The 17th EPSON International Pano Awards has announced its 2026 winners, with Spanish photographer Daniel Viñé Garcia named Open Photographer of the Year and Tomás Sánchez Ruiz, also of Spain, taking Amateur Photographer of the Year. This year’s competition drew 4,084 entries from photographers in 93 countries, an increase of 19 percent on 2025. Entries divided into 2,122 in the Open competition and 1,962 in the Amateur competition, with the field including 680 entries in the new Aerial categories. That new category is the headline development of the 2026 awards. For 17 years the Pano Awards has celebrated the panoramic format and for 17 years entrants have asked for a dedicated aerial division.
The winner of The Epson Digital Art Prize 2026 was The Rugby Players shot by Preeti and Prashant Chacko (who entered as a couple from India). Xuecheng Liu of the United States won the Open Built Environment category with Center of the Cosmos, a stitched panorama of Times Square from above. Francesco Dall’Olmo of Italy placed second in Open Aerial with Boreal Wings, photographed in the Lofoten Islands. Wutimet Bunyasirisith of Thailand was named Southeast Asia Open Photographer of the Year for The Emerald Arch Over Lofoten, made at Skagsanden Beach in Norway. Tomás Sánchez Ruiz of Spain claimed the Amateur Photographer of the Year title, winning the Amateur Nature and Landscape category with Double Arch Over Stokksnes in Iceland. The Epson International Pano Awards is the world’s largest competition dedicated to panoramic photography and Epson Australia is the main sponsor alongside Epson Southeast Asia. Its reputation rests on a format that demands more from a photographer than almost any other.
To view the full gallery of 2026 winning and runner-up images go to: https://thepanoawards.com