The 2025 Refocus International Photographer of the Year Awards once again proved why this global platform is one of the most respected stages for contemporary photography. This year’s winners didn’t just capture images—they told powerful human stories that cut through borders, cultures, and political lines. From emotionally raw street scenes to visually striking conceptual narratives, the 2025 selections celebrate photography as both art and testimony.
At the heart of this year’s honors stands Luke Gram of Canada, crowned International Photographer of the Year 2025. His winning series, “Humanity Within the Architecture of Control,” offers a rare and quietly powerful look inside North Korea. Rather than focusing on spectacle, Gram turns his lens toward subtle human gestures—people walking, waiting, working, and existing within a rigidly controlled environment. The result is haunting and deeply human. His images reveal how individuality quietly survives within systems designed to regulate identity, movement, and emotion. It’s storytelling at its most restrained yet emotionally loud.
Alongside the top honor, the 1st Place Winners across all categories showcased extraordinary diversity—from fine art and street to conceptual and portrait photography. Each winning project demonstrated a distinct voice, proving that contemporary photography continues to evolve through bold ideas, technical mastery, and deeply personal storytelling. Together, these photographers represent a global creative force redefining how we see the world.
The 2025 Refocus Awards once again affirmed that photography is more than imagery—it’s a language of truth, empathy, and connection. These winning works don’t just capture moments; they challenge perspectives and invite us to look closer.
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#1. International Photographer fo the Year: "Humanity Within the Architecture of Control" by Luke Gram
"North Korea is shaped by strict design and order, but everyday life still appears in small gestures and quiet routines. This series captures the persistence of humanity within a controlled world built to guide movement and shape identity."
#2. Abstract – Winner: "Bonsai" by Mark Gray
"An abstract aerial photo of a mine in the goldfields region of Western Australia."
#3. Advertising & Commercial – Winner: "Cardamom Rhubarb Sidecar" by Maya Visnyei
"This image was shot as part of the "Worth Every Scent" story for LCBO Food & Drink Magazine, Spring 2025."
#4. Aerial – Winner: "Above the Horizon" by Marie Juliette Aziz
"This a collection of photos taken with aerial perspectives from Vietnam. Each photo captures the beauty and intricacy of landscapes and patterns, inviting viewers to experience the world through a fresh and elevated lens."
#5. Architecture – Winner: "Geometry of Solitude" by Thomas de Franzoni
"A single curved frame opens onto a void, reducing architecture to its purest gesture. Light and shadow become equal players, and the empty center becomes the most powerful subject of all."
#6. Conceptual – Winner: "Ring Of Fire and Ice" by Liam Man
"A “Ring of Fire” solar eclipse reaches annularity as two ice climbers summit the Glacier Leones. A drone illuminates the ice’s textures and colours, battling eclipse winds that throw plumes of snow into the sun’s rays. The foreground ice is strewn with rocky debris, left by a landslide upstream."
#7. Domestic Animals – Winner: "Land of Light" by Bellot Audrey
"We hiked to this location by this Dalmatian. The landscape was completely shrouded in thick gray fog—we couldn’t see a thing. We waited, hoping for a change, but for a while, it seemed like we were entirely alone in an endless void. The sun finally began to break through, like a beacon of hope."
#8. Event – Winner: "Chaos in the hell" by Antonio Flores
"A huge fire bull sets off an explosion of gunpowder and pyrotechnics while a dog and fire warriors run alongside it as part of the fire bull festival."
#9. Fashion & Beauty – Winner: "Dream" by Jaime Travezán
"Promotion for fashion designer Ade Bakare."
#10. Film/Analog – Winner: "The Last Scene" by Lukasz Spychala
"A visual essay on suspended time, introspection, and the theatricality of everyday life – where a deeper dimension of experience is built between light and shadow, presence and absence. The series invites the viewer to pause and recognize their own – often unconscious – inner scenes."
