From spiritual rituals to the struggle for survival, a global photography contest lays bare the intimate connection between water and human identity.
Organized by UNESCO’s World Water Assessment Programme and Onewater, the competition selected winners from a pool of nearly 1000 stories spanning 114 countries. The Identities theme serves as a visual prelude to the UN World Water Day 2026 focus on Water and Gender.
Belgium | Two of the main protagonists in Kristina Steiner’s winning story: Stefaan rides his horse, Dina, to catch shrimp in the summer waters of the North Sea. ©Kristina Steiner for Onewater
The competition awarded over €10,000 in prizes, supported by the Asian Development Bank, WEX, Calumet, the Global Environment Facility’s IW:Learn Platform, and WasserStiftung.
German photographer, Kristina Steiner, won the first prize for documenting Belgium’s last horse shrimpers. The youth award goes to Gastón Zilberman, for his story on the Qotzuñi people and the disappearance of Bolivia’s second largest lake.
Regional winners include Giacomo d’Orlando whose story highlights the Agta peoples’ fight to save the last of the Philippine Crocodile and Abyan Madani from Indonesia who documented the indispensable Blue Troops of Jakarta.
Malaysia | Two young Bajau Laut girls wear Borak. The people also known as sea gypsies use this traditional paste made from turmeric and rice as both a beauty practice and a shield against the intense tropical sun. ©Zon Hisham Zainal Abidin for Onewater
A Global Mosaic | The submissions offer a sharp look at the role of water in everyday life with images ranging from sea rescue operations and the devastating reality of Amazonian droughts to the quiet traditions of salt extraction in Viet Nam and the remarkable Haenyo (sea women) of Jeju Island. The full gallery of winning stories can be viewed online at: https://onewater.blue/contest/identities
Exhibition and Media | The best stories will embark on a global traveling exhibition throughout 2026, following previous showcases at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris and the UN Headquarters in New York. Institutions interested in hosting the exhibition may apply until May 30, 2026.
Key Statistics:
- 8,311 Images submitted
- 968 Photo series
- 796 Photographers
- 114 Countries represented
- 37% Female participants / 63% Male participants
Bolivia | Florencio, Pablo, Cipriana, and Félix Mauricio sit in a boat stranded on the salty desert where Lake Poopó once thrived. With the Qotzuñi’s ancestral fishing grounds vanished due to climate change, they have turned to crafts for survival, using this reenactment to honor a lost way of life. ©Gastón Zilberman for Onewater
