Travel Photographer of the Year 2025 Winners Announced
The prestigious Travel Photographer of the Year 2025 competition has unveiled its winners, featuring an extraordinary collection of images from across the globe. From intimate elephant portraits in Tanzania to the harsh beauty of Siberian tundra fishermen, this year's entries highlight the diverse and powerful narratives captured by both amateur and professional photographers.
Record-Breaking Submissions and Judging Insights
In its 23rd edition, the competition received more than 20,000 submissions from photographers in 160 countries, reflecting its global appeal and high standards. Judge Krystal Chryssomallis praised the entries, stating, 'The standard this year was outstanding. The strongest photographs carried depth, intention and emotion, demonstrating the narrative power of a single image and reminding us that our world, when truly seen, is extraordinarily powerful and beautiful.'
Overall Winner and Key Categories
The overall winner is Athanasios Maloukos from Greece, who secured the top prize for two bodies of work exploring ritual, belief, and movement. His series, Night of Sorrows, documents the 'Yacente' Procession, one of Zamora, Spain's most profound Holy Week rituals.
Other notable winners include:
- Young Travel Photographer of the Year 2025: Jamie Smart, UK, aged 10, for images of bats in Australia, including a veterinary nurse caring for a young bat and a Grey-Headed Flying Fox in flight.
- Young Travel Photographer (14 years and under): Naomi Cech, Czech Republic, age 11, with a focus on mushrooms.
- Age 15-18 Category Winner: Matei Mărăcineanu, Romania, for wildlife photography at Morii Lake, Bucharest.
- Adventures and Experiences Portfolio Winner: Sara Bardotti, Italy, capturing the Yamal peninsula in Siberia, Russia.
- Single Image Winner: Adventures & Experiences: Frederico Figueiredo Cerdeira, Brazil, for a shot taken in Cloudbreak Reef, Tavarua Island, Fiji.
- Portfolio Winner: Cultures, Heritage and Beliefs: Mitchell Kanashkevich, Australia, with an image from Ouadane, Mauritania, showing boys in an Islamic classroom.
- Single Image Winner: Cultures, Heritage and Beliefs: Dashawatar Gopalkrishna Bade, India, depicting the Pandharpur Wari pilgrimage in rural Maharashtra.
- Portfolio Winner: Landscape, Weather & Climate: Paul Sansome, UK, for foggy scenes in North Iceland.
- Single Image Winner: Landscape, Weather & Climate: Laetitia Guichard, France, capturing a funnel cloud during an air show.
- Portfolio Winner: Wildlife, Sealife, Birdlife: Mohammad Murad, Kuwait, with an image of an Arabian red fox kitten in Kuwait City.
- Single Image Winner: Wildlife, Sealife & Birdlife: Kevin Yu Shi, US, portraying a puma in Chile's Torres Del Paine.
- One Shot Winner: Green Planet: John Edwards, US, for a sunrise image in Sukhothai, Thailand.
- One Shot Winner: Slow Travel: Teo Chin Leong, Singapore, depicting loneliness in Tokyo.
- Travel Image of the Year: Dana Allen, US, for a monochrome shot in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
- One Shot Winner: Travel Portraits: Rahsan Firtina, Turkey, with an image from Hanoi, Vietnam, showing a thoughtful man and table tennis players.
Celebrating Global Diversity Through Photography
This year's competition underscores the power of travel photography to connect people with distant cultures, environments, and stories. The winners' works span continents and themes, from religious rituals and urban solitude to wildlife conservation and natural wonders, offering viewers a glimpse into the beauty and complexity of our world.
