The Sony World Photography Awards announced today the overall winners of its 18th edition at a special gala ceremony in London, bringing together leading figures in the industry to honour this year’s winners and their achievements.

The prestigious Photographer of the Year 2025 title was awarded to the acclaimed British photographer Zed Nelson for the series The Anthropocene Illusion. Nelson receives a $25,000 (USD) cash prize, a range of Sony digital imaging equipment, and the opportunity to present an additional body of work at the Sony World Photography Awards 2026 exhibition.

Nelson was selected from the 10 Professional competition category winners, who were announced at today’s ceremony, alongside the 2nd and 3rd place finalists in each category. The evening’s programme additionally recognised the overall winners of the Awards’ Open, Student and Youth competitions. Also honoured during the course of the evening was this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient, the acclaimed documentary photographer Susan Meiselas.

Over almost two decades, the Awards have become a definitive annual moment for the discovery and celebration of contemporary photography. Each year the Awards celebrate the stories and images that shape our visual language and capture the imagination, offering a global perspective on this ever-evolving medium. The Sony World Photography Awards 2025 exhibition is on display at Somerset House, London from 17 April – 5 May, presenting over 300 prints and hundreds of images in digital displays, as well as a special presentation by Susan Meiselas.

PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
The Anthropocene Illusion is a long-term documentary project, spanning six years and four continents, which explores the deeply fractured relationship between humans and the natural world. Taking the concept of the ‘Anthropocene’, a term for the current period in Earth’s history which is characterised by humans being the dominant influence on the environment, Nelson’s series focuses on humanity’s response to its impact on the planet. The project looks at artificial spaces, created by humans as a means to ‘experience’ and interact with nature, from safari parks, nature reserves and resorts, to natural history museums, zoos and green cities. Nelson uses these constructions as a lens through which to explore the dissonance between the human desire to stay connected to nature, and the continuous environmental destruction caused by human activity.

Commenting on Zed Nelson’s winning project, Monica Allende, Chair of the 2025 Professional jury says: ‘The jury applauded Nelson’s urgent topic and his ability to translate complex environmental issues into striking visual narratives. The Anthropocene Illusion illustrates a world where the boundaries between the real and the artificial blur, where the wild survives in controlled enclosures, and where human nostalgia for nature is expressed through spectacle rather than action. Nelson’s work compels viewers to question their own role in this paradox and consider the consequences of a society increasingly distanced from the natural world. This timely body of work tells one of the most important stories of our age, and is now more critical than ever.’

PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY WINNERS
The winning series in the 2025 Professional competition have been selected by a panel of expert judges. Each of the winning photographers displays an original approach to narrative and exceptional technical ability.

As part of their prize this year, for the first time the Professional category winners were invited to attend Insights, a day of specialised sessions with industry experts in London. Drawn from leading institutional and commercial photography spaces, the expert speakers offered the winners their insights on ways to continue expanding their platforms and growing their reach. All of the category winners additionally receive Sony digital imaging equipment. To learn more about this year’s Professional winners and finalists, please visit worldphoto.org.

This year’s winners are:

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
WINNER: Ulana Switucha (Canada) for The Tokyo Toilet Project
Finalists: 2nd place Andre Tezza (Brazil); 3rd place Owen Davies (United Kingdom)

CREATIVE
WINNER: Rhiannon Adam (United Kingdom) for Rhi-Entry
Finalists: 2nd place Irina Shkoda (Ukraine); 3rd place Julio Etchart & Holly Birtles (United Kingdom)

DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS
WINNER: Toby Binder (Germany) for Divided Youth of Belfast
Finalists: 2nd place Florence Goupil (Peru); 3rd place Alex Bex (France)

ENVIRONMENT
WINNER: Nicolás Garrido Huguet (Peru) for Alquimia Textil
Finalists: 2nd place Maria Portaluppi (Ecuador); 3rd place Cristóbal Olivares (Chile)

