Cakes, Crops, & Other Portraits In Food Photography

A colorful composition made with leftover icing for cupcakes and used as the inside cover for a cupcakes decorator’s book, is among the finalist for the World Food Photography competition.

This dome-shaped cake decorated with piped buttercream, edible gold splashes and fresh morello cherries is one of the 2026 finalists in the global competition.

A literal representation of a Fish Cake. The image is completely different to what you would expect to see if you just read the title. Yet, it is still beautiful in its own right.

Goldenberries, juicy mandarin and daffodils arranged with white blooms representing renewal, a symphony of spring approaching.

Ribboned Radicchio, with its contrasting colors and curls of radicchio, create a forest-like close-up.

This close-up detail of homegrown Summer Chocolate Oyster Mushrooms, details their delicate fan-like structure of the gills.

Women Photographers & The Quiet Art Of Cooking

This young woman engaged in domestic work in a traditional Danish setting evokes a simpler way of life in what could double as a Johannes Vermeer painting, and is rightfully among the 2026 World Food Photography Awards finalist images.

The sunlight streaming in from the windows creates highlights and deep shadows, framing a glimpse into a rustic kitchen where tradition meets the present time.

A finalist image from the World Food Photography Awards 2026 captures how tradition guides much of the lives and daily routines of nomadic herding families on the steppes of Mongolia.

Early in the morning, this mother and daughter have donned their finest silk gowns to milk the family's yaks, a mark of respect for the task and recognition of its importance.

This quiet portrait where food becomes memory rather than nourishment was selected as finalist for the World Food Photography Awards 2026.

The young figure holds artichokes like a fragile inheritance — symbols of protection, resilience, and the layered complexity of growth.

The theatrical light and timeless styling blur the boundary between painting and photography, inviting the viewer into a suspended moment where childhood, tradition and identity meet in silence.

This shortlisted photograph for the World Food Photography Awards 2026 was taken in a small town in India during a roadside stop for freshly made Mirchi Bajji after a long day of travel.

The aunty’s genuine warmth and heartfelt smile filled the air just as much as the aroma of the food.

Food At The Table For The Family, For Celebrations

“Dashitao”(peach-shaped cake making) has become a signature New Year folk custom in the rural Huizhou region of Anhui Province China. The surface is often adorned with red or cinnabar, and the final product, resembling a peach, is symbolic of 'double blessings’ and 'good fortune.’

In 2018, it was listed as a representative item of ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’.

In this scene, family members of all generations gather together for the celebration.

At Kids Teatime in Britain’s Devon, two children enjoy their repast -- and you can see their appreciation of good food. Their mother, Ella, is a fifth-generation farmer and the first female in her family to lead the farm, which specializes in growing organic vegetables.

Celebrated at harvest time in northern Vietnam, the New Rice Festival is a moment of gratitude. Freshly harvested rice is prepared and offered with traditional foods, sticky rice, cakes and tea as thanks to the land and to ancestors for sustenance and continuity.

These are the newest recruits to a nunnery near Yangon, Myanmar. They are likely to be orphans or refugees from fighting in the country, but here they have found a place of refuge, security and companionship.

Meal on the Water, one of the 2026 World Food Photography Awards shortlisted images, captures the jute retting season in rural Bangladesh when farmers stand for hours in water processing jute fiber.

Here, three farmers pause on a narrow wooden boat, using its bow as a table to share a simple meal, where food offers brief rest amid demanding labor.

At La Perseverancia Market in Bogotá, Colombia, dozens of vendors prepare lunch simultaneously in this photo featured in the 2026 World Food Photography Awards shortlist.

Produce Art & Innovation In Food Photography

Use your imagination and you will see things differently. Then you might stick a toy airplane onto blue paper and use lots of biscuits to create a city. Lie down on the floor and take photos upwards through the glass.

This photograph is part of a long-term project of surreal still lives.

Wearing a passion fruit flower tutu and a small green tomato for her head, an okra balances en pointe in Australia Miss Pirouette.

She becomes a dancer, elegant and poised, suspended in a perfect pirouette. A humble produce transformed into an image of pure elegance made it as a finalist in the global food competition.

"To Pea or Not to Pea" is one of Yuliy Vasilev’s series “Cabinet of Curiosities,” or “in other words the ‘X Files’ of my culinary photography.” The image was created entirely from frozen green peas.

Here you can see all the shortlisted tasty images from the 27 categories of the World Food Photography Awards, sponsored by Bimi®.

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