Now in its 18th edition, the Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA) is regarded as one of the most prestigious competitions in the photography calendar, continuously producing the very best examples of contemporary photography.
At an awards ceremony that took place in London this evening, the World Photography Organisation announced the overall winners of the SWPA 2025, including this year's Photographer of the Year.
The prestigious Photographer of the Year title was awarded to British photographer Zed Nelson, beating a record-breaking 419,820 photo entries from 206 countries to secure the top spot and an overall prize of $25,000. The winning series of images is titled The Anthropocene Illusion, a project that highlights the fractured relationship between humans and the natural world (more on this project below).
In addition to the prize money, Nelson will also receive a range of Sony digital imaging equipment and an opportunity to present a new body of work in a solo exhibition at next year's Sony World Photography Awards.
Awards were also presented to the overall winners of the Awards’ Open, Student, and Youth competitions, along with this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award. While the Youth and Student awards celebrate the next generation of photographers, the Outstanding Contribution Award recognizes the significant impact of an individual on the medium.
The full list of winners can be seen below:
Photographer of the Year
Zed Nelson
This year's Sony World Photography Award Photographer of the Year title has gone to British photographer Zed Nelson for his incredible series of images titled The Anthropocene Illusion.
A project that has been developed over six years and spans four continents, it focuses on humanity's strained connection to the natural world, where we are simultaneously destroying it and taking it captive for our own enjoyment.
Using the concept of Anthropocene, a word describing the 'current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment', Nelson uses his images to comment on humans' response to their actions.
This project explores how humans create artificial spaces, like safari parks, nature reserves, zoos, and resorts, to 'connect' with nature. These habitats are then used to highlight the clash between our urge to stay close to the natural world and the ongoing damage we’re causing to the environment through our actions.
Commenting on Nelson’s winning series, Monica Allende, Chair of the 2025 Professional jury, states, "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
Special mentions must also go to each of the outstanding category winners, beating thousands of other entries to secure top spot and global recognition.
From the beautiful architecture of Hong Kong's public toilets to Indian women using skateboarding to 'shred the patriarchy', the talent on display in this competition was truly outstanding and a healthy reflection of the state of photography as a medium.
The winners of each category are:
Architecture and Design: Ulana Switucha
Creative: Rhiannon Adam
Documentary Projects: Toby Binder
Environment: Nicolás Garrido Huguet
Landscape: Seido Kino
Perspectives: Laura Pannack
Portraiture: Gui Christ
Sport: Chantel Pinzi
Still Life: Peter Franck
Wildlife and Nature: Zed Nelson
Open Photographer of the Year
Olivier Unia
French-born photographer Olivier Unia started taking photographs during lockdown and instantly fell in love with the desire to capture the decisive moment. Since then, Unia has been capturing his life in Morocco, and his image titled Tbourida La Chute saw him awarded the title of Open Photographer of the Year and a cash prize of $5,000.
Unlike the professional, the open competition focuses on the ability to distill a single image and evoke a broader narrative. The winning image stimulates both danger and excitement as a horse rider is thrown to the ground underneath his horse.
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
Micaela Valdivia Medina
Medina has been awarded the Student Photography of the Year Award for her project titled The Last Day We Saw the Mountains and the Sea. This project captures the complexities of female prisons, highlighting their architecture and the relationships between inmates and their visiting families. Photographed in the women's penitentiaries of San Miguel, San Joaquin, and Valparaíso in 2024, Medina explored the dynamics of family visits, creating an intimate and moving series of images that tell the stories of life behind bars.
Commenting on her win, 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".
Youth Photographer of the Year
Daniel Dian-Ji Wu
At 16 years old, Daniel Dian-Ji Wu is the worthy recipient of the Youth Photographer of the Year for his image titled Eclipse of Motion. This image was taken during a summer break in 2024, at Venice Beach Skatepark in LA. The golden hour sun ideally silhouettes a skater as he flies through the air, blocking the sun with his acrobatics. The capture expresses the raw energy of the moment, to which Wu stated it "made me feel a sense of passion and freedom".
Speaking on his win, 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".
Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award
Susan Meiselas
Magnum photographer Susan Meiselas has been honored with the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award at the Sony World Photography Awards 2025, celebrating her impressive five-decade-long career. Renowned for her empathetic and collaborative approach to documentary photography, Meiselas has consistently challenged traditional narratives through in-depth, long-term projects. Her work includes intimate portraits of communities and impactful coverage of human rights issues, often focusing on women's experiences. This ranges from documenting strippers in 1970s New England and survivors of domestic violence in the UK to capturing childhood in Little Italy and exploring geopolitical histories in Kurdistan and Latin America.
A special exhibition will accompany the winners and finalists of this year's competition at Somerset House in London from April 17 to May 5, 2025. This exhibition will feature select images from five key projects, some of which have never been displayed in the UK before. These projects include Carnival Strippers, Prince Street Girls, Pandora’s Box, A Room of Their Own, and 44 Irving Street. The exhibition emphasizes how her storytelling often arises from collaboration, testimony, and time, offering viewers not just photographs but a deeper understanding of the layered relationships behind them.
The Sony World Photography Awards 2025 exhibition, featuring winning and shortlisted images, is on view at Somerset House, London, from April 17 - May 5, 2025. Having attended a preview of the exhibition, I can say without a doubt that it is one of the best I have seen in a long time. Featuring over 300 prints, it encapsulates contemporary photography from around the globe and will no doubt be a highlight in this Spring's cultural calendar. It is a must-see!
For a full list of winners and shortlisted entries and their images, head over to the official Sony World Photography Awards website.
you may also like
The winners will each receive a selection of Sony digital imaging equipment. Check out our guides for a breakdown of the best Sony cameras and best Sony lenses.
