The results of the international mobile photography competition HUAWEI XMAGE Awards 2026 were summed up in Paris. From 820 thousand applications, the jury selected the 100 best works, and three participants received the main awards. The ceremony took place on November 11 at the Grand Palais, where the exhibition “A Life-Affirming View of the World” also opened.
One of the three photographers of the year was Ali Abdul Hamid Al-Arbash with a series of photographs “Light and Shadows of France” taken on the Huawei P60 Pro smartphone. The author captured the everyday life of Paris: passers-by relaxing on the banks of the Seine, a couple in love at sunset and a child among soap bubbles. The jury praised the composition of the photographs and the photographer’s work with natural light.
Image source: Huawei
Another major award was awarded to Mai Shunxi for her photograph “Fleeting Encounter.” The photo shows a girl looking directly into the camera, with a blurry figure of a man visible in the background. According to the author, the work is dedicated to random meetings of people in a big city. The jury members paid attention to the heroine’s expressive gaze and the contrast between her motionless face and blurred movement.
Image source: Huawei
The third major award went to Wan Ben’s “Looking Through Time and Space.” In the black-and-white photograph, ancient stone sculptures are set against the sky, which is crossed by the contrail of an airplane. The jury highlighted the contrast between centuries-old monuments and the rapidly disappearing trace symbolizing modernity.
Image source: Huawei
Each of the three main award winners will receive a creative grant in the amount of $10 thousand. The remaining 97 participants included in the XMAGE 100 list will receive $1,500 each. Such amounts are provided for in the official terms of the Huawei competition. Grant amounts are shown before taxes.
The exhibition “A Life-affirming View of the World” was organized by Huawei and the international photo fair Paris Photo. The exhibition is divided into three thematic zones: “Contemplation of Nature”, “Observation of the World” and “Observation of People”. A separate space is dedicated to the ten-year history of the photo competition.
The historical part of the exhibition presents photographs of past years, elements of Huawei smartphone cameras and materials on the development of mobile photography. Visitors will be able to see how the NEXT-IMAGE competition gradually turned into the XMAGE Awards. The Paris Photo fair itself will take place from November 12 to 15.
In 2025, the international XMAGE Awards competition received 743 thousand entries from participants from 78 countries and regions. Then the winners were also awarded in Paris, where the exhibition “The World, Me and You” was held.
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