LANDSCAPE
WINNER: Seido Kino (Japan) for The Strata of Time
Finalists: 2nd place Lalo de Almeida (Brazil), 3rd place Mischa Lluch (Spain)

PERSPECTIVES
WINNER: Laura Pannack (United Kingdom) for The Journey Home from School
Finalists: 2nd place Giovanni Capriotti (Italy); 3rd place Valentin Valette (France)

PORTRAITURE
WINNER: Gui Christ (Brazil) for M’kumba
Finalists: 2nd place Raúl Belinchón (Spain); 3rd place Tom Franks (United Kingdom)

SPORT
WINNER: Chantal Pinzi (Italy) for Shred the Patriarchy
Finalists: 2nd place Michael Dunn (Bolivia); 3rd place Antonio López Díaz (Spain)

STILL LIFE
WINNER: Peter Franck (Germany) for Still Waiting
Finalists: 2nd place KM Asad (Bangladesh); 3rd place Alessandro Gandolfi (Italy)

WILDLIFE & NATURE
WINNER: Zed Nelson (United Kingdom) for The Anthropocene Illusion
Finalists: 2nd place Pascal Beaudenon (France); 3rd place Kevin Shi (United States)

OPEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
The Open competition celebrates the power and dynamism of a single photograph. Winning photographs are selected for their ability to distil a singular moment and evoke a broader narrative. The Open Photographer of the Year 2025 is Olivier Unia (France), who receives a $5000 (USD) cash prize and Sony digital imaging equipment.

Olivier Unia was chosen from the 10 Open category winners for his photograph Tbourida La Chute, which captures the danger and excitement of the moment a rider is thrown from their mount during a tbourida, a traditional Moroccan equestrian performance.

Commenting on his win, Olivier Unia says: ‘I’m very proud to be the Open Photographer of the Year in this major competition. It gives me the confidence to continue to share my work. I entered Tbourida La Chute, one of the photographs from a project I’ve been working on for the past two years about the Moroccan equestrian art form of tbourida, and I am pleased to see this image recognised.’

STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
The brief for this year’s Student competition was In the Beginning. Students of photography from leading institutions across the world were invited to enter a series documenting the beginning stages of a story. The Student Photographer of the Year 2025 is Micaela Valdivia Medina (Peru), from the Instituto Profesional Arcos in Chile. Micaela Valdivia Medina’s project, The Last Day We Saw the Mountains and the Sea, focuses on female prison spaces across Chile, and the dynamics that shape the lives of incarcerated women and their families.

Commenting on her win, Micaela Valdivia Medina says: ‘To be a winner in the Sony World Photography Awards is very important to me, but also to all the women I worked with for this project. To talk about and photograph prison spaces is never easy, but it is necessary to keep making and sharing these images. As a student, I appreciate this opportunity and recognition. At this time when photography and arts education is in decline, I think it’s important that students, teachers and professional photographers unite to protect it.’

YOUTH PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
For the 2025 Youth competition, photographers aged 19 and under were invited to respond to an Open Call and enter their best images from the last year. The Youth Photographer of the Year 2025, chosen from a shortlist of 11 photographers, is Daniel Dian-Ji Wu (Taiwan, 16 years old) for his arresting image of a skateboarder doing a trick, silhouetted against a sunset in Venice Beach, Los Angeles.

Commenting on his win, Daniel Dian-Ji Wu says: ‘It’s an incredible honour to be named Youth Photographer of the Year. I feel beyond excited and grateful. Photography has been a huge part of my life for the past seven years, so this means so much to me—not just as recognition, but as a reminder of why I love what I do. It opens doors to new opportunities and connections, which makes the journey ahead even more meaningful. I’m really thankful to the Sony World Photography Awards for selecting me and can’t wait to see what’s next.’

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO PHOTOGRAPHY
The prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Photography 2025 is awarded to acclaimed documentary photographer Susan Meiselas. Known for her collaborative approach to portraiture, and for shedding light on lesser-known narratives, Meiselas’ work has been instrumental in shaping contemporary documentary practices, and the conversation around participation in photography.

