The 9 Marvelous Winners of the 2025 Black and White Photo Awards

Aug 20, 2025

Kate Garibaldi

The Black and White Photo Awards have revealed the winners of its 2025 competition, showcasing the enduring appeal and expressive depth of monochrome photography.

Now in its fourth year, the competition attracted submissions from across the world, with entries spanning social commentary, natural landscapes, and experimental portraiture.

Since launching in 2022, the Black and White Photo Awards have quickly grown into a leading international competition dedicated to the artistry of monochrome photography. With entries from more than 90 countries, the awards celebrate not only technical mastery but also the storytelling power of black-and-white imagery, highlighting how light, shadow, and form can transcend cultural and geographic boundaries.

João Coelho Named ‘Absolute Winner’

Portuguese photographer João Coelho earned the title of Absolute Winner for his photo The Kingdom of Flies, a stark image capturing a man struggling with swarms of flies over food scraps. The work, both unsettling and poignant, was praised for its unflinching social perspective.

A man crouches amidst piles of debris and trash, surrounded by swarming flies. The scene is chaotic, with smoke in the background and a cloudy sky above, highlighting harsh living conditions. The image is in black and white. — João Coelho — *The Kingdom of Flies*

“At first glance, the scene evokes a post-apocalyptic vision, yet it is the stark reality of survival for many who live on what others discard. With its raw social commentary, the photograph transcends aesthetics to deliver a message of human dignity under siege. Coelho’s prize includes €1,000 in cash and a Thypoch Simera 35mm lens, empowering him to continue crafting images of striking resonance,” Black and White Photo Awards says.

New Awards and Special Honors

Runner-Up Recognition

For the first time in the competition’s history, a Runner-up Award was introduced, going to Mark Seawell for Where the Shadows Lie. Captured in the canyons of Arizona, the photograph explores the delicate interplay of shadow and light across layered stone formations. Its sophisticated rendering of texture and fleeting illumination distinguished it from the field, earning Seawell the honor of being the first photographer to hold this new title. His prize includes a Benro Tortoise TTOR24CGX30 carbon tripod kit and a Tenba Axis V2 20L backpack, provided by Foto Técnica Import.

Black and white photo of smooth, curving rock formations with dramatic shadows and textures, resembling waves or flowing fabric in a canyon. Light highlights the ridges and depth of the landscape. — Mark Seawell — *Where the Shadows Lie*

“The sophisticated and highly complex interplay of light and shadow not only stood out from the rest of the images, but also won a Benro Tortoise TTOR24CGX30 carbon tripod kit + Tenba backpack Axis V2 20L,” Black and White Photo Awards says.

Special Award for Creativity by Sandisk

This year’s Special Award for Creativity, sponsored by Sandisk, was presented to Adebayo Rotilu for his bold portrait Electric Silhouette. The photograph employs laser beams as the sole source of light before being converted to black and white, resulting in a futuristic composition that challenges traditional approaches to portraiture.

A person wearing sunglasses stands against a wall covered in horizontal, wavy, black-and-white lines that also cast dramatic, striped shadows across their face and clothes. The overall effect is abstract and visually striking. — Adebayo Rotilu — *Electric Silhouette*

Special Award Master of Light by Godox

The inaugural Special Award Master of Light, sponsored by Godox, was awarded to Roberto Corinaldesi for No Words. The image portrays a woman in India, isolated against a black background, with every detail shaped by carefully controlled illumination. By stripping away all context, Corinaldesi amplifies the subject’s quiet intensity into a powerful emotional statement. For this achievement, he received a Godox AD600 Pro II flash.

An elderly person wearing a dark hooded cloak covers their face with both wrinkled hands, creating a somber and emotional mood against a dark background. — Roberto Corinaldesi –- *No Words*

Category Highlights

Beyond the overall and special awards, the competition also recognized winners across five distinct categories, each showcasing how black-and-white photography continues to push creative boundaries. From architecture to wildlife, landscape to portraiture, and the spontaneity of the street, this year’s category winners demonstrated how the absence of color can sharpen focus on form, narrative, and emotion.

Architecture

In the Architecture category, Remuna Beca won with Brilliant Design, a striking image of a staircase in Prague spiraling upward into the shape of a lightbulb. The photograph blurs the boundary between structure and concept, transforming a functional space into an artistic metaphor for illumination.

