FEP Awards 2026: Two Recognitions in Reykjavík
The FEP Awards 2026
It is an honour, and a genuine source of gratitude, to share the results of the FEP Awards 2026, organised by the Federation of European Photographers and announced on 25 April in Reykjavík. Two of my submissions were recognised: a finalist position with 7th place in the Landscape category, and the Image of the Year Award in Volcano Photography.
The 2026 edition drew over 300 European photographers and more than 3,000 images from across the continent, judged by an international panel chaired by Johan Brouwers. The competition included an in-depth RAW file check, a process the FEP has reinforced over the past three years to safeguard the principle of pure photography by prioritising authenticity and integrity. Receiving these results within that framework is something I value deeply.
“Colours of Highlands.” A near vertical aerial of a glacial pond at the edge of a volcanic plateau in the Icelandic Highlands.
The Image of the Year Award in Volcano Photography is, in many ways, the recognition closest to home. The two volcano frames in the panel cover both ends of the spectrum I usually document.
“A Powerful Beginning” captures the very first hours of a fissure eruption during the last Svartsengi 2023-2025 sequence, with the curtain of fire stretched across the horizon and pāhoehoe flows already advancing in long incandescent ropes through the foreground.
“After the Rain, the Crater Breathes” sits at the opposite pole: a single active cone in steady effusive activity, the eruptive plume shaped by humidity and a brief weather window, with a small human figure on the ridge at the right edge of the frame for scale.
“A Powerful Beginning.” The opening hours of a fissure eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula, with the curtain of fire stretched across the horizon and pāhoehoe flows already advancing through the foreground.
Both volcano images belong to the documentation cycle that opened in 2021 with Fagradalsfjall and has continued through every Reykjanes eruption since. The work is rarely about a single frame. It is about being present, repeatedly, across years and across hazards, and trusting that the right light and the right geometry will eventually intersect with the right eruption.
The Landscape finalist position rests on a different but parallel discipline, built around the Icelandic Highlands and anchored by “Colours of Highlands.” It is a near vertical aerial of a glacial pond at the edge of a volcanic plateau, where meltwater, sediment, and the geometry of the surrounding land converge into a composition that reads almost as a cross-section of the country itself. The Highlands are central to my long-term landscape work, and seeing this frame placed within the European Landscape finalists, in a category traditionally dominated by classical and meticulously composed work from across the continent, means a great deal.
“After the Rain, the Crater Breathes.” The main crater of the first eruption at Fagradalsfjall in 2021with its plume shaped by humidity and a sunny weather window after a heavy rainshower. A small human figure on the ridge at the right edge of the frame gives the scene its scale.
The Reykjavík ceremony and the LÍ 100th anniversary celebration
The Reykjavík ceremony was held within an exceptional context. The FEP Awards 2026 took place on the same day as the 100th anniversary celebration of Ljósmyndarafélag Íslands, the Icelandic Photographers’ Association, hosted at Hilton Reykjavík Nordica in partnership with FEP and the World Photographic Cup. The day brought together more than 500 registered guests, lectures by Kate and Brent Kirkman, Benjamin Hardman, and Ragnar Axelsson, and a visit from the President of Iceland, Halla Tómasdóttir, who took part in a symbolic glass plate portrait marking a century of Icelandic photography. To receive these recognitions in my home city, on a day that also celebrated a hundred years of the Icelandic photographic community, made the moment particularly meaningful.
Three Icelandic photographers reached the FEP finals this year. My warmest congratulations go to my friend and colleague Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove, who took the Silver Award in Landscape and the Bronze Award in Nature, an outstanding double recognition, and to Rán Bjargardóttir, who placed 8th in Nature, and whose work on the board of Ljósmyndarafélag Íslands was central to making the anniversary celebration the success it was. The dedication of the entire LÍ board, in partnership with FEP and WPC, gave Reykjavík one of the largest photographic events ever held in Iceland.
My thanks to chairman Johan Brouwers and the international jury, to the FEP and to Ljósmyndarafélag Íslands for hosting an event of this scale in Iceland, and to the colleagues, scientists, and rescue teams I cross paths with on every fissure. Congratulations also to Wolfgang Gangl, named European Professional Photographer of the Year for the second consecutive year.
For the full list of FEP Awards 2026 results, see europeanphotographers.eu.
Marco Di Marco – Marco Di Marco | Photojournalist, Videomaker, Guide, Iceland