From skater girls to climate illusions: Meet the winners of the 2025 Sony World Photography Awards

The Sony World Photography Awards have unveiled the winners of their prestigious competition, now in its 18th year - shining a spotlight on the world's most powerful, thought-provoking, and visually arresting images of the past year.

At a ceremony in London, British photographer Zed Nelson was named Photographer of the Year for his haunting and deeply timely series The Anthropocene Illusion, which explores humanity’s fractured relationship with nature. From safari parks to synthetic green spaces, Nelson’s images reveal a world where the wild is staged and the natural is anything but.

The evening also celebrated the winners across the Professional, Open, Student, and Youth competitions - alongside a special tribute to legendary documentary photographer Susan Meiselas, this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award.

From intimate portraits of teenagers growing up in Northern Ireland’s divided communities to celebrations of Indian women who defy gender stereotypes through skateboarding, this year's winning images are now on display at a sprawling exhibition at London’s Somerset House, running until 5 May 2025.

Here's a small selection from this year’s most striking winning images:

Zed Nelson: 'Anthropocene Illusion' (Photographer of the Year)

A six-year journey exploring how humanity’s devastating impact on the planet is masked by artificial, stage-managed experiences of nature.

Olivier Unia: 'Tbourida La Chute' (Open Photographer of the Year)

A photograph capturing the danger and excitement of the moment a rider is thrown from their mount during a tbourida, a traditional Moroccan equestrian performance.

Daniel Dian-Ji Wu (Youth Photographer of the Year)

For his gorgeous image of a skateboarder doing a trick, silhouetted against a sunset in Venice Beach, Los Angeles.

Micaela Valdivia Medina: 'The Last Day We Saw the Mountains and the Sea' (Student Photographer of the Year)

A project exploring the complexity of female prison spaces and the people who inhabit them, from the inmates to their families. It was carried out at the women's penitentiary centres of San Miguel, San Joaquín and Valparaíso, between the months of March and July 2024.

Toby Binder: 'Divided Youth of Belfast' (Documentary Projects, Winner)

Documenting what it means for young people, all of whom were born after the peace agreement was signed, to grow up under this intergenerational tension in both Protestant and Catholic neighbourhoods in Northern Ireland.

Chantal Pinzi: 'Shred the Patriarchy' (Sport, Winner)

Captures the stories of young Indian women who use skateboarding as a form of resistance - challenging gender stereotypes and reclaiming public spaces.

Gui Christ: 'M'kumba' (Sport, Winner)

Illustrating the resilience of Afro-Brazilian communities in the face of local religious intolerance. Its name derives from an ancient Kongo word for spiritual leaders, before it was distorted by local society to demean African religions.

Laura Pannack: 'The Journey Home From School' (Perspectives, Winner)

Exploring the tumultuous 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.

Nicolás Garrido Huguet: 'Alquimia Textil' (Environment, Winner)

Celebrating the ancestral dyeing techniques of artisans in Chinchero, Peru, highlighting their intricate, time-intensive craft and the natural materials they use.

Rhiannon Adam: 'Rhi-Entry' (Creative, Winner)

A project following artist Rhiannon Adam’s extraordinary journey as the only woman selected for a civilian mission to the Moon - an ambitious art residency aboard SpaceX that was unexpectedly cancelled, leaving its chosen crew to grapple with broken dreams and unfinished futures.

Seido Kino: 'The Strata of Time' (Landscape, Winner)

Exploring Japan’s post-war economic growth by overlaying archival photos from the 1940s–60s onto present-day scenes, highlighting how past development has shaped modern challenges like pollution and population imbalance.

Ulana Switucha: 'The Tokyo Toilet Project' (Architecture & Design, Winner)

Documents the striking, artful public toilets redesigned across Shibuya, Tokyo - capturing how functional architecture can transform everyday spaces into visually engaging, thoughtfully designed landmarks.

Peter Franck: 'Still Waiting' (Still Life, Winner)

A series of collages that explore moments of pause and uncertainty—capturing the quiet tension just before something changes.

Antonio López Díaz: The Chad Olympic Team (Sport, 3rd place)

A docuseries about four Chadian girls whose journey to become Olympic gymnasts in Spain sparks the creation of Chad's first gymnastics federation.

Alex Bex: 'Memories of Dust' (Documentary Projects, 3rd place)

Exploring the visual vocabulary of the cowboy, to consider new ways of presenting this archetype of masculinity.

Raúl Belinchón: 'The Mud Angels' (Portraiture, Winner)

Documenting the aftermath of Spain’s worst flooding in Valencia, and focusing on the young volunteers - dubbed the ‘Mud Angels’ - who selflessly aided recovery efforts.