Finnish photographer wins Nature Photographer of the Year 2026

Finnish nature photographer Hannu Ahonen has won the Nature Photographer of the Year 2026 competition, Yle reports.

His winning photograph, titled The One that Left and the One that Stayed, shows a water lily leaf beside an almost exact black-and-white copy formed from ice.

The competition’s judges said it was unusual for a photograph of a plant to win. They praised the image for capturing a rare moment: a thin layer of water froze on the leaf, then the wind moved the resulting sheet of ice next to it. The judges said the photograph shows both nature’s beauty and its constant change, noting that the ice copy would soon melt and the water lily leaf would eventually die.

Ahonen said in a statement from the competition that he took the picture after the first frosts had arrived but before there was snow.

The competition received more than 27,000 images from 96 countries. It has been held since 2016, and the main prize is 3,000 euros.