22 Exceptional Wildlife-Winning Photos From The 2025 Fine Art Photography Awards

The 11th Annual Fine Art Photography Awards once again celebrated excellence in visual storytelling, and this year’s wildlife category delivered truly exceptional winning photos that left both judges and audiences in awe. These images are more than just snapshots of animals—they are finely crafted works of art that capture the essence, emotion, and fleeting moments of life in the wild. From fierce predators in motion to quiet, contemplative portraits of rare species, each winning photograph reflects deep technical skill, patience, and a profound respect for nature.

This year’s winners highlight a diverse array of wildlife subjects, ranging from majestic big cats and soaring birds to intimate glimpses of life in remote ecosystems. The photographers, drawn from across the globe, have used their lenses to not only showcase natural beauty but also underscore the urgent need for conservation. Through striking composition, dramatic lighting, and compelling storytelling, these award-winning images at the 2025 Fine Art Photography Awards remind us of the wild world’s power to inspire, move, and awaken responsibility.

Submissions are now open for the 12th Fine Art Photography Awards, with a deadline of October 12th, 2025, inviting even more artists to join this thriving creative community. Scroll down and inspire yourself. You can check their website for more information.

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#1. 1st Place Winner: "The Whale’s Raft" by Estebane Rezkallah

"The misfortune of some brings happiness to others. The saying is cruel, but it’s true, for these polar bears, the death of a whale often heralds a royal feast. And it’s an understatement to say that news travels fast on the ice. Attracted by the appetizing smell, about thirty bears out of the roughly 68 recorded in the area rushed to the scene without quarreling or resorting to claws to claim their share. A behavior that is almost benevolent, with no aggression, possibly linked to the abundance of food, was seen for the first time in East Greenland."

#2. 2nd Place Winner: "Sápmi – Realm of the Reindeer" by Hanneke Van Camp

"Sápmi is a land without borders, with eight distinct seasons, and reindeer husbandry. Where there’s room to breathe, to roam freely. While the growing demand for metals and minerals calls for the expansion of devastating mines, old growth forests are cut clear for short term gains, and the climate crisis destabilizes the seasons, there’s also so much we can learn from these seemingly untouched lands.

For what is often called a wilderness are in fact living landscapes, where the Sami have lived and worked for thousands of years. A lifestyle that leaves no trace, rooted deeply in respect for all living things, in a world where man is part of nature and nature part of man. A way of life that is almost invisible today, yet it holds a hopeful message for our future; an invitation to reconnect with nature – and ourselves."

#3. 3rd Place Winner: "Forgiveness" by Eric Kanigan

"This is the face that launched a thousand ships. Not out of admiration or virtue, but of exploitation. The iconic shape of this leviathan is synonymous with New England. These are the figures that inspired Melville’s Moby Dick and led to the development of whaling communities along the coast. The sperm whale population was decimated in the 19th and 20th centuries, with numbers dropping from over a million to a third of that today. Whalers harpooned the animals for the oily substance—spermaceti—found in their heads."