More than 60 images by Meiselas, including excerpts from some of her landmark series, are on view at Somerset House as part of the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition, showing some of the key themes and narrative trajectories of the past five decades of her practice.

PROFESSIONAL COMPETITION CATEGORY WINNERS AND SHORTLIST
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Category Winner
Ulana Switucha, Canada
2nd Place Andre Tezza, Brazil
3rd Place Owen Davies, United Kingdom

Shortlist
Alejandro Fernández-Llamazares Vidal, Spain
Maciej Leszczynski, Poland
Márton Mogyorósy, Hungary
Miku Yokoyama, Japan
Peter Franck, Germany
Yu Ting Lei, China Mainland CREATIVE
Category Winner
Rhiannon Adam, United Kingdom
2nd Place Irina Shkoda, Ukraine
3rd Place Julio Etchart & Holly Birtles, United Kingdom

Shortlist
Alice Poyzer, United Kingdom
Carolina Krieger, Brazil
Giorgia Lisi, Italy
Mariana Greif, Uruguay
Valentina Fusco, Italy
Yinna Higuera, Colombia DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS
Category Winner
Toby Binder, Germany
2nd Place Florence Goupil, Peru
3rd Place Alex Bex, France

Shortlist
Alessandro Grassani, Italy
Alfredo Bosco, Italy
Caroline Gutman, United States
Da Yang, China Mainland
Giovanni de Mojana, Italy
Jodi Windvogel, South Africa
Noriko Hayashi, Japan
ENVIRONMENT
Category Winner
Nicolás Garrido Huguet, Peru
2nd Place Maria Portaluppi, Ecuador
3rd Place Cristóbal Olivares, Chile

Shortlist
Daniele Vita, Italy
Kasia Strek, Poland
Matteo Bastianelli, Italy
Per-Anders Pettersson, Sweden
Shunta Kimura, Japan
Skander Khlif, Tunisia LANDSCAPE
Category Winner
Seido Kino, Japan
2nd Place Lalo de Almeida, Brazil
3rd Place Mischa Lluch, Spain

Shortlist
Dudu Roth, Israel
Francisco Gonzalez Camacho, Spain
Gunnar Knechtel, Germany
Javi Parejo, Spain
Kazuaki Koseki, Japan
Lorenzo Poli, Italy
Masood Talebi, Islamic Republic of Iran PERSPECTIVES
Category Winner
Laura Pannack, United Kingdom
2nd Place Giovanni Capriotti, Italy
3rd Place Valentin Valette, France

Shortlist
Bárbara Monteiro, Portugal
Carlos Folgoso Sueiro, Spain
Jed Bacason, Philippines
Lea Greub, Germany
Lina Czerny, Germany
Lorraine Turci, France
Mauricio Holc, Argentina
PORTRAITURE
Category winner
Gui Christ, Brazil
2nd Place Raúl Belinchón, Spain
3rd Place Tom Franks, United Kingdom

Shortlist
Alena Grom, Ukraine
Cletus Nelson Nwadike, Sweden
Constance Jaeggi O’Connor, Switzerland
Ivan Ryaskov, Kazakhstan
Jean-Marc Caimi & Valentina Piccinni, Italy
Niccolò Rastrelli, Italy
Stas Ginzburg, United States

WILDLIFE & NATURE
Photographer of the Year
Zed Nelson, United Kingdom
2nd Place Pascal Beaudenon, France
3rd Place Kevin Shi, United States

Shortlist
Amit Eshel, Israel
Brent Stirton, South Africa
Efrain Sueldo, United States
James Wylie, United Kingdom
Marielle van Uitert, Netherlands
Melina Schildberg, Germany
Thomas Nicolon, France SPORT
Category Winner
Chantal Pinzi, Italy
2nd Place Michael Dunn, Bolivia
3rd Place Antonio López Díaz, Spain

