People's choice - This Is Diabetes

WINNERS ANNOUNCED 14 NOVEMBER

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EXPLORE THE STORIES
AND CHOOSE YOUR FAVORITE!

30 OCTOBER - 8 NOVEMBER

Vote for the People's Choice Award

This Is Diabetes Art and Photography Competition invited people around the world to explore the theme “This Is the Moment Everything Changed.”

The entries featured below are a selection of submissions from this year’s competition. Each finalist has shared an artwork or photograph and the personal story behind it.

Explore the entries below, read their stories, and vote for the piece that resonates with you most. Your choice will help decide the 2026 People’s Choice Award.

How to vote

Browse the pre-selected artworks and photographs.
Click ‘Read more’ to view the full story.
Choose your favorite and click “Select”
Enter your country and email address to submit your vote.

You can cast one vote during the public voting period per person.

Voting closes on 8 November 2026 at 11:59:59 pm Pacific Standard Time (PST).

Voting form

NOTE: The artwork, photographs and accompanying stories have been submitted by individual competition participants and reflect their personal experiences and perspectives. They do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Ascensia Diabetes Care.

The Girl and the Two Dragons: Hypoglycemia and Hyperglycemia

by Isabelle

When I run, I often feel as if I am being chased by two dragons: Hypoglycemia and Hyperglycemia. Still, I love to run. Despite their...

No AI was used to create this work

When Sugar Dictates the Path

by Daniela

The real blow came on my birthday, straight from the laboratory test results. I received a ‘gift’ that turned my life upside down. At that...

No AI was used to create this work

Fragility

by Alexis

This image emerged from accompanying my grandmother through her journey with diabetes, which ultimately took her life this year. The insulin injections, photographed in detail,...

No AI was used to create this work

The Sword I Never Chose

by Enya

Living with type 1 diabetes means carrying something with me every single day that I never asked for. The needles, cannulas and other medical supplies...

Yes, AI was used to create this work

AI was used to support the post-processing of my original photograph, mainly to refine the background and enhance the overall visual atmosphere. The original concept, composition, photograph and personal story are my own.

Imagine Diabetes

by Benedetto

It was created to help those without diabetes understand what it is and what it is like to live with it, and at the same...

No AI was used to create this work

Mira

by Rosmarie

My type 1 diabetes is always here. With new technologies—pumps, sensors and AI programmes that control everything—we have become very dependent on technology. So, in...

No AI was used to create this work

Once Upon a Time There Was a Person

by Martina

I was inspired by the life of my friend, who had diabetes. My friend is no longer with us. It is quite a dramatic image....

No AI was used to create this work

Patches Full of Courage

by Cordula

Courage is colorful. Our daughter was not yet four years old when she was diagnosed. The news hit us hard, presenting our family with major...

Yes, AI was used to create this work

The designs for the plasters were created primarily by our daughter and us as a family. We used AI as a source of inspiration when further developing specific ideas; however, the concepts, the design of the motifs, and the layout on the plasters were always determined by us. The photo mosaic was created using our own photos of the plasters and a specialized online photo mosaic service.

Untitled

by Carolina

This piece reflects the relentless routine of living between needles and insulin. For a long time, I struggled with the pain, fatigue, and frustration of...

No AI was used to create this work

Dark Side

by Andrés

I have lived for 30 years with Type 1 Diabetes. I come from a family with four consecutive generations of diabetics. I have been comfortable...

No AI was used to create this work

On Planet Ragus

by Karina

My name is Kari and I have been living with Type 1 diabetes since I was nine years old, in 2005. For many years, I've...

No AI was used to create this work

I Am

by Ewelina

At sixteen, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. In an instant, my life changed. I had to learn to live with the condition, but...

No AI was used to create this work

The Signs Were There

by Edwin Erick

We look in mirrors every day, but looking and truly seeing are not always the same thing. I wanted to capture that quiet but significant...

No AI was used to create this work

Give Me Your Hand

by Elena

When I became pregnant with my daughter, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes... Something temporary, lasting a few months, but not to be underestimated. It...

No AI was used to create this work

The Light After Me

by Paola

Living with type 1 diabetes has changed my life in ways I never imagined. Complications have brought pain, uncertainty, and losses I never would have...

No AI was used to create this work

Diabetes – A Tremor

by Maike

A Tremor, a Tumult, a Rift The diagnosis of type 1 diabetes completely overwhelmed us as a family. From one moment to the next, nothing...

No AI was used to create this work

The Moment That Changed Everything

by Alfredo

I've been type 1 for 9 years, diagnosed at 35. I had no idea what diabetes was; no one had it in my family, in...

No AI was used to create this work

The Same Scars, A Different Day

by Attaya

At just six years old, my son’s life changed when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Now thirteen, he lives with a daily routine...

