The 18th Sony World Photography Awards announced its 2025 overall winners at a London gala.
British Photographer Zed Nelson won the Photographer of the Year title for his series The Anthropocene Illusion. Zed received $25,000, Sony equipment, and a 2026 exhibition. He was chosen from the 10 Professional category winners.
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
The Anthropocene Illusion by Zed Nelson
IMAGE: The painted backdrop of this chimpanzee enclosure at the Shanghai Wild Animal Park in China is impressive in its artistry, but serves to provide a comforting illusion only to human observers.
In their natural habitat in the forests of Central Africa, chimpanzees spend most of their days in the treetops.
Being one of the most socially complex species among all non-human primates, chimpanzees in the wild live in societies ranging in size between 20 and 150 individuals. Photograph: Zed Nelson, United Kingdom, Photographer of the Year, Professional competition, Wildlife & Nature, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
In their natural habitat in the forests of Central Africa, chimpanzees spend most of their days in the treetops.
Being one of the most socially complex species among all non-human primates, chimpanzees in the wild live in societies ranging in size between 20 and 150 individuals. Photograph: Zed Nelson, United Kingdom, Photographer of the Year, Professional competition, Wildlife & Nature, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
The event also recognised the Open, Student, and Youth overall winners, and honoured Documentary Photographer Susan Meiselas for her Outstanding Contribution to Photography.
Here are the winning photographs from each category and the 2025 shortlist winners galleries.
STILL LIFE
Breath of Wind by Peter Franck
IMAGE: These images depict the liminal space between events, a threshold where time seems to stretch, and meanings remain unfixed.
The juxtaposition of objects within the space leaves room for interpretation, inviting surreal flights of thought.
Everything is suspended, held in a fragile equilibrium where intervention feels imminent.
Fractions of a second away from decisive action, the images linger in a fleeting moment of stillness, a breath before the world moves again. Photograph: Peter Franck, Germany, Winner, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
The juxtaposition of objects within the space leaves room for interpretation, inviting surreal flights of thought.
Everything is suspended, held in a fragile equilibrium where intervention feels imminent.
Fractions of a second away from decisive action, the images linger in a fleeting moment of stillness, a breath before the world moves again. Photograph: Peter Franck, Germany, Winner, Professional competition, Still Life, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
SPORT
Shred the Patriarchy by Chantal Pinzi
IMAGE: Asha's hand, decorated with mehendi or henna, an ancient form of body art that originated in India.
India, the world's most populous country with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, only has a handful of female skaters.
It is here that Shred the Patriarchy comes to life, portraying how, against prejudice and threats, some women have rebelled, balancing on a board and transforming skateboarding into a form of resistance against the patriarchy.
Through the art of falling and getting back up, these women challenge stereotypes, fight marginalisation and reclaim public spaces in both urban and rural areas.
Many have managed to avoid arranged marriages, while others have gained financial independence and earned respect within their communities by skateboarding.
It is with these simple yet revolutionary gestures that young Indian women make the patriarchal system tremble, reclaiming the freedom to imagine something different for themselves: to be a voice and no longer an echo. Photograph: Chantal Pinzi, Italy, Winner, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2025.
India, the world's most populous country with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, only has a handful of female skaters.
It is here that Shred the Patriarchy comes to life, portraying how, against prejudice and threats, some women have rebelled, balancing on a board and transforming skateboarding into a form of resistance against the patriarchy.
Through the art of falling and getting back up, these women challenge stereotypes, fight marginalisation and reclaim public spaces in both urban and rural areas.
Many have managed to avoid arranged marriages, while others have gained financial independence and earned respect within their communities by skateboarding.
It is with these simple yet revolutionary gestures that young Indian women make the patriarchal system tremble, reclaiming the freedom to imagine something different for themselves: to be a voice and no longer an echo. Photograph: Chantal Pinzi, Italy, Winner, Professional competition, Sport, Sony World Photography Awards 2025.
