Discover the Winners of the Black and White Macadam Awards 2026

Street Macadam announces the results of the 2nd edition of the Street Macadam B&W Awards, an international competition dedicated to black-and-white street and documentary photography.

Open to photographers from around the world, the awards invited both amateur and professional participants to explore this year’s theme, “Daily Life.” The selected images reflect the quiet intensity, tension, and poetry of everyday moments, captured across diverse cultural and social contexts.

After reviewing hundreds of submissions, an international jury selected three winning photographs and twenty special mentions for their strong visual storytelling, artistic coherence, and compelling interpretation of daily life through black-and-white imagery.

The three winners will have their work exhibited at the Mexico Street Photo Festival 2026, offering international visibility and recognition within the global street photography community.

Through this second edition, the Street Macadam B&W Awards continue to celebrate the expressive power of black-and-white photography and its unique ability to reveal the beauty and complexity of everyday life.

1st place winner: ROBERTA VAGLIANI

The right to know - Zanzibar, October 2012 © Roberta Vagliani

Jury Comments:
A story of education on the periphery of civilisation. We have seen many images from places like this. We remember the traditional clothing that covers women from head to toe. Moreover, they are mainly filmed from behind. And then there is the single glance of the heroine, who turns around out of curiosity and looks at the camera... The plot can be called textbook, almost classic. And yet... A beautiful composition, balanced by a triangle on the left: an open window, the figure of a teacher, the face of a student, and holding the viewer's gaze from rotating clockwise. The texture of the school blackboard on the dilapidated wall and the earthen floor, combined with the lighting and the pattern of folds in the girls' clothes in the foreground, create a harmonious picture in which, one believes, life, despite everything, will be more or less prosperous. - Misha Maslennikov

The immediate pull into the image is her almost expressionless gaze, which feels neither inviting nor discouraging; but she is aware of us so why not stay and spend time? Once in, the almost subconscious revelation of, lines, forms, light, symmetry and exquisite tonality, combined are the soft power that gives the image it’s strength. Frames within frames, the blackboard dissected with vertical chalk marks, the frame itself cut horizontally into two between the students cloaked in soft dusky-white in the lower half, the upper charcoal tones. The whole scene creating a freeform yin-yang. - Jason Florio

This image is sustained by emotion and intimacy. The moment the girl turns and establishes eye contact breaks the scene and directly addresses the viewer, transforming us into active witnesses. The photograph finds a precise balance between context and human experience: the space, the repetition of forms, and the use of light build a restrained atmosphere that intensifies this encounter. It is an image that is not only seen, but deeply felt. - Vita Flumen

2nd place: SUBHRAN KARMAKAR

Jury Comments:
This photograph stands out for its precise timing and strong compositional balance. The suspended body, mirrored by its reflection in the water, creates a dynamic tension between motion and stillness. The presence of the seated figure at the edge of the frame adds a quiet counterpoint, grounding the scene and expanding its narrative beyond the central action. The image demonstrates a confident use of perspective and visual rhythm.- Vita Flumen

If only in life we could suspend a moment in time, draw it out and linger in the liminal. This image brings us close to maybe how that it might feel. There is quiet questioning, between dreamlike and the veracity of reportage that subtly provokes. the viewer. There is tension in the surface of the water, and tension in our knowledge that in a millisecond this pristine pond will be shattered. The image is utterly silent, but we know the volume will be turned up to maximum on his impact, a slo-mo car crash we can’t look away from. As we move around the frame we see mirroring - the circles on the water and the circles on the steps. But, the mirroring of the boy in the water on closer inspection is disquieting - the shadow seems not to be his, and evokes a Biblical quality to his aerial suspension, hinting at the concept of The Rapture; the soul being drawn up from the body from Earth to Heaven - so is he maybe not falling but ascending? The power of the image lies in how it moves us between two worlds, real and surreal—land and water, human and spirit—and makes us maybe question what we are truly seeing. - Jason Florio

