When
Carol Guzy was named the
World Press Photo of the Year 2026 winner for
Separated by ICE, the award recognized more than a single powerful image. It honored a photograph that captures the human impact of immigration enforcement with rare emotional force and journalistic clarity.
The winning image was made on August 26, 2025, inside the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York City. In a narrow courthouse hallway lit by fluorescent lights, Guzy photographed the moment a family was torn apart after an immigration court hearing. Luis, an Ecuadorian migrant with no criminal record according to his family, had arrived for a scheduled appearance and left in custody after being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
What makes Separated by ICE so devastating is its immediacy. The photograph does not rely on symbolism or ambiguity. It shows a real family in real time as their lives change in an instant. Luis’s wife, Cocha, and their three children—ages seven, 13, and 15—are captured in a moment of grief, shock, and disbelief. The image reveals not only personal loss, but the emotional cost of a system that can turn a routine court visit into an irreversible separation.
Guzy’s photograph is part of a broader body of work, ICE Arrests at New York Court, which was recognized in the Stories category for North and Central America. The series documents a pattern in which migrants attending court hearings were detained upon arrival, showing how immigration enforcement can unfold inside spaces meant to represent justice and due process.
Separated by ICE © Carol Guzy, United States, ZUMA Press, iWitness, for Miami Herald
That access was rare. Guzy was among a small number of photographers permitted to document inside the federal building, where the repeated presence of visual journalists made it possible to record a practice that might otherwise have remained hidden. Her work shows why photojournalism matters: it makes policy visible through human consequence.
In response to the award, Guzy emphasized the resilience of the families affected, redirecting attention away from herself and toward the people in front of her lens. Her perspective reflects the deeper value of the image: it is not only a record of suffering, but also a testament to dignity, endurance, and witness.
World Press Photo Executive Director Joumana El Zein Khoury described the image as a stark record of a policy that transforms a courthouse into a place of trauma. That distinction is central to the photograph’s power. A courthouse should represent fairness and accountability, yet Guzy’s image shows how quickly that meaning can collapse when enforcement overrides trust.
Separated by ICE stands out because it works on both an emotional and documentary level. It is visually direct, but its implications are broader: immigration policy, public institutions, family separation, and the role of the press in exposing what happens behind closed doors. The image answers one question while raising many others about justice, responsibility, and power.
By awarding Carol Guzy World Press Photo of the Year 2026, the organization reaffirmed the importance of independent photojournalism in documenting the realities of public policy. In a year defined by intense debate over immigration and the role of institutions, Separated by ICE has become one of the most important photographs of 2026.
It is a reminder that the strongest images do more than describe a moment. They reveal what is at stake, who is affected, and why the story cannot be ignored.
Carol Guzy
Carol Guzy is a photojournalist known for her coverage of humanitarian crises and conflict. She was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States. Her work focuses on long-form documentary projects and news reporting, both in the United States and internationally.
Guzy initially studied nursing at Northampton County Area Community College before turning to photography. She later studied at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, graduating in 1980 with an associate degree in photography. She began her career with an internship at The Miami Herald, where she later worked as a staff photographer for eight years. In 1988, she joined The Washington Post as a staff photographer, a position she held until 2014. She now works as a freelance photographer and is a contract photographer with
ZUMA Press.
Guzy is the first journalist to receive four Pulitzer Prizes. She received the award for Feature Photography for her coverage of the conflict in Kosovo, and three Pulitzer Prizes for Breaking News/Spot News Photography, including for coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the United States military intervention in Haiti, and the Armero tragedy in Colombia.
Her work has also been recognised with multiple honors and awards, including being named Photographer of the Year for the National Press Photographers Association three times, and nine times for the White House News Photographers Association.
www.carolguzy.com
@carolguzy
