The winning images of the Sony World Photography Awards 2025

Samuel Buchmann

18/4/2025

Translation: machine translated

The Sony World Photography Awards recognise work in ten professional categories. This year, Zed Nelson receives the main prize for his series on the human subjugation of nature.

Englishman Zed Nelson wins the title «Photographer of the Year» at the Sony World Photography Awards 2025. This is endowed with 25,000 US dollars. Nelson was selected from ten winners in the professional categories. In addition to the award winners, the jury also honoured renowned documentary photographer Susan Meiselas for her life's work at the awards ceremony in London.

A total of 420,000 entries were submitted to this year's competition - more than ever before and more than any other photo competition. Under this link you will find all the photo series of the first three places in each of the professional categories. The finalists' images will also be on display at Somerset House in London until 5 May.

The images were judged by a professional jury from the Creo organisation. CEO Scott Gray praised the high standard of the entries. The quantity had in no way had a negative impact on the quality. Unlike many other photo competitions, participation in the Sony World Photography Awards is free of charge. They were awarded for the 18th time this year.

Photographer of the Year / Wildlife: Zed Nelson

In a relatively short period of time, humans have changed the world dramatically: We have divorced ourselves from nature and are trying to subjugate it. By restricting its habitat, we are eradicating animal and plant species. But we can't and don't want to be completely without nature. That is why, according to photographer Zed Nelson, we are creating a curated, choreographed version of it: animals become actors for our entertainment on safaris and in national parks. We decide what is allowed to survive where.

For his project «The Anthropocene Illusion», Nelson spent six years on four continents exploring how we are moving into increasingly simulated environments to mask our destructive impact on nature. The series is technically brilliantly realised. However, it goes far beyond «beautiful images of nature» and is thought-provoking.

Here is the link to the whole series.

Documentary: Toby Binder

There are few countries in Europe where a past conflict is still as present in everyday life as it is in Northern Ireland. It is not just the physical barriers such as walls and fences, but also the psychological divisions in society - even after the signing of the peace agreement in 1998, which put an end to the violent conflict between Protestants and Catholics.

Toby Binder has been documenting what it means for young people to grow up under these intergenerational tensions for many years. With his employees, he wants to show how similar the everyday lives of the opposing groups actually are.

Here is the link to the whole series.

Creative: Rhiannon Adam

The project «Rhi-Entry» by Rhiannon Adam has an extraordinary personal background story. The British photographer was selected by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa for the first civilian mission into outer space in 2021 - as the only woman out of a million applicants. Under the project name «dearMoon», the crew was to fly the route of the Apollo 8 rocket in a SpaceX spacecraft.

For three years, Adam immersed himself in space travel and underwent various training programmes. But in 2024, Maezawa abruptly cancelled the mission. For no good reason. The photographer dealt with her frustration with a mixed-media project that blends reality and fiction. The title is a play on words from her name and the English word «Reentry» - re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere is considered the most dangerous part of space travel. For Adams, re-entry into normal life felt similarly difficult.

Here is the link to the whole series.

Portrait: Gui Christ

«M'kumba» is an ongoing project that aims to draw attention to religious intolerance. Afro-Brazilian religions were criminalised in Brazil until 1970. Even today, they are still subject to prejudice and violence. More than 2000 attacks were reported in 2024 alone.

As a trained Afro-religious priest, Brazilian photographer Gui Christ experienced for himself how a car tried to run him over while he was wearing religious clothing. He then started his project. The intimate images are intended to celebrate spiritual traditions that, according to the photographer, are essential to Brazil's cultural identity.

Here is the link to the entire series.

Environment: Nicolás Garrido Huguet

«Alquimia Textil» is a joint project by Nicolás Garrido Huguet and the researcher and fashion designer María Lucía Muñoz. Together they document the natural dyeing techniques of the artisans of Pumaqwasin in Chinchero, Peru. Industrial methods are on the verge of completely replacing traditional dyeing processes, while climate change is threatening the plants that are essential for these processes.

The photographs show three types of dye. Huguet employed analogue cameras and old lenses that were no longer completely light-tight. This imperfection turned from a nuisance into a metaphor: just like the natural colouring agents, the image defects also produce results with an individual character. «Nature has participated in photography», says the Peruvian photographer.

Here is the link to the entire series.

Sport: Chantal Pinzi

In India, the most populous country in the world with more than 1.4 billion inhabitants, there are only a handful of female skaters. With her work «Shred the Patriarchy», Italian photographer Chantal Pinzi wants to show how women use sport as an instrument of resistance against oppression and stereotyping.

Some of the protagonists have fought against arranged marriages with the help of the community, others have achieved financial independence through skateboarding. The images of the Indian women in their dresses on boards are surprising. At the same time, however, the unusual scene fits perfectly with the rebellious skateboard culture.

Here is the link to the whole series.

Perspectives: Laura Pannack

The way home from school is a memory we can all relate to. Laura Pannack's project follows young people in the gang-ridden Cape Flat rate neighbourhood in Cape Town. They are regularly exposed to the deadly danger of crossfire on their way to school.

With «The Journey Home From School» Pannack wins the newly created category «Perspectives». It honours works that explore topics in multiple layers. In this case, this is done through poetry, analogue photography, drawings, collages and cyanotypes. The intimate portrayal of growing up in the midst of stark social contrasts offers a rare insight into a confusing and challenging world.

Here is the link to the whole series.

Architecture: Ulana Switucha

Public toilets are not usually particularly attractive places. The Tokyo Toilet Project in the Japanese capital is changing that: the quiet little toilets in the Shibuya-ku district are real architectural masterpieces. Ulana Switucha from Canada has documented the urban development project in photographs. The winning images are part of a larger project.

Here is the link to the entire series.

Scape: Seido cinema

What does progress mean? Depending on the location, the answer to this question is quite different. For his work «The Strata of Time», Japanese photographer Seido Kino combines archive images from the post-war period with current photographs. The old photos were taken by the local population.

The scenes show how people have migrated from rural areas in Japan. Schools have died out, whole areas have been flooded with reservoirs, old railway lines no longer exist. At the same time, cities are groaning under overpopulation.

Here is the link to the whole series.

Still Life: Peter Franck

The Still Life category is won by an artist who claims not to be a photographer himself: Peter Franck collects images from libraries and uses them to create collages. «Still Waiting» presents moments of pause. The images show thresholds where time seems to stretch.

«Everything hangs in the balance, in a fragile equilibrium in which intervention seems imminent», writes Franck. «Fractions of a second away from a decisive action, the images linger in a fleeting moment of stillness, a breath, before the world moves again.»

Here is the link to the whole series.

Life's work: Susan Meiselas

The award for the «outstanding article on photography» goes to the renowned Magnum photographer Susan Meiselas. She is known for her collaborative approach to portrait photography and has repeatedly delved into worlds far removed from public perception over the years. For example, she has documented American carnival strippers and a sado-maso establishment in New York (NSFW).

One of Meisela's most famous images is the «Molotov Man». He became a symbol of the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, where Meiselas photographed the uprisings. Over 60 of her images are on display as part of the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House in London. They show some of the most important topics of Meisela's work over five decades.

Samuel Buchmann

Senior Editor

Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.ch

My fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.

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