The Society of Photographers, founded in 1988, has unveiled the winners of its 2025 Photographer of the Year competition, including three outstanding top photos of the year plus an array of excellent category winners.
The 2025 edition of the competition attracted nearly 6,000 entries across 28 categories, showcasing the diverse talent of The Society of Photographers members.
“Demonstrating outstanding skill, narrative depth, and execution, this bold and distinctive image emerged as a clear standout and generated animated discussion among the judges,” the judging panel said.
Photographer Therese Asplund was named “Photographer of the Year” for this image, which also took top prize in the “Pet Portraits” category. | Image credit: Therese Asplund / The Society of Photographers’ Photographer of the Year 2025
Alongside category winners, the judges also selected top three overall photos, with photographer Therese Asplund taking home top honors for her image of birds, which also won the “Pet Portrait” category.
Cecilie Steudal, 2nd Place and “The Natural World — Wild Animals” category winner. | Photographer of the Year 2025
In second place overall is Norwegian photographer Cecilie Stuedal for an exceptional photo of a red fox snapping at a crab in mid-air. This photo won the “Natural World — Wild Animals” category.
Rounding out the top three is British photographer Terry Donnelly, whose image, seen below, took the top prize in the competition’s “Documentary” category.
Terry Donnelly, 3rd Place and “Documentary” category winner. | Photographer of the Year 2025
All the other category winners are featured below.
Neil Shearer, Advertising Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Tim Wilde, Architecture Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Gemma Harte, Children Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Eleanor Whibley, Commissioned Portrait Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Heidi Margocsy, Boudoir and Beauty Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Cat Brown, Creative Portrait Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Shiva Mehta, Environmental Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Gary Neville, Events Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Jane Thomson, Family Group Portrait Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Michael Hayes, Illustrative Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Lauren Evans, Fashion Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Arne Bivrin, In-Camera Effects Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Jane Thomson, Individual Portrait Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra, Macro Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Sandra Vaskyte, Maternity Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Terry Donelly, Media and Press Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Katie Brockman, Monochrome Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Laila Villebeck, Newborn Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Anna Aimen, Open Avant-Garde Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Terry Donnelly, Sport Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Lorraine Finney, The Natural World — Landscapes Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Angi Wallace, The Natural World — Botanical and Fungi Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Mark Scicluna, Travel Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Katie Brockman, Visual Narrative Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025Seiji Nishimori, Wedding Winner | Photographer of the Year 2025
The Society of Photographers of the Year 2025 also named various special category award winners, all of which are featured on the society’s website.
Image credits: The Society of Photographers’ Photographer of the Year 2025. Individual photographers are credited in the image captions.
