Winning images from Army Photography Competition offer unique insight into service life
The winners of the 2026 British Army Photographic Competition have been announced, once again shining a light on the reality of military life through the lenses of serving personnel.
The yearly competition with categories such as Army Photographer of the Year, Image of the Year, People's Choice, Video and Capability, gives civilians an authentic glimpse into the grit and dedication of modern soldiers and reflects the diversity of the Army, from its people to the wide range of jobs and roles.
This year's winners include Staff Sgt Donald Todd, Sergeant Adam Wakefield, Corporal Nathan Tanuku, Lance Sergeant William Farmer and Sergeant Andrew Grayson, all of whom spoke to BFBS Forces News about their winning image and what inspires them.
Overall Image of the Year
Sergeant Adam Wakefield, an Army photographer attached to the Combined Arms Manoeuvre School in Warminster, won the Overall Image of the Year category with a photo of a sniper and spotter on a Sniper Platoon Commanders Course and Sniper Section Commanders Course.
Speaking to BFBS Forces News, Sgt Wakefield said: "Snipers have that mystique about them throughout the Army.
"Everyone likes snipers because of what they do and the precision that it takes and the skill set that they have.
"And for me, as a photographer, I just see light.
"And the sun started to set and the light was coming through nicely so I got down low to get a bit of foreground interest with the grass and yeah, just got the shot and I didn't really think too deeply into it."
Professional Portfolio Category
Staff Sergeant Donald Todd of the Royal Logistic Corps won in the People and Professional Portfolio category.
The winning image he is most proud of is that of a soldier taken during the military procession and flypast in central London to mark 80 years since Victory in Europe.
Being a Scottish man himself, he was inspired to take the photo because of the "Scottishness" of the image.
He said: "Obviously, being Scottish myself, I wanted to capture a bit of tartan in central London.
"So then obviously his moustache, it was a close second after the piercing, blue eyes, but I just thought [he had a] very stern face, very, stoic looking.
"And I think also... it's almost timeless."
Story
Corporal Nathan Tanuku was the winner in the Story category, in which he had to submit six images from the same event that told a story.
He saw this as an opportunity to shine the spotlight on a group of soldiers who work tirelessly behind the scenes but often get overlooked – military chefs cooking in the field.
He said: "I know that chefs are kind of like our unsung heroes.
"They work tirelessly in terms of getting up early in the morning, 3 to 4 am to get breakfast ready at seven for the troops and even in the evening, once everyone's had their food, they still have to clean up and prepare for the next meal the next day.
"So actually spending time to take good imagery of them and tell their story and to win it was quite humbling."
Capability
Lance Sergeant William Farmer, the unit photographer for the Grenadier Guards, won in the Capability category with an image taken on Salisbury Plain of new Guardsmen who have never touched a mortar before firing for the first time.
He said: "It was just sort of right place, right time, to be able to get the illume popping, which is sort of the fireworks.
"I knew as soon as I took it I was going to enter it into the Army Photography Competition but it was just luck really."
Best Video
Sergeant Andrew Grayson is part of the team what won the Best Video category for BIG RED ONE: A Christmas Mission from the UK Armed Forces, also known as Operation Silent Night.
At first, to some who were asked to take part in the festive video, the idea seemed a little frivolous, but the final product is a slick portrayal of the all three branches of the UK's Armed Forces working together.
The truly tri-service effort also saw a contribution from NORAD. based at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado – famous for tracking Santa on Christmas Eve.
Sgt Grayson, who for this video was Director of Photography, said: "[We filmed] the RAF scrambling fighter jets to escort Santa, so we went and recorded some of that and then used some existing RAF stuff.
"The Pathfinders handed us some footage and of them parachuting out. And I went and recorded some footage of them on an old, abandoned runway, setting up the lights for [Santa to land].
"So, in their eyes, because we tried to make everything quite realistic, the Army officially classes, just from doing that video, they class Santa Claus as a light Cessna aircraft for the purposes of marking runways."
In addition, Major Ben Norfield was the winner in the Amateur Portfolio Category.
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