29 Outstanding Award-Winning Photos from the Black and White Photo Awards 2025

Written by : 121clicks Team

The Black and White Photo Awards 2025 proudly unveil the winners of their fourth edition, once again highlighting the timeless artistry of monochrome photography. This year’s competition reached new heights, attracting photographers from more than 90 countries and showcasing how black and white imagery continues to inspire, challenge, and transform the way we see the world.

Photo by: Yanitsa Genova

The collection of 29 outstanding award-winning photos reflects a diverse range of stories, emotions, and visions across five major categories: Architecture, Fauna and Flora, Landscape, Portrait, and Street. Each photograph stands as a testament to the power of light, shadow, and form, reminding us why black and white remains one of the most evocative mediums in photography.

In the Architecture category, striking geometric compositions reveal the elegance of design and structure. Fauna and Flora bring forward delicate yet powerful encounters with nature, where texture and contrast breathe life into the smallest details. Landscapes capture sweeping vistas and intimate moments of the natural world, while Portraits unveil human expressions that transcend language. The Street category immerses us in everyday life, turning fleeting moments into lasting visual poetry.

Founded in 2022, the Black and White Photo Awards have quickly grown into a leading international platform dedicated exclusively to monochrome artistry. What makes these awards unique is their commitment not only to technical excellence but also to storytelling—ensuring that every image resonates far beyond aesthetics.

The 2025 award-winning photos remind us that in a world saturated with color, black and white photography continues to offer clarity, emotion, and timelessness. These 29 images prove that the absence of color is never a limitation, but rather a powerful lens through which the beauty, struggles, and essence of life can be revealed.

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#1. Absolute Winner: "The kingdom of flies" by João Coelho

"The Absolute Winner of the Black and White Photo Awards 2025 is João Coelho, with his photograph The kingdom of flies. The photograph, which portrays how harsh survival can be in some countries, has won the title of Black and White Photographer of the Year 2025, with €1,000 courtesy of SanDisk and a magnificent Simera 35mm f1.4 lens (E/RF/Z/X)."

#2. Runner-Up: "Where the shadows lie" by Mark Seawell

"Where the shadows lie, by Mark Seawell, was the first photograph to be named Runner-Up in the Black and White Photo Awards. 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."

#3. Special Award for Creativity by SanDisk: "Electric Silhouette" by Adebayo Rotilu

"This year, the Special Award for Creativity, an amazing SanDisk Professional PRO-G40 SSD (4TB), goes to Adebayo Rotilu for his photograph Electric Silhouette. A unique portrait that uses only laser beams as the main light source before converting it to black and white."

#4. Special Award Master of Light by Godox: "No Words" by Roberto Corinaldesi

"The first Special Award Master of Light, awarded with an AD600ProII flash, by Godox, went to Roberto Corinaldesi. The energy captured in his photograph No Words and the way it is lit led this photographer to be the first to win this award."