Shortlist
Matthew Joseph, United Kingdom
Mihaela Ivanova, Bulgaria
Robin Tutenges, France
Svenja Wiese, Germany
Tanara Stuermer, Brazil STILL LIFE
Category Winner
Peter Franck, Germany
2nd Place K M Asad, Bangladesh
3rd Place Alessandro Gandolfi, Italy

Shortlist
Amanda Harman, United Kingdom
Elaine Duigenan, United Kingdom
Li Sun, China Mainland
Miriam Bräutigam, Germany
Oded Wagenstein, Israel
Rui Caria, Portugal
Shinya Masuda, Japan
OPEN COMPETITION CATEGORY WINNERS AND SHORTLIST
ARCHITECTURE
Winner
Xuecheng Liu, China Mainland
Shortlist
Alessio D’Addato, Italy
Andrew Newman, United Kingdom
David Eliud Gil Samaniego Maldonado, Mexico
Hans Wichmann, Germany
Jason Smith, Australia
Max van Son, Netherlands
Michael Echteld, Netherlands
Michael Echteld, Netherlands
Pati John, Netherlands
Radek Pohnán, Czechia
Robert Fülöp, Romania
Thibault Drutel, France
Ute-Christa Scherhag, Germany CREATIVE
Winner
Jonell Francisco, Philippines
Shortlist
Ana Leal, Brazil
Ana Peiró Muñoz, United Kingdom
Enda Burke, Ireland
Hardijanto Budyman, Indonesia
Ian Knaggs, United Kingdom
Marina Tsaregorodtseva, United Kingdom
Mobolaji Ogunrosoye, Nigeria
Rachel Nixon, Canada
Vida Khani, Islamic Republic Of Iran
Yijing Yang, China Mainland LANDSCAPE
Winner
Ng Guang Ze, Singapore
Shortlist
Dan Liao, China Mainland
Francisco Negroni, Chile
KunPeng Zhu, China Mainland
Marcin Zajac, Poland
Martin Stranka, Czechia
Patrick Ems, Switzerland
Timo Zilz, Germany
Victor De Valles Ibañez, Spain
Vilhelm Gunnarsson, Iceland
Witold Ziomek, Poland
Xiaoying Shi, China Mainland
Yoshiaki Kudo, Japan
Zhu Yang, China Mainland
LIFESTYLE
Winner
Hajime Hirano, Japan
Shortlist
Barry Mayes, United Kingdom
Emma Rogers, New Zealand
Enamur Reza, Bangladesh
Kathryn Mussallem, Canada
Kevin Molano, Colombia
Lucero Mora Ardila, Mexico
Maira Ray, Brazil
Scott Seager, United States
Syed Mahabubul Kader, Bangladesh
Wan Yong Chong, Malaysia
Yaping Du, China Mainland
Yevhen Kostiuk, Ukraine
Zhang Xun, China Mainland MOTION
Open Photographer of the Year
Olivier Unia, France
Shortlist
Ahmed Abdallah, Egypt
Alex Halloway, United States
Antonio Flores García, Mexico
Cristopher Rogel Blanquet Chavez, Mexico
Eduardo Schneider, United States
Hao Guo, China Mainland
Joe Wakefield, United Kingdom
Leo Huang, Taiwan
Nick Alston, United Kingdom
Sergey Geller, United States
Swee Choo Oh, Malaysia
Tim Jenka, Switzerland
Tuan Nguyen Tan, Vietnam
Wan Yong Chong, Malaysia NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE
Winner
Estebane Rezkallah, France
Shortlist
Anirban Dutta, India
Christopher Baker, United States
Daniel Hannabuss, United Kingdom
Gianni Maitan, Italy
Hasan Bağlar, Cyprus
Hira Punjabi, India
Ilena Fasci, Italy
Jake Virus, United States
Klára Zamouřilová, Czechia
Martin Steenhaut, Belgium
Mohammad Anisur Rahman, Bangladesh
Pedro Jarque Krebs, Peru
Peter Delaney, Ireland
Tara Keane, Ireland
OBJECT
Winner
Sussi Charlotte Alminde, Denmark
Shortlist
Angelo Brancaccio, Italy
Carol Santiago, Mexico
Edyta Kopcio, Poland
Fabi Bick, Germany
Ieva Gailė, Lithuania
Muhammad Amdad Hossain, Bangladesh
Natalia Hresko, Ukraine
Oliver Lahrem, Germany
Petia Angelova, Bulgaria
Rajeev Gaikwad, India
Rakibul Alam Khan, Bangladesh
Ralf Hanisch, Germany
Robert Bolton, United Kingdom
Yuting Li, China Mainland PORTRAITURE
Winner
Yeintze Boutamba, Gabon
Shortlist
Adolphe Maillot, France
Elena Subach, Ukraine
Emmanuel Lucky, Nigeria
Ivana Dostálová, Czechia
Mark Harrison, United Kingdom
Mark Harrison, United Kingdom
Matthieu Quatravaux, France
Panagiotis Rontos, Greece
Piotr Skubisz, Poland
Robbie Murrie, United Kingdom
Svetlana Jovanovic, Netherlands STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
Winner
Khairizal Maris, Indonesia
Shortlist
Angela Magalhães, Portugal
Francisco Mira Vicent, Spain
Gavin Bragdon, United States
Kathryn Mussallem, Canada
Manex Sungahid, Philippines
Nina Papiorek, Germany
Osvaldo Torres Reyes, Mexico
Pranto Chakraborty, Bangladesh
Samuel Terry, United Kingdom
Sean Lim Choon Hean, Malaysia
Seyed Ali Hosseini Far, Islamic Republic Of Iran
Sohel Ahmed, Bangladesh
Stefano Ruggiero, Italy
Yusof Salimi Namin, Islamic Republic Of Iran

