Colombian Photographer Wins Sony World Photography Latin America Award for Endangered Frog Image

Juan Jacobo Castillo Barrera, a photographer from Barranquilla, Colombia, took the Latin America Regional Award at the 2026 Sony World Photography Awards with "Atelopus seminiferus," a vibrant image of an endangered Peruvian frog caught in the act of mating. The win, announced on March 17, places Castillo Barrera at the top of an open competition field that drew roughly 430,000 entries from 200 countries.

The winning image takes its name directly from its subject: Atelopus seminiferus, a species listed as endangered. The photograph's power lies not only in its technical execution but in what it documents — a fragile species in one of the world's most threatened ecosystems. Castillo Barrera has raised an alert that the Amazon site where the frog was photographed is now facing deforestation, adding an urgent conservation dimension to an already striking frame.

Mexico's Livier Miroslava Ultreras placed second in the Latin America Regional Open Competition, with Nicolas Aguiar of Uruguay claiming third for "Eyes of the Mountain," shot at Cerro Piltriquitron in El Bolsón, Argentina. The shortlist spanned the continent: Camila Belén González Camarero (Argentina) contributed "Memoria," described as an intimate communion with water where "memory and the present merge"; Alvaro Cubero Vega (Costa Rica) entered "Symmetry," a frontal portrait of a common murre; and shortlisted entries also came from Fabiana Fregonesi (Brazil), Camila Gattamelati (Chile), Johan Garrido Rivera (Ecuador), María Candelaria Rivera (Nicaragua), and Sergio Vila (Peru).

In the separate Latin America Professional Award category, Mexico's Citlali Fabian took first place ahead of María Fernanda García Freire of Ecuador in second and André Tezza of Brazil in third.

The Sony World Photography Awards, now in their 19th year and produced by Creo through its World Photography Organisation strand, simultaneously announced the 2026 Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient: acclaimed American photographer Joel Meyerowitz. Winning images and shortlisted work will be exhibited at Somerset House in London from April 17 through May 4, 2026. The 2026 edition also marks the introduction of two new categories: the European Student Award and the India National Award.