Oaxaca native Citlali Fabián was named Photographer of the Year 2026 at the Sony World Photography Awards for a vivid portrait series honoring Indigenous women from her state.
Fabián, 37, a visual artist from a Zapotec Yalalteca community in Oaxaca who now lives in London, won the top professional prize for “Bilha, Stories of My Sisters” — a series that spotlights eight female Indigenous activists and artists by blending portraits with digital illustrations.
The images tell the stories of “iconic women from Indigenous communities … whose advocacy work generates meaningful impact across a range of spheres: in law, linguistics, the arts and ecology, among others,” organizers said.
The award was announced last week at a ceremony in London, where the World Photography Organisation unveiled a long list of winners in professional, open, student and youth categories. The gala kicked off an annual exhibition of Sony award winners that will run through May 4 at Somerset House in central London.
Now in its 19th edition, the awards event drew more than 430,000 images from over 200 countries and territories.
Fabián receives US $25,000, Sony digital imaging equipment and a solo showcase at next year’s Sony exhibition. The project also is intended to become a children’s book that presents Indigenous women as community role models.
Fabián’s series also won first place in the creative category, with fellow Mexican Pablo Ramos finishing in second for “The Black Album,” which turns archival images into haunting statements on Mexico’s more than 130,000 missing people.
Fabián joins several other highly decorated Mexican photographers, including Graciela Iturbide, who won Spain’s Princess of Asturias Arts Award last year, and Alejandro Prieto, winner of over 50 awards for his striking photographs of Mexican wildlife.
Iturbide, born in 1942, also received a Sony World Photography Award, a career recognition for Outstanding Contribution to Photography in 2021. Prieto, born in 1976, was shortlisted for a Sony award the same year for “No Border Wall” but didn’t win.
In an official announcement, Fabián said, “It is a massive honor to receive this award for ‘Bilha, Stories of My Sisters,’ a series that is deeply connected to my heart and my people.
“I hope this recognition will help to spread the voice not only about my work, but also about the amazing efforts and work of the women in this project. They are truly inspiring and a force of hope for their communities and beyond.”
Fabián grew up in a Zapotec Yalalteca family in Villa Hidalgo Yalálag, in Oaxaca’s Sierra Norte, where her father ran a film-developing and camera shop, and photography was part of daily life from an early age. She went on to study it at Universidad Veracruzana and later completed an MFA program at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in Mexico City.
Recent articles describe her as “currently based in London,” but don’t state when she relocated.
Other Latin American winners include Colombia’s Santiago Mesa (documentary projects category) and Ecuador’s Isadora Romero (environment). American Joel Meyerowitz received a lifetime award for a six-decade career that includes pioneering color street photography and documenting New York’s Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
A full list of 2026 winners can be seen here.
