The London Camera Exchange Photographer of the Year 2025 dropped its winning lineup, and let me tell you — these shots are pure fire. With an Overall Winner plus 14 category champions, this year’s contest feels like a highlight reel of creativity, grit, and straight-up photographic magic. From high-energy action scenes to dreamy after-dark moments, from wildlife wonders to ultra-clean macro shots, the talent here is stacked.
Taking the crown as Overall Winner is Capri McPherson-Noel with her radiant image Sunkissed. Capri said she wanted to highlight the connection between humans and nature — and you can feel that vibe instantly. The way sunlight glows off the sunflowers mirrors the way it warms her subject’s skin tone. It’s soulful, striking, and packed with meaning. Just like flowers pull strength from the sun, Capri reminds us that we do too.
The 14 winning categories — Action, After Dark, Birds, Creative, Emerging Talent, Landscape, Macro, Music, People’s Choice, Pets, Portrait, Street, Travel, and Wildlife — each bring their own flavor. Every winning frame feels like a tiny universe: energetic dogs mid-leap, nightlife glowing in neon blues, birds frozen in razor-sharp detail, and raw street moments that hit straight in the feels. These photographers didn’t just take pictures — they told stories.
And here’s the best part: if you’re itching to throw your hat in the ring, the 2026 competition is officially open. It’s completely free, open to photographers of all skill levels, and runs from October 15, 2025, until January 21, 2026, at midnight.
So if these 14 remarkable winners spark something in you… maybe it’s your turn next.
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#1. Overall and Portrait Winner: "Sunkissed Boy" Capri McPherson-Noel
"I wanted to create the connection between humans and nature. The way the sunlight beams off the sunflowers for growth, is the way the sun beams off his skin tone. As humans we gain energy from sun just as the flowers do."
#2. Action: "Blowing the Cheeks" by Lester Woodward
"Jiske Griffioen taken at the 2023 British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships. Taken at a practice session to get the best low-down vantage point. RAW image processed in Photoshop to bring out details and colours, logo of event removed from background.
I think this image really highlights the dedication and effort put in by the athlete. Lucky to have great lighting on the day. I felt the practice sessions were a lot harder than the match, I guess that’s physical vs. mental."
#3. After Dark: "Cosmic Gates" by Dawid Glawdzin
"I captured this image during my family holiday in Tenerife. I used the opportunity to take some Astrophotos as well. Elevation approx. 2500m close to the El Teide volcano. Alone in the middle of nowhere. Totally worth it! Standard DSLR and lens were used here. No special filters. