street Category, Professional Division
“A young girl chases a balloon across the colorful playground of Choi Hung Estate in Hong Kong.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#9 “Faces Inspired By Buildings” By Muhammad Almasri
Gold in the Architecture Category, Professional Division
“It is said that buildings are lifeless subjects and inanimate objects. As an architectural photographer, I have always looked at buildings from a different perspective. I tried to extract stories of faces formed through buildings, with the help of some elements in the sky and the sky itself.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#10 “Organized Chaos” By Alex Kittoe
Gold in the Street Category, Professional Division
“This photo aims to convey the strange order within an unexpected street scene, where geometry, color, and human movement turn a moment of chaos into something almost composed. No one was hurt.
Captured in Chicago on a Minolta X-700 with Portra 400 film.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#11 “Alter Ego” By Yevhen Kostiuk
Bronze in the Aerial Category, Professional Division
Honorable Mention in the Minimalism Category, Professional Division
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#12 “As One” By Monica L Corcuera
Nominee in the Conceptual Category, Professional Division
“A herd of impalas gathers on the plains of Serengeti. Seen from behind, individual animals merge into a single visual form. The repeating patterns of bodies, tails and horns reveal the strength of collective behavior, where survival depends not on the individual, but on the unity of the group.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#13 “Wrath” By Eduardo Teixeira De Sousa
Bronze in the Nature Category, Professional Division
“Storm hits the Felgueiras lighthouse, Porto, Portugal. One of my favorite Wave Series shots – under heavy skies the sunset light reflections in the exposed side of the waves makes every shot different here.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#14 “Underwater Garden” By Ysabela Coll
Overall Contest Winner, 2nd Place
Gold in the Underwater Category, Professional Division
Bronze in the Landscapes Category, Professional Division
“Emerging from the darkness of a cenote cave, we entered an underwater garden alive with colorful water lilies and fish. The sudden contrast transformed the scene into a dreamlike world, where light, color, and life replaced the silence of the cave.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#15 “The Round Trip: And Endless Border” By David Peinado
Bronze in the Photojournalism Category, Professional Division
“Round Trip: An Endless Border” explores migration along the U.S.–Mexico border. Through everyday moments, crossings, barriers, and waiting, the project examines how people navigate a landscape shaped by enforcement, uncertainty, family ties, and the constant movement between two countries.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#16 “The Fragile White Kingdom” By Roberta Pagano
People’s Vote Award in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category
Nominee in the Wildlife Category
Nominee in the Travel Category
“An Arctic paradise Svalbard Archipelago. The effects of decades of poor environmental policies are becoming increasingly clear. What once seemed distant is now tangible and real. It is increasingly evident that the world’s climate is warming and that the Arctic ecosystem is changing radically.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#17 “Vanishing Act” By Ysabela Col
Silver in the Underwater Category, Professional Division
Bronze in the Wildlife Category, Professional Division
Honorable Mention in the Minimalism Category
“With a powerful sweep of its pectoral fins, the stingray vanishes into the blue , leaving a swirling cloud of sand. This burst isn’t just beautiful—it’s survival. By disturbing the seafloor, the ray creates a visual barrier that confuses predators and hides its swift escape. An ocean-floor illusion!”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#18 “Kaleidoscope” By Deji Oluokun
Overall Contest Winner
Gold in the Fashion & Beauty Category, Professional Division
People’s Vote Award in the Fashion & Beauty Category, Professional Division
“Every creative’s journey is colored with different events and emotions that shape them. Every incident encountered opens them to a new level, which in turn makes them who they are.