#11. Fine Art – Winner: "Divas of Africa" by Stefan Groepper
“Divas of Africa” unfolds in a surreal white desert, where strength and grace meet light and shadow. Through fashion, nature, and identity, Black women emerge as living sculptures – powerful yet tender, timeless and free. A visual ode to femininity, dignity, and inner strength.
#12. Landscapes – Winner: "Iceberg’s Edge" by Randall (Randy) Hanna
"Melting iceberg along the West Coast of Greenland."
#13. Minimalism – Winner: "Arctic Silence" by Patrick Ems
"A lone musher with his dogs drives through the vast arctic expanses of Spitsbergen."
#14. Nature – Winner: "Breach" by Jarrod Saw
"Where silence ends and thunder begins. A single moment frozen in flight."
#15. People – Winner: "Living(Rooms)" by Quintavius Oliver
"Living(Rooms) is an exploration of humanity in our most vulnerable and intimate spaces- the places we call "home". This began as a personal journey in healing from a childhood not knowing what "home" meant and evolved into a mission to highlight similarities between various cultures and communities."
#16. Photojournalism – Winner: "The Last Hope" by Gabriela Oráa
"Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, greets supporters during a campaign rally for opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, in Mérida, Venezuela."
#17. Portrait – Winner: "Abandoned Past" by Brian Callaway
"Portraits of Holocaust survivors and Dutch Indo survivors of Japanese internment camps who emigrated to America after WWII. Despite vastly different wartime experiences, they share profound resilience and the courage to build new lives. A documentary honoring voices often left unheard in history."
#18. Sports – Winner: "Through the ice" by Gonzalo Robert
"Two years ago, Aniol Serrasolses invited me to search for new waterfalls in Svalbard, high up in the Arctic. When we found this first waterfall, with water flowing between the ice walls, it was exactly what we were looking for, and it produced some of the best photos of my life."
#19. Still Life – Winner: "Contours of Silence" by Bill Pack
"When motion ceases, its memory lingers—an echo shaped in quiet air. Light traces the rhythm between stillness and flight; each curve a sentence without words. What remains is motion distilled to essence, silence made visible."
#20. Street – Winner: "Riding the Pilgrims’ Rails" by France Leclerc
"Bangladesh, and particularly Dhaka, is well-known for overcrowded commuting trains. People claim any perch they can on top, and all around the train cars. But the crowd is never as large as it is during the Bishwa Ijtema, an annual gathering of Muslims held in Tongi, a small town near Dhaka."
#21. Travel – Winner: "Tapestry of Gathering" by Chirag Sadhnani
"On the shores of Kulasekarapattinam, millions gather for Kulasai Dussehra—sleeping under the open sky as a ritual of devotion. From above, the beach becomes a living tapestry of prayer and presence, where faith meets dawn in quiet unity."
#22. Underwater – Winner: "Radiance" by Remuna Beca
"A solitary shark glides through the open ocean, framed by rays of sunlight that pierce the blue like a cathedral of light."
#23. Wildlife – Winner: "The Perfect Heist" by Baiju Patil
"For 15+ years I’ve returned to Bharatpur’s wetlands, but last year was unique. Algae blooms boosted fish, drawing Darters—and opportunistic Grey Herons. In a split-second heist, herons snatched fish mid-air from Darters. After years of patience, I finally captured this breathtaking drama."
In Summary
Who won the 2025 Refocus International Photographer of the Year?
- Canadian photographer Luke Gram won for his series Humanity Within the Architecture of Control.
What is the theme of the winning project?
- The project explores everyday human life inside highly controlled environments, focusing on subtle emotional moments.
What makes the Refocus Awards unique?
- They celebrate global photographic excellence across diverse genres, emphasizing storytelling and artistic vision.
Are multiple categories awarded?
- Yes, winners are selected across several categories, including documentary, fine art, and conceptual photography.
Why are these awards important?
- They spotlight emerging and established photographers who push visual storytelling forward on an international stage.
