Shefali Khan and Aakash Gulzar: Winners of the Marai Photo Grant 2026 Announced

Chaired by Candida Ng, AFP Asia-Pacific photo director, the jury selected four young photographers from South Asia from dozens of candidates. This year’s theme was “My reality. Now. Water scarcity!”, highlighting one of the defining issues of our time.

The winners of the 5th edition are:

Women’s Category
 

• Winner: Shefali Khan

• Finalist: Bhavi Jariwala

Men’s Category
 

• Winner: Aakash Gulzar

• Finalist: Md Sofiqul Islam

Congratulations to the winners and finalists. An awards ceremony will be held at AFP’s New Delhi office, where each will receive Nikon equipment. The two winners will have the opportunity to develop their projects with guidance from AFP photographers. Their work will also be published by AFP. 

This grant honours Shah Marai, AFP’s former chief photographer in Kabul, who courageously documented Afghanistan’s tragedies and left a lasting mark on the profession. He described the extreme dangers of reporting in his country in a post on the Correspondent’s website, which provides a behind-the-scenes look into the news.
Shah Marai tragically lost his life in a suicide bombing in Kabul on 30 April 2018 at the age of 41.

Further details are available on the grant’s official website.