AFP awards the winners of the 2026 Marai Photo Grant

This year's theme was "My Reality. Now. Water Scarcity!", drawing attention to one of the most pressing issues of our time.

Two young Indian photographers took home the top prizes: Shefali Khan in the women's category and Aakash Gulzar in the men's category. Jury President Candida Ng, who is also AFP Asia-Pacific Photo Director, presented each winner with a Nikon kit (Z6III + Z 24-120/4), a trophy, and a grant to fund their projects.

The winners will also be paired with AFP mentor photographers, Wakil Kohsar and Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, who will guide them as they develop their work. Once complete, their projects will be distributed on AFP wires, giving them broad international visibility.

The grant is organised by AFP and open to photographers aged 26 and under from South Asia.

It honors Shah Marai, AFP's former chief photographer in Kabul, who documented the tragic events in Afghanistan with remarkable talent and dedication. He wrote about the dangers of covering the news in his country in a post on the Correspondent website, which goes behind the scenes of AFP's reporting. Shah Marai tragically lost his life in a suicide bombing in Kabul on April 30, 2018, at the age of 41.