TRAVEL
Winner
Matjaž Šimic, Slovenia
Shortlist
Akram Menari, Algeria
Arun Saha, India
Britt Knierim, Netherlands
Chim Oanh, Vietnam
Karolina Jurkiewicz, Poland
Khai Chuin Sim, Malaysia
Kunal Gupta, India
Liu Song, China Mainland
Mike Hellebrand, United Kingdom
Nicola Ducati, Italy
Ryo Yamamoto, Japan
Shubhodeep Roy, India
Spyridon Gennatas, Greece

STUDENT & YOUTH COMPETITION WINNERS AND SHORTLISTS
STUDENT COMPETITION YOUTH COMPETITION
Student Photographer of the Year
Micaela Valdivia Medina, Peru
Instituto Profesional Arcos, Chile

Shortlist
Albert Słowiński, Poland
Academy of Art in Szczecin, Poland

Honorata Kornacka, Poland
The Maria Grzegorzewska University, Poland

Ilana Grollman, United States
Emerson College, United States

Joel Potter, New Zealand
Aut University, New Zealand

Louna Pauly, France
Ecole Nationale Supérieure Louis Lumière, France

Montenez Lowery, United States
Georgia State University, Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design, United States

Peter Stougård Maunsbach, Denmark
DMJX Danish School of Media and Journalism, Denmark

Thapelo Mahlangu, South Africa
Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography, South Africa

Xingyu Fan, China Mainland
Nanjing University of the Arts, China Mainland Youth Photographer of the Year
Daniel Dian-Ji Wu, Taiwan

Shortlist
Ankit Ghosh, India

Chidima Ugwuedeh, New Zealand

Claire Gonzalez, United States

Joshua Hasanoff, Australia

Landon Chong Chung Yi, Malaysia

Matteo Botta, Switzerland

Oliver Marks, United States

Shayna Cuenca, United States

Tinnapat Netcharussaeng, Thailand

Zachariah Levens, United Kingdom

NOTES TO EDITORS
For press enquiries, please contact Polly Brock / Vanda Ivančić on [email protected].
A selection of images is available to download on press.creoarts.com.