The photography project Fe(e)d: Shared Space, Divided Attention has received an Honorable Mention in the Professional division of the 2026 International Photography Awards (IPA). The work was recognized in the People / Street Photography category.
Fe(e)d examines how digital media increasingly shapes everyday life and how attention becomes fragmented even when people occupy the same physical space. The project’s title plays on two meanings of “feed”: the act of nourishing and the continuous stream of content delivered through digital platforms. We consume this content while simultaneously using it to construct our digital identities.
The awarded image depicts an ordinary public setting in black and white. Although the people in the frame sit close to one another, each appears absorbed in a separate device or activity. The repeated arrangement of bodies, tables, chairs, and vertical structures gives the composition an almost symmetrical rhythm, dividing a shared environment into several isolated psychological spaces.
Rather than relying on a dramatic decisive moment, the photograph adopts a restrained observational approach. Its quietness reflects a familiar contemporary condition: physical proximity coexisting with divided attention and emotional distance.
Fe(e)d is part of a long-term photographic project exploring how minors shape their digital lives. The decision to avoid clearly identifiable frontal portraits is intentional, protecting the young people depicted while shifting attention away from specific individuals and toward a broader generational experience. As digital platforms, algorithmic feeds, and online relationships become part of the environment in which young people grow up, the project asks how they negotiate physical and virtual spaces—and how they gradually construct identities across both.
This Honorable Mention represents meaningful recognition of the project’s visual language and engagement with an urgent social issue. As Fe(e)d continues to develop, it will further examine the evolving relationship between digital technology, attention, and growing up, documenting how these forces manifest in ordinary moments that are easily overlooked.
Award Details
- Award: IPA 2026 Honorable Mention
- Division: Professional
- Category: People / Street Photography
- Photographer: Tianzuo Zhang
- Title: Fe(e)d: Shared Space, Divided Attention
- Official award page: International Photography Awards