URBAN Photo Arena 2026: meet the four semi-finalists and the Best Voter!
The knockout stage of URBAN Photo Arena, the contest dedicated to young talents under 35, has come to an end. We are delighted to announce the names of the 4 photographers who have earned a place in the semi-finals:
- Ali Zolghadri – Between the Ruptures
- Shamim Ul Islam – Echoes of the Shipyard
- Silvia Missura – The Shadow Leap
- Nicolò Edoardo Pais – Into the Blue
Our congratulations and best of luck to all four on reaching this stage!
The contest now moves to Trieste Photo Days (22–25 October), where the last two rounds will be played out live in front of the festival audience. In this final stage the winners will be decided by the jurors of URBAN Photo Awards 2026: Mark Power, Christopher Morris, Mihaela Noroc, Salwan Georges, Barbara Silbe and many more.
- Semi-finals: Friday 23 October – Sala Xenia
- Final: Saturday 24 October, during the URBAN Photo Awards ceremony – Sala Xenia
The competing photographs by the four semi-finalists will be on display in the Sala Arturo Fittke as part of TALENT2026 under 35, the Trieste Photo Days section devoted to young photographers, which also features The Future Was Extracted Here by Marcel Van Beek, winner of the 3rd Patricia D. Richards Legacy Award. The exhibition will also include the sixteen highest-placed images from the first round of voting. URBAN Photo Arena is organised in collaboration with the Department of Education and Family Policies through PAG – Youth Area Project of the Municipality of Trieste.
You can see the full bracket, with every entrant, here.
The Best Voter of URBAN Photo Arena 2026
Congratulations to Brunella Pastore, winner of the URBAN Photo Arena Best Voter prize! Match after match, she spotted the photographs that were going to go through, and that consistency took her to the top of the leaderboard.
The prize consists of a €150 Amazon voucher and a Stroppa camera strap worth €60, and will be presented during the festival’s awards ceremony.
The prize
There are two ways to win this competition. Alongside the usual podium for the best photographs as voted by the jury (made up of the entrants themselves and the URBAN Top Jury), there is also a prize for consistent voting and for the photographic instinct to pick the winning shot. The Best Voter prize goes to whoever has collected the most points by the end of the semi-final round.
How the scoring works
Every time a photograph you voted for in a match goes through to the next round, you earn points. The points on offer rise round by round, which keeps the contest gripping and unpredictable right to the last minute! The Best Voter prize is therefore within reach of every entrant, including photographers already knocked out of the main competition.
