Capturing the World Through a Lens: Travel Photographer of the Year 2025
In a world where smartphone cameras have made photographers of us all, the Travel Photographer of the Year 2025 competition reminds us of the profound difference between casual holiday snaps and truly masterful travel photography. This prestigious competition, now in its 23rd year, drew more than 20,000 submissions from photographers spanning 160 countries. The winning images, selected by a panel of 16 international experts through an anonymous judging process, transport viewers across the globe—from the solemn processions of Holy Week in Spain to tranquil Buddha statues in Thailand at sunrise. These photographs don’t merely show destinations; they capture moments, emotions, and cultural experiences that inspire wanderlust and appreciation for our diverse world. The competition’s rigorous validation process, which includes examining RAW files to ensure no AI manipulation was used, maintains the integrity of this celebration of human creativity and technical skill.
Athanasios Maloukos claimed the top honor as Travel Photographer of the Year 2025 with two remarkable series. His first captured the haunting beauty of Holy Week in Zamora, Spain, where the Yacente brotherhood walks through streets in complete silence, dressed in distinctive white robes. His second series documented the whirling dervishes of Konya, Turkey, showcasing the various stages of the mesmerizing Sema ceremony. Competition founder Chris Coe praised Maloukos’s exceptional technical skill, particularly noting how the photographer balanced shutter speeds to selectively freeze and blur movements in these low-light environments. “This is all achieved in camera without over-processing,” Coe explained, highlighting how this approach preserves “the depth and intensity of each moment.” The images demonstrate not just technical proficiency but also cultural sensitivity, offering viewers intimate glimpses into sacred traditions rarely witnessed by outsiders.
Wildlife photographer Dana Allen, who has spent three decades working across Africa, earned dual recognition for her stunning black-and-white image of a bull elephant in Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This photograph, named Travel Image of the Year, captures the precise moment when the magnificent creature showers itself in protective dust—a natural behavior that helps elephants regulate temperature and shield themselves from both sun damage and troublesome pests. Allen’s Zimbabwe-based career has given her unique insights into capturing the continent’s wildlife, and this image demonstrates her patience and perfect timing. The monochrome treatment elevates the scene beyond documentary, transforming a fleeting moment in nature into a timeless work of art that speaks to both the majesty of wildlife and the delicate balance of natural behaviors that sustain these creatures in their increasingly threatened habitats.
The competition’s Green Planet category winner proves that exceptional travel photography isn’t limited to professional photographers. John Edwards, whose day job involves developing treatments for cancer and rare diseases, created a captivating image of a Buddha statue reflected in still water at Thailand’s UNESCO-listed Sukhothai Historical Park. Edwards took the creative approach of inverting the photo to, in his words, “create an image that mirrors the peaceful, dreamlike feeling of this sacred location, where the green textures and beautiful flowers of our world can be transformed into a new and unexpected reality.” This thoughtful manipulation transforms a straightforward reflection into something transcendent, challenging viewers to reconsider their perspective on familiar scenes. Edwards’ success demonstrates how travel photography can provide a creative outlet for those whose primary careers lie elsewhere, bringing fresh perspectives to the medium.
In stark contrast to crowded tourist images of Tokyo’s famous Shibuya Crossing, Teo Chin Leong’s winning entry in the Slow Travel category presents a solitary corporate worker crossing a junction, photographed from above. The lone figure, perfectly framed by geometric road markings, forms part of Chin Leong’s series intended to “depict the overwhelming loneliness and the hectic pace of living in a large city.” With over a decade of photography experience across multiple countries including the United States, Saudi Arabia, China, Indonesia, and Japan, the Singapore-based photographer brings a contemplative eye to urban environments typically associated with crowds and chaos. His image invites viewers to pause and consider the individual human experience within overwhelming metropolises—the very antithesis of hurried travel and a perfect embodiment of the category’s “slow travel” theme.
While expert judges selected most category winners, the public chose Mark Julian Edwards’ intimate portrait from a bus station in Jaffna, Sri Lanka as the People’s Choice Winner from over 4,000 votes. The close-up captures a young boy gazing through a window as his bus departs, his expression embodying a “quiet energy” that Edwards describes as reflecting anticipation for “what lay ahead on the road.” Similarly compelling is Rahsan Firtina’s winning Travel Portrait image from Hanoi, Vietnam, showing a contemplative man in the foreground while retirees play table tennis behind him—a composition that eloquently captures the layers of daily life. Firtina, who only began photography as a hobby in 2019, demonstrates how relatively new photographers can bring fresh perspectives to the medium. These images remind us that travel photography at its best doesn’t just document exotic locations but reveals the universal human experiences that connect us across geographical and cultural boundaries, inviting viewers to both witness distant lives and recognize themselves in the frame.