Yes, AI was used to create this work

AI was used to generate the visual artwork and help develop the symbolic composition. The concept and emotional direction were inspired by my son’s real-life experience of growing up with type 1 diabetes, including daily blood glucose monitoring, insulin injections, and his hopes for the future.

The Weight of the Invisible

by MLe Aurelie

This piece is inspired by my personal journey: 30 years living with Type 1 diabetes, diagnosed at age 14. Behind an active life and smiles...

No AI was used to create this work

A Necessary Wound

by Ciara

My research project for Art School catalogs insights into my lived experience of Type One Diabetes, in which the body is the site and subject...

No AI was used to create this work

Untitled

by Kevin

Although I do not personally live with diabetes, I deeply empathize with those who do. This is what drew me to the “This Is Diabetes”...

No AI was used to create this work

Tater Tots and Insulin

by Nickie

I was diagnosed with T1D at 10 years old. It has been a part of me for over half of my life, and I barely...

No AI was used to create this work

A New Way of Seeing

by Francesca

There are changes that begin at a specific moment but continue over time. For me, that moment was my diagnosis. Since then, diabetes has transformed...

No AI was used to create this work

The Spiral of Questions

by Jose Manuel

My artwork is inspired by how I felt when I found out I had this medical condition. This was the moment everything changed. I was...

No AI was used to create this work

Deep Red

by Paula

In the dark. That’s how I felt. Seven years ago. I was born a second time. I found myself living a new life, a life...

No AI was used to create this work

The Loneliness No One Sees

by Ursula

On 10 October 2024, my life changed in a way I could never have prepared for. I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the...

No AI was used to create this work

Control forever

by Katarzyna

I've had diabetes since 1989, since I was five years old. I was taught to manage it under a strange system in which the amount...

No AI was used to create this work

Above the Earth, Beneath the Skin

by Elisa Adagio

Before any diagnosis, we always have the illusion that life is a straightforward, predictable journey. On the surface, everything seems normal, but beneath the skin,...

No AI was used to create this work

The Fall into the Unknown

by Ángel Gabriel

This painting captures the raw emotional impact of receiving a diabetes diagnosis, a turning point when the reality you once knew suddenly disappears, giving way...

No AI was used to create this work

The Maze We Didn’t Choose

by Laura

A mother, a diagnosis, and the journey toward stability. Leo was two and a half years old when our lives changed forever. Type 1 diabetes...

No AI was used to create this work

Footprints

by Eduardo

I have always believed that we are made up of the footprints left by everyone who has passed through our lives and made us feel...

No AI was used to create this work

Our Encounter

by Renata

Our encounter was the moment everything changed for me. The first time I met someone else living with type 1 diabetes, everything changed. Suddenly, I...

No AI was used to create this work

The Eyes Are the Windows to the Soul

by Melissa

As an optometrist, I have had the opportunity to work alongside ophthalmologists specializing in retina, and through this experience, I have witnessed the devastating impact...

No AI was used to create this work

Hypo on the Street

by Branko

Society’s Attitudes and Prejudices. The problem of society’s attitudes, the frequent social stigma, and the lack of understanding faced by people with diabetes during an...

No AI was used to create this work

Falling ‘n Flying

by Wendy

Ups ’n downs, highs ’n lows, falling ’n flying. The feelings of type one diabetes: sometimes it goes really well and it feels like flying;...

No AI was used to create this work

Cycle

by Levent

This artwork reveals, with monochrome clarity, the invisible discipline, vulnerability, and compulsory truce one negotiates with their own body while living with diabetes. The insulin...

No AI was used to create this work

Doses of Life

by Nathalia

Since I was two years old, I have lived with type 1 diabetes. I have no memories of life before my diagnosis. I grew up...

No AI was used to create this work

Same goal, unequal paths.

by Safa

Since I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of five, I often heard that I would not be able to do the...

No AI was used to create this work

Our little warrior, Pippa

by Lyka

Our little warrior, Pippa. On October 30, 2024, our world changed forever when our beautiful Pippa was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at just 18...

No AI was used to create this work

Your Winner

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Your email address will be used to validate your vote and help ensure that each person votes only once. It will not be displayed publicly.

By submitting your vote, you confirm that you have read the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Your vote can make a difference

The winner of the People’s Choice Award will nominate an eligible diabetes charity to receive a €3,000 donation.

Every vote also helps shine a light on the personal experiences and defining moments that shape life with diabetes.

The People’s Choice Award is separate from the main competition prizes, which are selected by the This Is Diabetes judging panel.

Come back to see the winners

The This Is Diabetes 2026 winners will be announced on 14 November 2026.

Come back to discover the winning entries and the stories behind them, and follow This Is Diabetes on social media for the latest updates.

Thank you for supporting the diabetes community and helping share the moments that changed everything.