PORTRAITURE
M'kumba by Gui Christ [When Esu Crossed the Atlantic to Support His People]
IMAGE: A portrait of Afro-Brazilian religious practitioner, Inage Kaluana, representing the arrival of the Orixa Exu in Brazil caused by the forced migration of enslaved Yoruba people.
Exu is considered the messenger who connects the material world (Aiye) and the spiritual realm (Orun), holding profound significance for enslaved communities.
It was believed that he could carry their prayers to the divine, offering solace and alleviating their suffering in the face of oppression. Salvador, Brazil. Photograph: Gui Christ, Brazil, Winner, Professional competition, Portraiture, Sony World Photography Awards 2025.
Exu is considered the messenger who connects the material world (Aiye) and the spiritual realm (Orun), holding profound significance for enslaved communities.
It was believed that he could carry their prayers to the divine, offering solace and alleviating their suffering in the face of oppression. Salvador, Brazil. Photograph: Gui Christ, Brazil, Winner, Professional competition, Portraiture, Sony World Photography Awards 2025.
PERSPECTIVES
The Journey Home From School by Laura Pannack
IMAGE: Making our way home from school is a simple, nostalgic, universal activity that we can all relate to.
This project explores the tumultuous public lives of young people in the gang-governed Cape Flats area of Cape Town, South Africa, where their daily commute carries the risk of death.
Using handmade, lo-fi experimental techniques, this project explores how young people have to walk to and from school, avoiding the daily threat of gang crossfire.
Through poetry, analogue photography, drawings, collages and cyanotypes, an intimate portrayal of adolescence amidst stark social divides is created that offers a rare insight into this confusing and challenging world. Photograph: Laura Pannack, United Kingdom, Winner, Professional competition, Perspectives, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
This project explores the tumultuous public lives of young people in the gang-governed Cape Flats area of Cape Town, South Africa, where their daily commute carries the risk of death.
Using handmade, lo-fi experimental techniques, this project explores how young people have to walk to and from school, avoiding the daily threat of gang crossfire.
Through poetry, analogue photography, drawings, collages and cyanotypes, an intimate portrayal of adolescence amidst stark social divides is created that offers a rare insight into this confusing and challenging world. Photograph: Laura Pannack, United Kingdom, Winner, Professional competition, Perspectives, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
LANDSCAPE
Depopulation by Seido Kino
IMAGE: Several elementary schools in the mountainous areas of the San-in region are scheduled for consolidation shortly after their 150th anniversary.
The number of students, which was once more than 100, has drastically reduced to only a few students per grade.
The town's population has decreased by half since Japan's rapid economic growth period, as young people have been moving to the cities. This photograph is combined with an archival image provided by Hiromu Saeki. Photograph: Seido Kino, Japan, Winner, Professional competition, Landscape, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
The number of students, which was once more than 100, has drastically reduced to only a few students per grade.
The town's population has decreased by half since Japan's rapid economic growth period, as young people have been moving to the cities. This photograph is combined with an archival image provided by Hiromu Saeki. Photograph: Seido Kino, Japan, Winner, Professional competition, Landscape, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
ENVIRONMENT
Washing Fibres by Nicolas Garrido Huguet
IMAGE: Dionisia, Nilda, and Braulia washing the recently dyed fibres in the lake.
A unique aspect of natural dyes is their harmony with the ecosystem; chemical dyes would release toxic substances into the lake, but natural dyes integrate seamlessly with the environment, preserving its balance. Photograph: Nicolas Garrido Huguet, Peru, Winner, Professional competition, Environment, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
A unique aspect of natural dyes is their harmony with the ecosystem; chemical dyes would release toxic substances into the lake, but natural dyes integrate seamlessly with the environment, preserving its balance. Photograph: Nicolas Garrido Huguet, Peru, Winner, Professional competition, Environment, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS
Divided Youth by Toby Binder
IMAGE: Ryley over the rooftops of Empire Parade. Photograph: Toby Binder, Germany, Winner, Professional competition, Documentary Projects, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
CREATIVE
Rhi-Entry by Rhiannon Adam
IMAGE: Bill Anders was the lunar module pilot on 1968's Apollo 8 mission, the first manned mission to the Moon. He photographed Earthrise, the most reproduced photograph in human history.
