Annual Photography Awards 2026

Mr. Jagadish Tiwari is one of Nepal’s most respected mountain and landscape photographer. Renowned for his breathtaking images of the Himalayas, mountain peaks, high-altitude vistas, ... natural and remote wilderness of Nepal,his passion for photography began at the age of 12 when he received a Kodak camera from an American Peace Corps volunteer in his village. After serving for around 11 years in the Nepal Army, he left the military life to pursue landscape photography full-time as a freelancer. Over a career spanning more than three decades, Mr. Tiwari has traveled extensively across Nepal and various countries around the world enduring harsh weather, long treks, and challenging conditions to capture the nature's beauty. His work has been widely exhibited and published all around the world, making him a pioneering figure in Nepalese landscape photography. Driven by an unwavering love for nature and its beauty, Mr. Tiwari continues to explore Nepal’s mountains and terrains in search of the elusive "perfect" image. Read more

Mani Lama is an established award-winning Nepalese Photographer, who has been taking photographs since 1973. Inspired by culture, art and people, he has travelled extensively and built ... a significant portfolio and career in Photography over the years. Born in Boudhanath , Kathmandu in 1948, his interest in photography began after studying agriculture with an Associate of arts in Photography at Merced College, in California and Fresno State University in the U.S. Fresno State University in the U.S. Mani discovered that his passion was in travel and the ability to depict diversity and stories through the lens and has never looked back ever since. He began his career by making postcards of his extensive travels to introduce Nepal to the outside world, followed by various solo exhibitions and International exhibits such as in Anyang, Korea in 2005, Teluroid, Colorado, USA in 2003, and in Paris, France in 1994. He also received an honorable mention for the photo, "The Family" in 1993 from HACCU/UNESCO Japan and several other awards in many national competitions. He has also published several books on photography and Nepal including his most recent ones "Boudha, restoring the great Stupa", published by Vajra books in 2019 and "Nepal in Monochrome" published by SSB press in 2024. Read more

Narendra Shrestha is a Nepal-based senior photojournalist and the winner of the 2026 World Press Photo Contest in the West, Central and South Asia Singles category. He studied at the International Institute of ... Journalism in Berlin, Germany,and began his career working for several national daily and weekly publications. He is currently a photographer with the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA Images), based in Kathmandu, Nepal. Over more than two decades, Shrestha has documented many of the defining moments in Nepal’s recent history, including the Maoist insurgency (1996–2006), the People’s Uprising of 2006, major political transitions, natural disasters, and social issues. His work is recognized for its compelling visual storytelling and its focus on the lives of people affected by conflict, social change, and adversity. Read more

Navesh Chitrakar is a Nepali photojournalist whose simple, powerful, and deeply human images have been widely published around the world and earned him recognition both internationally and at home. ... Born in 1986 and raised in Kathmandu, Navesh has always drawn inspiration from the city's people, streets, traditions, and changing rhythms. His surname, Chitrakar, means "painter" in Nepali—a name closely tied to Nepal's long tradition of art and craftsmanship. Several of his forefathers and relatives were painters, and while Navesh once struggled to see a clear path for himself as a teenager, photography opened a new possibility: a modern continuation of his family's creative legacy. In many ways, the camera became his turning point, helping him discover not only a profession but also a purpose. Navesh began his career in 2009 with the national broadsheets The Himalayan Times and Annapurna Post. That same year, he started contributing photographs to Reuters as a stringer. In 2011, in recognition of the quality, consistency, and wide reach of his work, Reuters brought him on board as a photojournalist. Based in Nepal, Navesh's work focuses largely on news, documentary, and human-interest stories. Over the years, he has covered some of the region's most significant events, including the devastating 2015 Nepal earthquakes, which caused immense loss of life and damage to world heritage sites; the COVID-19 pandemic; and the 2025 Nepalese Gen Z protests. His international assignments have taken him across Asia and beyond, including Myanmar for Aung San Suu Kyi's historic by-election victory in 2012, Australia for the 2013 Australian Open in Melbourne, Bangladesh for the Rohingya refugee crisis in 2017, Hong Kong for the 2019–2020 protests, Sri Lanka during its economic crisis, Vietnam for the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, and Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka for their 2024 general elections. Most recently, he covered Nepal's 2026 general election. Among his most widely recognized works is his 2016 photo story, "Nepal's Oldest Student," which received an Honourable Mention for Excellence in Photography from the Society of Publishers in Asia Awards in 2017. Navesh has been regularly recognized in Nepal's annual Photojournalist Club Photo Competition and won the title of Photo of the Year 2076 in 2019. In 2014, he was also shortlisted by The Guardian for "Photographer of the Year." His recent achievements include an Honourable Mention for Excellence in Photography at the 2025 Society of Publishers in Asia Awards for his photo story on Mad Honey, as well as an Award of Excellence from Pictures of the Year International 2026 for his image of Nepal's Gen Z protest. Navesh lives in Kathmandu with his parents, his wife Binu, and their son Nirek. He considers himself fortunate to be part of a close and supportive community of photojournalists in Nepal—a circle of colleagues and friends who continue to inspire, challenge, and encourage one another. Through his lens, Navesh continues to document not only the breaking moments of history, but also the quiet, resilient, and deeply human stories that shape Nepal and the wider region. Read more