Travel Photographer of the Year: The world's best travel photos
Dashawatar Gopalkrishna Bade/ tpoty.comFrom sacred rituals to fleeting moments of survival, the winning images from the latest Travel Photographer of the Year competition have been announced.
Sacred rituals unfold after dark in Turkey; a split-second struggle for survival plays out in the Patagonian steppe; and Nenet fishermen haul nets in extreme cold on the Siberian tundra. These are among the scenes captured in this year's Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) awards.
"The standard this year was outstanding," said judge Krystal Chryssomallis. "The strongest photographs carried depth, intention and emotion, demonstrating the narrative power of a single image and reminding us that our world, when truly seen, is extraordinarily powerful and beautiful."
The winners were selected from more than 20,000 images submitted by amateur and professional photographers in 160 countries. Now in its 23rd year, the competition is judged anonymously by a 16-strong international panel, with finalists required to submit original raw files to verify authenticity and demonstrate that AI did not play a part in their creation.
Below is a selection of the winning images, alongside reflections from the photographers and judges.
Athanasios Maloukos/ tpoty.comOverall Winner: Travel Photographer of the Year 2025 – Athanasios Maloukos, Greece
Athanasios Maloukos claimed the top prize for two bodies of work exploring ritual, belief and movement: the solemn Holy Week processions of Zamora, Spain (pictured above); and the hypnotic Sema ceremony of whirling dervishes in Konya, Turkey (below). Shot in low light, both series rely on finely judged shutter speeds to balance blur and stillness.
"These images require immense skill to get right," said TPOTY founder Chris Coe. "Shooting on the edge like this requires very careful use of shutter speed to selectively freeze and blur the movements in these two ceremonies. There's a sense of rhythm and reverence in the images, which is incredibly difficult to achieve. This is all achieved in camera without over-processing and conveys the depth and intensity of each moment."
Judge Jeremy Hoare described Maloukos's work as "one of the best over the last 23 years of these awards".
Athanasios Maloukos/ tpoty.com"As the Sema unfolds, two dervishes whirl in disciplined rhythm, framing the imposing figure of the Şeyh – ceremonial axis and centre of the ritual presence. Through gracious moves and quiet motion, his presence add drama to a simple image." – Athanasios Maloukos
Technical details: Canon R5 · 15–35mm · f/10 · 0.13s · ISO 200
Dana Allen/ tpoty.comWinner: Travel Image of the Year – Dana Allen, US
This year's Travel Image of the Year went to Dana Allen for his striking photo of a bull elephant enveloped in dust, with just a single eye peering out. Elephants regularly take dust baths to rid their hides of insects and irritation, but here that familiar behaviour becomes something more abstract, stripped back to texture and gesture. Shot in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the image also won the One Shot: Travel in Monochrome category.
Technical details: Sony A1 II · 200–600mm · f/6.7 · 1/750s · ISO 1,000
Jamie Smart/ tpoty.comYoung Travel Photographer of the Year 2025 – Jamie Smart, UK
Jamie Smart won the Young Travel Photographer of the Year award for her carefully observed portfolio of flying foxes (fruit bats), photographed both at a zoo hospital in Beerwah, Queensland, and in flight in the wild.
"I was struck by the sensitivity and awareness in Jamie's visual storytelling," said judge Krystal Chryssomallis. "There is a clear understanding of light, timing and framing – particularly evident in the image of a bat in flight – paired with a remarkable gentleness in how the subject is observed and presented. At just 10 years old, Jamie demonstrates not only technical awareness, but a rare sensitivity for using images to communicate meaning and tell a compelling visual story."
Jamie Smart/ tpoty.com"What I love most about photography is how it helps me slow down, pay attention and appreciate things many people might walk past," said Smart. "I hope my images encourage others – especially young people – to look a little closer at the natural world and feel inspired to care for it."
Technical details:Nikon Z9 · lens not specified
Sara Bardotti/ tpoty.comPortfolio Winner: Adventures & Experiences – Sara Bardotti, Italy
Sara Bardotti's black-and-white portfolio documents the daily labour of Nenet fishermen working in extreme cold on the Siberian tundra. The images are stark and direct, foregrounding hands, bodies and movement with the landscape reduced to a hostile and anonymous backdrop.
"The moment the fishes touch the ground, the cold claims them," said Bardotti. "Out here, survival is swift, and reverence is quiet. The fishermen, exhausted, do not celebrate. They simply nod, as if acknowledging an ancient pact between man and lake."
Technical details:Nikon D750 · 24–70mm · f/2.8 · 1/160s · ISO 2,000
Frederico Figueiredo Cerdeira/ tpoty.comSingle Image Winner: Adventures & Experiences – Frederico Figueiredo Cerdeira, Brazil
Seen from beneath the surface, a surfer glides under a breaking wave at Cloudbreak Reef on Fiji's Tavarua Island. Frederico Figueiredo Cerdeira's underwater perspective turns turbulence and light into a single suspended moment.
"Every time a surfer dodges a wave, a unique new world is created," said Cerdeira.
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV · 8mm · f/8 · 1/160s · ISO 125
Mitchell Kanashkevich/ tpoty.comPortfolio Winner: Culture, Heritage & Beliefs – Mitchell Kanashkevich, Australia
Mitchell Kanashkevich's portfolio documents daily life inside a mahadara, a traditional Islamic school in Mauritania, where students memorise Qur'anic verses using lawh – wooden tablets inscribed with inked script. When a lesson is complete, the boards are washed clean. The water, believed to contain baraka (blessing), is sometimes kept.