He famously wondered if NASA should have sent poets 'cause I don't think we captured, in its entirety, the grandeur of what we had seen.'
The planned flight path for the dearMoon voyage was set to retrace that of Apollo 8. This time, artists would be aboard, finally answering Apollo 8's call 60 years later. Photograph: Rhiannon Adam, United Kingdom, Winner, Professional competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
He famously wondered if NASA should have sent poets 'cause I don't think we captured, in its entirety, the grandeur of what we had seen.'
The planned flight path for the dearMoon voyage was set to retrace that of Apollo 8. This time, artists would be aboard, finally answering Apollo 8's call 60 years later. Photograph: Rhiannon Adam, United Kingdom, Winner, Professional competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Nishisando by Sou Fujimoto by Ulana Switucha
IMAGE: The Tokyo Toilet Project saw 16 globally recognised architects use their creativity to erase the conventional negative image of public restrooms and create 17 safe, clean and inclusive spaces. Photograph: Ulana Switucha, Canada, Winner, Professional competition, Architecture & Design, Sony World Photography Awards 2025.
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO PHOTOGRAPHY
Roseann on the way to Manhattan Beach, New York City, 1978 by Susan Meiselas
IMAGE: Roseann on the way to Manhattan Beach, New York City, 1978. Photograph: Susan Meiselas/Magnum Photos
OPEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Tbourida La Chute by Olivier Unia
IMAGE: Many of the photographs taken during a traditional Moroccan 'tbourida' show the riders firing their rifles.
With this image, the photographer wanted to share another side of the event, and show how dangerous it can be when a rider is thrown from their mount. Photograph: Olivier Unia, France, Open Photographer of the Year, Open Competition, Motion, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
With this image, the photographer wanted to share another side of the event, and show how dangerous it can be when a rider is thrown from their mount. Photograph: Olivier Unia, France, Open Photographer of the Year, Open Competition, Motion, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
YOUTH PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Eclipse of Motion by Daniel Dian-Ji Wu
IMAGE: Daniel Dian-Ji Wu took this photo during summer break in 2024, at Venice Beach Skatepark in LA during golden hour. The photographer captured this image of a skater mid-air, silhouetted against the sunset, expressing the raw energy of that moment. He says this image 'made me feel a sense of passion and freedom.' Photograph: Daniel Dian-Ji Wu, Taiwan, Youth Photographer of the Year, Youth Competition, Sony World Photography Awards 2025.
STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Support between the spikes by Micaela Valdivia Medina
IMAGE: This project explores the complexity of female prison spaces and the people who inhabit them, from the inmates to their families.
The series consists of photographs of the architecture of the prisons, the neighbourhoods they are in, and the dynamics at the visitor and family member entrances.
This project was carried out at the women's penitentiary centres of San Miguel, San Joaquín and Valparaiso, between the months of March and July 2024. Photograph: Micaela Valdivia Medina, Peru, Student Photographer of the Year, Student Competition, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
The series consists of photographs of the architecture of the prisons, the neighbourhoods they are in, and the dynamics at the visitor and family member entrances.
This project was carried out at the women's penitentiary centres of San Miguel, San Joaquín and Valparaiso, between the months of March and July 2024. Photograph: Micaela Valdivia Medina, Peru, Student Photographer of the Year, Student Competition, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
The Sony World Photography Awards 2025 exhibition is on display at Somerset House, London from April 17 to May 5, presenting over 300 prints and hundreds of images in digital displays, as well as a special presentation by Susan Meiselas.
Published with kind permission from Sony World Photography Awards
© 2025