In Kaleidoscope, I paint the complete story of creatives using colors – from finding themselves to becoming whole.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#19 “El Ultimo Vaquero En La Tierra” By Wiktor Franko
Overall Contest Winner, 3rd Place
Gold in the People Category, Professional Division
“The photo was taken on a street in El Cotillo, Fuerteventura. Its minimalist strength lies in a simple composition. Bold color planes and geometric forms evoke Piet Mondrian’s iconic paintings, with their colorful squares and harmonious balance of form and color.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#20 “Hutt Lagoon” By Scott Jon William Mccook
Gold in the Aerial Category, Professional Division
“Hutt Lagoon sits as a natural wonder of the world but also a source of beta carotene that is “farmed” from a section of the lake, a fascinating mix of nature and human interaction.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#21 “Awakening Giants” By David Aguilar
Gold in the Landscapes Category, Professional Division
“A stunning drone capture of East Java’s volcanic giants emerging from a low sea of clouds at sunrise. The golden light hits the crater rims of Bromo and Batok, while Mount Semeru looms in the background, a small plume of ash trailing against a vibrant orange and blue sky. A masterpiece of scale.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#22 “Minimal Cargo” By Alireza Bagheri Sani
Gold in the Minimalism Category, Professional Division
“Minimal Cargo” transforms the harsh industrial environment of Tehran Customs into calm, minimalist compositions. Using mobile photography, I highlight geometric structures, subtle human presence, and the quiet balance hidden within an otherwise heavy mechanical space.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#23 “The Catch” By Pål Hermansen
Gold in the Wildlife Category, Professional Division
“Bear catching salmons, Alaska.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#24 “The Hearth Of Tuscany” By Elena Pardini
Nominee in the Aerial Category, Professional Division
“A farm placed on Tuscany Hills that from above, it appears like an hearth.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#25 “Silversword And The Milky Way” By Aaron Lynton
Bronze in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#26 “Import, Export” By Derry Ainsworth
Silver in the Aerial Category, Professional Division
Nominee in the Conceptual Category, Professional Division
“A single red truck drives down the center of a busy shipyard full of containers in Hong Kong.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#27 “Varios Architecture” By Wilma Wijers Smeets
Bronze in the Architecture Category, Professional Division
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#28 “Bleeding Blues – The Final Vision” By Cath Simard
Bronze in the Conceptual Category, Professional Division
“(Peru) Bleeding Blues is the culmination of a two-year pursuit to a remote red lake in the Peruvian Andes, first discovered on Google Earth. What began as a filmed expedition became a solitary return, where I spent six days alone at high altitude above the lake to create this work.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#29 “High Dive” By L. Chaussee
Gold in the Film/Analog Category, Professional Division
“During the warm months, the pool is filled with Atlantic seawater and the high dive becomes an object of ascent and daring. In the off season, roped off and forbidden, it waits quietly for the return of swimmers and the arrival of summer.
Photographed on medium format film with a Rolleiflex 2.8F.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#30 “Les Passages Gelés” By Cath Simard
People’s Vote Award in the Conceptual Category, Professional Division
“This series reveals ice caves from Argentina, Canada, and Iceland, all of which have since disappeared. Reaching them required trekking miles through remote wilderness. From inside, their openings reveal the mysterious nature beyond, forming quiet passages between the cold chambers and the unknown.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#31 “In Search Of The Sun” By Peter Lik
Nominee in the Landscapes Category, Professional Division
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#32 “Red Chairs” By Renee Giffroy
Nominee in the Minimalism Category, Professional Division
Nominee in the Architecture Category, Professional Division
“I was attracted by the red chairs and the shadows of the architecture in the image taken in an old monestary in Spain.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#33 “Kyoto Dreaming” By Peter Lik
Bronze in the Landscapes Category, Professional Division
Nominee in the Fine Art Category
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#34 “By The Light Of The Moon” By Vicki Santello
Bronze in the Minimalism Category, Professional Division
People’s Vote Award in the Minimalism Category, Professional Division
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#35 “Salt And Stars” By Brian Hawks
People’s Vote Award in the Landscapes Category, Professional Division
Honorable Mention in the Landscapes Category, Professional Division
“A shallow mirror of water covers the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA, blending the sky and desert into an embrace of stars and saltwater touched by a veil of airglow.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#36 “Keeping The Lights On” By Michael Rupp
Gold in the Conceptual Category, Professional Division
Silver in the Still Life Category, Professional Division
“Illegal dumping in Portugal. At four hidden sites. I gather abandoned household objects and rebuild four rooms from what was not wanted anymore. Once lit and photographed, these discarded things are seen again as useful, identifiable and as a home. It shows how humans abandon what they once loved.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#37 “Invisible Portraits” By Olga Antanaitene
Gold in the Still Life Category, Professional Division
“Invisible Portraits presents still lifes as portraits. Books, instruments, vessels, and everyday objects become carriers of memory and human experience. Rather than depicting a person directly, the series explores the traces of presence preserved in the things we leave behind.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#38 “Storm Clouds Of The Southern Plains” By Kelley Richens
Silver in the Landscapes Category, Professional Division
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#39 “Ocean Sensations” By Ysabela Coll
Gold in the Abstract Category, Professional Division
“An exploration of the ocean as a space of movement, transformation, and wonder. Layers of color and organic forms dissolve familiar references, inviting the viewer to move beyond recognition and into sensation. The work reflects the fluid and ever-changing nature of the underwater world.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
#40 “Cong Shuwen 2014-2025” By Tianqiutao Chen
Gold in the Portrait Category, Professional Division
“In 2014, I collaborated with a group of migrant children in Beijing to create portraits highlighting their harsh living conditions. More than a decade later, in 2025, I revisited the project by photographing the now-adult participants, who had since relocated to various urban centers across China.”
Image source: refocus-awards.com
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