Sony World Photography Awards 2025: The year’s best images unveiled

A female skater in India, a park ranger transporting Congolese crocodiles and a taxidermist preparing a deceased wolf for display are among the subjects of the past year’s best images, according to judges of the Sony World Photography Awards.

On Tuesday, the World Photography Organisation unveiled the shortlisted entries and finalists in its annual competition’s 10 professional categories.

In each of the categories — which span landscape, still life, sport and the environment, among others — judges selected three finalists and up to seven shortlisted photographers. In April, organizers will hand the prestigious Photographer of the Year title, as well as a $25,000 cash prize and a range of Sony equipment, to one of the 30 finalists.

In a press statement, jury chair Monica Allende said this year’s shortlist and finalists showed “great originality and clarity of vision.”

“From narratives of community-building, to explorations of collective memory, to empowering stories of people challenging conventions, these works offer a diversity of perspectives on our moment in history,” she added.

Now in its 18th year, the Sony World Photography Awards also include student and youth contests, as well as “open” categories for non-professionals. Organizers say they received almost 420,000 entries across this year’s various competitions.

Scroll down to see images from the Sony World Photography Awards professional competition. A selection of photos will be on show at Somerset House in London from April 17 to May 5, 2025.

An indigenous Otomi woman sits on her recent harvest of black corn in Mexico, where recents droughts have impacted crops across the country.

Photographer Toby Binder’s series “Divided Youth of Belfast” documents the lives of young people living amid religious tensions in Northern Ireland.

An image from Irinia Shkoda’s series “I Am Here for You,” which explores the Ukrainian photographer’s experience of moving to France as a refugee.

The Cerro Tololo Observatory in Vicuña, Chile, where light pollution from nearby cities and mines is increasingly affecting astronomers’ work.

A female skater in India, as featured in the second part of photographer Chantal Pinzi’s series “Shred the Patriarchy.”

A park ranger transports Congo dwarf crocodiles, a protected but widely hunted species, at Lake Tele in the Republic of the Congo.

In Bolivia’s capital La Paz, an employee at the one of the world’s highest golf courses practices while wearing traditional Bolivian clothing.

Shot in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India and Nepal, photographer Ivan Ryaskov’s series “Trust Me” explores the bond between people and their horses.

A polar bear is transported via helicopter at a holding facility for animals that, driven by hunger, venture into towns around Canada’s Hudson Bay.

The aftermath of a forest fire near the BR-364 highway in Porto Velho, Brazil, as featured in photographer Lalo de Almeida’s series “Apocalypse.”

Photographer Antonio López Díaz followed four aspiring gymnasts as they pursued their dream of representing Chad at the Olympics.

In Brazil, a practitioner of the Candomblé religion makes an offering to Yemanjá, a deity originating from the Yoruba people of West Africa.

Photographer Rhiannon Adam documented her participation in the canceled dearMoon mission, which aimed to take eight civilians — including Adam — around the moon in a SpaceX craft.

In “The Journey Home from School,” photographer Laura Pannack explored the dangers facing children in a gang-ridden part of Cape Town, South Africa.