The Best Food Photography Of 2026: Here Are The Shortlisted Images (35 Pics)

Urban Farmers, carrying a raft board of Lemongrass, returning it to the deep water bed after harvesting. Oko Farms is an outdoor aquaponic farm in Brooklyn, New York.

Jean-Michel Deiss, biodynamic producer in Alsace. Most of his wines are white but here he is foot treading his Pinot Noir grapes for his red wine.

A Guatemalan pineapple vendor has set up his stall in the middle of a road where there is nothing for miles. The pineapples are sold whole or sliced ​​with a strawberry topping.

Phuktal Monastery in the Zanskar valley is both picturesque and unique. The multi-story Gompa is only accessible by foot and is situated clinging to the cliff face above the Tsarap river. While exploring the monastery we passed the smoke-stained kitchen where the cook was preparing dinner for the resident monks.

Close up detail of homegrown Summer Chocolate Oyster Mushrooms, showing the delicate fan like structure of the gills of the edible fungi.

At La Perseverancia Market in Bogotá, Colombia, dozens of vendors prepare lunch simultaneously.

With Mount Semeru rising in the background, villagers in East Java of Indonesia rear goats as a vital food source. Goats provide nutritious meat and milk, supporting daily diets and festivals. Adapted to the volcanic terrain, they also offer steady income and food security for rural families.

Sushi Doughnuts reinterprets a familiar form through precise food styling and graphic composition. By transforming sushi into doughnut shapes, the work plays with expectation, repetition and symmetry. Bold colour, negative space and clean structure emphasise pattern and balance, allowing the ingredients to function simultaneously as food and design, creating a vibrant, visually dynamic composition.

Boom lights on quads illuminate vineyard rows and can create dramatic lighting with rich, warm colours. This tonal aesthetic has always appealed to me. I wanted to gain a unique perspective of this Los Carneros harvest and used a drone to show the scene in its near entirety.

“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 the scene, family members of all generations gather together in warmth and harmony, unfolding like a scroll of reunion. Rice and flour are blended and gently pressed into molds, forming the first shapes of shitao.Nearby, the daughter prepares vegetables and cooks,The photo fully shows the rich flavor of the New Year and the warmth of family unity.

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.

This young woman ,engaged in domestic work in a traditional Danish setting, evokes a simpler way of life.The lighting plays a crucial role in this image, with sunlight streaming in from the windows creating highlights and deep shadows that enhance texture and dimension of the objects and surfaces. A glimpse into a rustic kitchen, where tradition meets the present time.

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. The photograph is part of my long-term project of surreal still lifes.

A Smoked Old Fashioned. A dramatic, aromatic twist of the classic Old Fashioned dating back to the 1800s. This image presents the historic cocktail on a cracked vintage leather table, highlighting its traditional ingredients with a contemporary touch of wood chips smoke​,​ creating a beautiful sensory​ and visual experience.

I just wanted to take a few photos - not in some faraway drought‑stricken land, but on a German vegetable field before it was harvested. Yet where lettuce once grew, I found this scene instead… and still, for those who look carefully, hope begins to grow.

La Feria de Sevilla has always celebrated food: starting as a livestock fair in 1847, it has become a week-long revelry centered around 1000 casetas sharing tapas. Traditions are passed through food, dress and dance. No fair, however traditional, would be complete without the largest, pinkest cotton candy.

Vietnamese fishermen preserve the old traditions and commitment to providing fresh fish everyday on the beaches of the vibrant and modern city of Da Nang. The basket boat is a symbol of the fishermen's dedication to their craft, the sea and to retaining Vietnamese culture.

A silent street; the scene unfolds at night, on a quiet street in Osaka. The air is cool, slightly humid, and the neon lights cast a cold, white glow that contrasts sharply with the surrounding darkness. A man dressed in red stands motionless before a vending machine. The machine illuminates the scene with an artificial light.

On the Mediterranean shore, a pug lounges inside a sun-drenched camper, gazing at a flaky cinnamon roll and a golden muffin. This shot celebrates the simple, sweet joys of life by the sea and the irresistible temptation of a perfect pastry.

Classic hot dogs being sold seat to seat at an Orioles Baseball game in Camden Yards, Baltimore.

This wedding at The Royal Crescent Hotel sees a group of friends enacting their traditional race to eat dessert without using hands or cutlery. The winner, who inhaled his in no time at all, celebrated emphatically whilst the others attempted to finish with various degrees of success and decorum.

Picture from campaign for Hochland cheese brand. Food Stylist: Gabi Sowa Retouching by Katarzyna Kędroń

Captured at the test kitchen of Masque in Mumbai, this image shows the chef experimenting with freezing food using liquid nitrogen. Known for its ingredient-driven philosophy, Masque champions locally sourced Indian produce, reimagined through progressive techniques and contemporary tasting menus.

An out-take from a book I photographed for cupcake decorator Rachel Lindsay (@cakedbyrach). Over the three-week shoot, she used leftover icing to create this glorious scene, which became the inside cover for the book.

FREEWORK | Bring them chocolate! Two little monkeys, fingers in the pot, chocolate everywhere. Styled for mess, framed for magic — drips, swirls, and indulgent chaos to celebrates sweetness and joy. Chocolate that steals the show, and sweet memories!

The image shows a close-up, highly detailed view of vibrant red pomegranate seeds. The seeds appear glossy and translucent, with tiny water droplets clinging to their smooth surfaces. The rich crimson tones dominate the frame, creating a vivid and almost luminous effect. The macro perspective highlights the juicy texture and natural shine of the seeds, making them look fresh and appetizing.

The photographic possibilities offered by drones are incredible. This image was taken in Oltrepò Pavese, and captures the Poggio Pregana hill from a bird's eye view. A magical place where excellent wine is produced and where you can spend wonderful moments in contact with nature or with friends. I shoot at dawn or dusk to capture these lights, and I enjoy these places to the fullest, in silence and admiration.

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

Dome shaped cake decorated with piped buttercream, edible gold splashes and fresh morello cherries

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 but yet it is still beautiful in its own right.

In Tanzania’s East Rift Corridor, water travels the way love often does, quietly, repeatedly, without witnesses. A father rides it home across cracked earth near Lake Eyasi, carrying the one thing a family cannot postpone. Each trip buys health, strength, and another day that holds together. In a landscape shaped by drought, care becomes logistics, and survival keeps rolling.

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.