Technical details: Canon 5D MkII · 16-35mm lens · f2.8 · 1/40 · ISO 3,200
Dashawatar Gopalkrishna Bade/ tpoty.comSingle Image Winner: Culture, Heritage & Beliefs – Dashawatar Gopalkrishna Bade, India
The winning image by Dashawatar Gopalkrishna Bade captures a moment of collective joy during the Pandharpur Wari pilgrimage in rural Maharashtra. Shot from a low angle, the photograph centres on two Warkaris performing a traditional dance with bamboo sticks, their movements amplified against an open sky, while the wider community looks on.
"In the foreground, two men are joyfully performing a traditional dance or mock stick-play," said Bade. "Their clothes are smeared with mud, symbolising the earthy, devotional spirit of the journey… In the background, a large group of Warkaris – men and women dressed in traditional white attire, colourful saris, turbans and topis – sit in a semicircle, clapping and cheering. The entire scene radiates community, devotion, energy and cultural richness, capturing the spirit of the Pandharpur Wari."
Technical details:Nikon Z9 · 35mm · f/5.6 · 1/4s · ISO 800
Paul Sansome/ tpoty.comPortfolio Winner: Landscape, Weather & Climate – Paul Sansome, UK
Paul Sansome's portfolio focuses on the margins of landscape in North Iceland's Westfjords, where fog, light and sea blur the boundaries between land and sky.
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"In a week of touring North Iceland there had been no quality light for landscape photography at all," said Sansome. "The day started as all the others had, with a bland blue sky and sunshine. However, within 10 miles we drove into a bank of sea fog and a session with such beautiful light filtering through the fog onto the calm sea. The fog thinning and thickening to reveal and then hide elements of the landscape."
Technical details: Canon R5 · 100–500mm · f/11 · 1/800s · ISO 400
Laetitia Guichard/ tpoty.comSingle Image Winner: Landscape, Weather & Climate – Laetitia Guichard, France
Shot near Ferté Alais, south of Paris, Laetitia Guichard's photograph freezes a rare alignment of weather and aviation, with a funnel cloud forming as a plane cuts through the same turbulent sky.
"I travel when I can and I try to find the most beautiful pictures of the world," said Guichard.
Technical details: Canon R7 · 70-200mm · f/7.1 · 1/2500s · ISO 800
Mohammad Murad/ tpoty.comPortfolio Winner: Wildlife, Sealife, Birdlife – Mohammad Murad, Kuwait
Mohammad Murad's colourful set of images follows Arabian desert foxes living unexpectedly close to residential neighbourhoods in Kuwait City, navigating streets and gardens under the glow of streetlights.
"Habitat loss, overhunting and human pressure had pushed these families to risk raising their young near the city," said Murad. "This image was taken next to the seaside where colourful car and streetlights reflected off the sea, while two small hand flashlights created the rim light. I visited the den four nights a week, slowly gaining the trust of the mother and kits until they approached me freely. Their curiosity – and their vulnerability – made the experience unforgettable."
Technical details:Canon 1D Mk II · 500mm · f/4 · 1/25s · ISO 2,000
Kevin Yu Shi/ tpoty.comSingle Image Winner: Wildlife, Sealife & Birdlife – Kevin Yu Shi, US
Kevin Yu Shi's photo captures a puma mid-attack as it attempts to bring down a guanaco on the windswept plains of Chile's Torres del Paine National Park.
"The image capturing the big cat attacking his prey was a visceral moment in time that I've never seen before," said judge Keith Berr. "Raw emotion and a real life-and-death situation for survival, with a powerful, unique camera angle, subject, composition and timing. All I can say when I look at this image is 'wow!'"
"It's a rare treat to see a puma hunting right in front of you," added Shi. "She had two adorable cubs who depended on her to bring them food. She was really close to biting into the neck and suffocating the guanaco. But guess what? The guanaco was a tough cookie, and it managed to escape."
Technical details: Canon R5 · 600mm · f/6.3 · 1/2000s · ISO 1,000
John Edwards/ tpoty.comOne Shot Winner: Green Planet – John Edwards, US
"I captured this image shortly after sunrise in a quiet region of Thailand, whose name [Sukhothai] fittingly translates to 'Dawn of Happiness'," said Edwards. "I noticed how perfectly the Buddha's figure reflected in the still water. To convey the spirit of the moment, I inverted the photograph, turning the reflection into an illusion where the sky above the Buddha becomes a tapestry of floating flowers and drifting plants. My intention was to create an image that mirrors the peaceful, dreamlike feeling of this sacred location."
Technical details: Nikon D850 · 24–70mm · f/6.3 · 1/100s · ISO 100
Teo Chin Leong/ tpoty.comOne Shot Winner: Slow Travel – Teo Chin Leong, Singapore
"A lone corporate worker hurries across a large junction in Tokyo, the only human being in the frame," said Teo Chin Leong. "This series depicts the overwhelming loneliness and the hectic pace of living in a large city."
Technical details: Sony ILCE-6500 · 55–210mm · f/6.3 · 1/400s · ISO 200
Rahsan Firtina/ tpoty.comOne Shot Winner: Travel Portraits – Rahsan Firtina, Turkey
Rahsan Firtina's portrait centres on an elderly man deep in contemplation as a table tennis match plays out in the background. The image, shot in Hanoi, Vietnam, places its subject firmly in the foreground, allowing the background to slip slightly out of focus and reminding us that travel portraits often reveal as much through context as expression.
Technical details: Sony 7RM5 · 28–70mm · f/2.8 · 1/320s · ISO 400
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