These International Photography Awards Winners Are Battling for $15,000
The International Photography Awards (IPA) announced the main category winners of its 2025 competition, honoring talented amateur and professional photographers across 11 categories.
One of the 11 professional category winners below will be named the “International Photographer of the Year” at the IPA Gala in Athens in October, along with a $10,000 cash prize. The non-professional winner will earn the title “Discovery of the Year” and $5,000. For the International Photography Awards, a professional is someone who earns, or has earned, “the majority of their. income from photographer, or who sell or publish their work regularly, or belong to professional photography organizations.”
The 2025 IPA jury noted a few of the awarded projects. For example, Savadmon Avalachamveettil’s photo, MahaKumbh — World’s Largest Gathering, which won the Event photography category, shows a once-in-144 years ritual at the sacred Kumbh Mela festival in India. During the ritual, Naga Sadhus covered in ash swim in the Ganges at dawn.
Photographer Abdelrahman Alkahlout’s series, Echoes of Genocide, won the Editorial/Press category and shows the devastating effects of the war in Gaza.
“When judging news photography , the first consideration is not the magnitude of the news event itself, but the essential elements of a visual work: what the image wants to say, how it says it, and whether it says it well. The conflict between Israel and Palestine was one of the
most significant global issues last year, and both sides have their supporters,” says Alex NG, PhotoNews.hk publisher and IPA Jury member. “As a competition judge, one must view these photographs with detachment — judging the image as an image. The success of this entry lies in its ability to break the viewer’ s heart.”
Non-professional photographer Sebastian Piorek’s photo project, The Overflowing Earth, explores Poland’s growing landfills and their impact on the environment.
“What once seemed like isolated dumps now spread endless, forming landscapes where refuse dominates,” the photographer says.
Professional Category Winners
Non-Professional Category Winners
Image credits: International Photography Awards. The individual photographers are credited in the captions.