3rd place: GASPARD CLAUDE

Jury Comments:
There is a macabre humour in this image that I find deeply alluring, reminiscent of Delicatessen—the darkly comic, surreal 1991 French film set in a post-apocalyptic world of food scarcity. At the same time, it echoes a more recent dystopia many of us experienced during the Covid lockdowns. The juxtaposition of the diminutive clown dog with the grim-faced man hauling a bloody carcass, set against a pristine yet eerily empty street, creates a disquieting tension. Rather than resolving itself, the image remains open-ended, inviting the viewer to linger, speculate, and construct meaning rather than consume it at a glance. - Jason Florio

This photograph presents a carefully observed moment where the unexpected elements of the street converge. The juxtaposition between the butcher carrying the carcass and the small dog entering the frame introduces a subtle tension and visual irony. The urban setting provides a structured backdrop that allows the scene to unfold naturally, highlighting the photographer’s attentiveness to timing and spatial relationships within the everyday.- Vita Flumen

Honorable Mentions:
In addition to the three winning photographers, 20 artists received Honorable Mentions for their outstanding contributions to the Street Macadam B&W Awards 2026.

These selected images reflect a wide range of approaches to black-and-white street and documentary photography, from spontaneous, fleeting encounters to carefully observed moments of everyday life. Each photograph offers a distinct interpretation of the theme “Daily Life,” revealing how ordinary scenes can become visually powerful when captured with sensitivity and intention.

Together, the Honorable Mentions form a compelling portrait of contemporary street photography—one shaped by human presence, subtle gestures, and the quiet poetry found in passing moments.

About the Macadam Awards
Founded by Street Macadam, the Macadam Awards aim to support and elevate the art of street and documentary photography by recognizing images that capture the pulse of everyday life in public spaces. The competition is judged by an international panel and open to photographers worldwide. The Macadam Awards continue to celebrate images that reveal the poetry of the ordinary and the power of the unposed. This year's winners exemplify street photography’s ability to tell layered, human stories with elegance, complexity, and vision.
www.street-macadam.com
@street_macadam

Anastasia Samoylova: Atlantic Coast

By Anastasia Samoylova

Publisher : Aperture and the Norton Museum of Art

2025 | 144 pages

Anastasia Samoylova: Atlantic Coast opens a vast, quietly unsettling portrait of the American East Coast — one in which nostalgia, dislocation and transformation are sewn into the landscape itself. In this new monograph, Samoylova retraces the route pioneered by Berenice Abbott in 1954, journeying from Florida to Maine to revisit the places Abbott once documented, and to observe what has become of them decades later. Her images — in vivid color and stark black and white — reveal the tension between myth and reality, between promises of progress and the traces of decay or displacement.

Where once small towns and coastal communities had a certain stillness, Samoylova finds change carved into facades and roadside signs, into suburban sprawl and shuttered shopfronts. She frames these scenes with a photographer’s patience and a poet’s sensitivity — capturing abandoned diners, empty motels, decaying houses, ghostly intersections. At the same time, there is stubborn life: occasional portraits of people, wildlife, reminders that behind every sign of decline, someone, something endures.

Her book does not simply document physical places. It traces the shifting contours of identity, belonging and memory in a nation where the open road has long symbolized freedom — and where that ideal has become tangled with consumerism, environmental degradation, and socio-economic upheaval. Through Atlantic Coast, Samoylova asks whether the “American Dream” remains intact, or if it has fractured along with the towns her car passes through.

Reading this volume is to experience a slow, attentive journey — as a witness, as a traveller, as someone invited to reconsider what America has become. Her photographs linger, subtly unsettling the viewer’s assumptions about beauty, progress and decline. In its silence and restraint, the book whispers that memory, identity and place are fragile — and that every road carries stories worth listening to.