Black and white photo of a spiral staircase taken from below, forming the shape of a light bulb with a glowing light at the top center, and detailed railings and steps curving upward. — Remuna Beca — *Brilliant Design*

Fauna and Flora

Willem Kruger took the Fauna and Flora category with Leopard jump mono, captured in South Africa’s Londolozi reserve. The photograph freezes the tense and fleeting moment when a male leopard leaps away after mating, a gesture of survival that underscores both the beauty and ferocity of the natural world.

Two leopards engage in play or a fight; one leaps into the air while the other lies on its back with paws raised. The background is blurred, highlighting the dynamic action. The photo is in black and white. — Willem Kruger — *Leopard Jump Mono*

Landscape

The Landscape category was awarded to Robert Bolton for The Wedded Rocks, an evocative interpretation of Meoto Iwa in Japan. Bound together by rope, the two sacred rocks symbolize the union of heaven and earth. Bolton’s composition uses the minimal palette of monochrome to accentuate the spiritual and cultural weight of the scene.

Black and white photo of two rocky sea stacks connected by a thick rope with tassels, known as Meoto Iwa or “wedded rocks,” off a calm shoreline under a clear sky. — Robert Bolton — *The Wedded Rocks*

Portrait

In the Portrait category, Nur Tucker won with Proud Artisan, a contemplative look at Anatolia’s terracotta pottery tradition. The image captures an artisan at work in a dimly lit workshop, where heritage, craft, and the textures of clay converge into a visual story of dedication and cultural continuity.

A person in a dark workshop holds a clay jug up to the light, surrounded by pottery and illuminated by rays of sunlight filtering through swirling dust and smoke. — Nur Tucker — *Proud Artisan*

Street

The Street category went to Yanitsa Genova for Trapped in a Frame, a sharp visual commentary on the geometry of urban life. The photograph positions the human subject within a rigid grid of architectural lines, making a statement on the tension between individuality and the structures that confine it.

A boy leans his body over a large tire on a sandy beach while other children play in the background under a partly cloudy sky. The scene is captured in black and white. — Yanitsa Genova — *Trapped in a Frame*

Jury Reflections

The jury, comprised of internationally recognized photographers and educators Joel Tjintelaar, Julia Anna Gospodarou, Charles Paul Azzopardi, Kazutoshi Kawakami, and Spanish photographer Néstor Rodan, praised the breadth and quality of this year’s entries. Collectively, they noted that the submissions went beyond technical mastery, offering a glimpse into cultural traditions, human struggles, and new visual languages made possible through the discipline of monochrome.

Juror Joel Tjintelaar, known for his architectural fine art photography, emphasized how black-and-white remains “a medium that isolates form and light in ways color cannot,” while Julia Anna Gospodarou highlighted the creativity shown in pushing boundaries of abstraction and minimalism. Others on the panel pointed to the balance of deeply personal stories with global issues, underscoring the competition’s role in giving visibility to voices and perspectives from diverse corners of the world.

“The 2025 awards have given us images that don’t just demonstrate technical mastery, but reveal profound human stories, cultural traditions, and new ways of seeing light itself,” the panel summarized.

Looking Ahead

With the announcement of the 2025 winners, the Black and White Photo Awards continue to build momentum as a global platform for monochrome artists. Organizers confirmed that the 2026 edition will open for submissions on January 1, 2026, inviting both seasoned professionals and emerging talents to participate. Next year’s competition aims to broaden outreach even further, with new categories under consideration and expanded prize offerings designed to support photographers in their creative practice.

The organizers reiterated their mission to celebrate the timeless power of black-and-white photography, not only as an artistic choice but as a medium uniquely suited to convey mood, atmosphere, and truth.

“Each year, we are reminded that monochrome can illuminate the most urgent human stories while also elevating simple details into something extraordinary,” they stated.

As the awards grow in scope and visibility, they stand as both a showcase of artistic excellence and a reminder that in photography, light and shadow remain the most enduring tools of expression. All the award-winning images from the 2025 Black and White Photo Awards are available on the competition’s website.

Image credits: Black and White Photo Awards, individual artists as credited.