The LensCulture Portrait Awards 2025 has once again brought to light some of the most powerful and emotionally resonant photographic portraits from around the globe. This year’s winners, jurors’ picks, and finalists showcase a deeply human tapestry—images that go beyond the surface to tell stories of identity, resilience, and raw emotion.
Photo by: Emily Neville Fisher
From remote villages to bustling urban landscapes, the 20 winning portraits reflect diverse cultures and lived experiences. These photographs capture more than just faces; they encapsulate history, struggle, pride, vulnerability, and connection. Whether it’s a hauntingly beautiful gaze, a quiet moment of reflection, or an expressive burst of joy, each portrait invites us to see the world through someone else’s eyes.
Portraiture has long served as a mirror for society—both a record and a reckoning. The selected works continue that legacy while redefining its scope. Many of these images confront pressing social issues: gender and racial injustice, displacement, mental health, and the complexities of modern identity. Others simply celebrate the dignity and beauty of everyday people, often overlooked in mainstream narratives.
These portraits are not just photographs—they are stories carved in light, filled with intimacy and truth. The 2025 LensCulture Awards reaffirm the portrait’s role as one of the most powerful tools in photography, capable of opening hearts and sparking meaningful conversation.
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#1. Series Winner – 1st Place: "Nirvana" by Daesung Lee, France
#2. Series Winner – 2nd Place: "Healing Wounds: Reconciliation in Post-Genocide Rwanda" by Jan Banning, Netherlands
#3. Series Winner – 3rd Place: "Searching for the Same Light" by Barbara Peacock, United States
#4. Single Winner – 1st Place: "67 Mustang" by Emily Neville Fisher, United States
#5. Single Winner – 2nd Place: "Olive, Eleven" by Kat Green, United Kingdom
#6. Single Winner – 3rd Place: "Daughter of Chinghis Khan" by Slava Pirsky, Israel
Jurors’ Picks
#7. "Transformation" by Hannah Mittelstaedt, United Kingdom
Selected by Jim Casper, Editor-in-Chief LensCulture
#8. "Loi and Alex – Dance Friendship" by Kyle Lui, United States
Selected by Nadia Vellam, Photo and Video Director The New York Times Style Magazine
#9. "It Could Have Been Us" by Magnus Laupa, Sweden
Selected by Breann Birkenbuel, Photography Manager and Editorial Visual Operations National Geographic
#10. "Jangarak" by Majid Farahani, Iran
Selected by Clare Freestone, Curator National Portrait Gallery
#11. "They don’t Look like me" by Niccolò Rastrelli, Italy
Selected by Francesca Marani, Senior Photo Editor Vogue Italia
#12. "Interpolation" by Sander Vos. United Kingdom
Selected by Ramón Reverté, Editor in Chief and Creative Director RM
#13. "Miki and Yoko" by Shin Ono, United States
Selected by Noelle Théard, Senior Digital Photo Editor The New Yorker
#14. "The Extraordinary Beauty of Ginger Haired Girls" by Stefanie Langenhoven, South Africa
Selected by Alex Kahl, Content Specialist WePresent
Finalists
#15. "Behind the Walls: Slovakia’s Roma Communities" by Boris Joseph, France
#16. "Portraits from Acholiland" by Brian Hodges, Australia
#17. "Gravida" by Eliza Bell Schweizbach, United States
#18. "Temple Road" by Josefine Rauch, Germany
#19. "Amagansett" by Janelle Lynch, United States
#20. "Divided Youth of Belfast" by Toby Binder, Germany