Coreen Simpson: A Monograph

By Coreen Simpson

Publisher : Aperture

2025 | 224 pages

Coreen Simpson: A Monograph is the first major book dedicated to the influential photographer and jewelry designer whose career spans more than fifty years. As the second volume in the Vision & Justice Book Series—a groundbreaking initiative created by Dr. Sarah Lewis and coedited with Drs. Leigh Raiford and Deborah Willis—the monograph celebrates Simpson’s enduring impact on visual culture.

Simpson began her career as a journalist before turning to photography, capturing the richness of Black life, fashion, and identity. Her portraits of icons such as Grace Jones, Muhammad Ali, and Toni Morrison, as well as her iconic B-Boys series from the 1980s, showcase her eye for style, pride, and self-expression. The book also features her later work with collage and overpainting, alongside the story of her celebrated jewelry line, including the iconic Black Cameo worn by Rosa Parks and Rihanna.

Featuring original essays by leading voices such as Bridget R. Cooks, Rujeko Hockley, Awol Erizku, and Doreen St. Félix, as well as an in-depth interview by Deborah Willis, Coreen Simpson: A Monograph offers a multifaceted portrait of an artist whose work continues to shape the worlds of photography, fashion, and Black cultural history.

Daido Moriyama: Quartet

By Daido Moriyama

Publisher : Getty Publications

2025 | 440 pages

Explore the groundbreaking early work of Daido Moriyama, one of Japan’s most radical photographers, with this collectible, slipcased photobook.

Daido Moriyama (b. 1938) is one of Japan’s most renowned and prolific photographers. His diverse projects often focus on urban landscapes, exploring light and shadow, and form and abstraction. Using a handheld camera and high-contrast black-and-white film, Moriyama captures Tokyo’s chaotic streets and clandestine underbelly, revealing the darkness and strangeness beneath the surface.

Daido Moriyama: Quartet is a vital anthology of the four seminal photobooks that form the foundation of Moriyama’s career as a photographer: Japan: A Photo Theater, A Hunter, Farewell Photography, and Light and Shadow. Spanning the fifteen years during which he honed his techniques and unveiled his distinctive vision, these photobooks were originally released as limited editions in Japan and represent some of the most daring ventures in photographic publishing history. Edited by Mark Holborn, this compilation includes excerpts from Moriyama’s diaries, journals, and memoranda, offering intimate glimpses into the core of his creative process. Presented in a slipcase, this volume is essential for all Moriyama fans and anyone passionate about photography and visual culture.

All About Daido Moriyama

Critical Photojournalism: Contemporary Ethics and Practices

By Tara Pixley, Judy Walgren

Publisher : ‎ Routledge

2025 | 226 pages

An essential introduction to the complexities of visual representation, this book offers a critical new framework for understanding and practicing photojournalism in a global digital context.

Critical Photojournalism guides readers through a variety of ethical, technical and business skills, plus the mental health, self-care and safety considerations necessary to thrive in the field. Drawing on their extensive industry and teaching experience, the authors provide real-world advice on how to navigate the demands of the profession while addressing the impact that photojournalism has on society and ways that photojournalists can mitigate harm. Consideration is given to understanding and disrupting implicit bias and power structures in newsrooms, as well as issues around access, working in breaking news environments and balancing informed consent with varying media laws around the world. In accessible language, this book highlights the importance of collaboration and community engagement in contemporary photojournalism and encourages students to adopt a decolonial approach to their work. Readers will learn to balance the needs for accuracy and thoughtfulness with the priorities of a global, social-media-engaged audience.

This is a key textbook for those seeking a nuanced introduction to visual journalism and/or a fresh approach to their craft. This book is supported by a website which can be accessed at www.criticalphotojournalism.com. The website includes a full-length bonus chapter on video and photojournalism, interviews with professional visual journalists, further tips and tools, and a glossary of key terms.

Discover the Winners of the Black and White Macadam Awards 2026

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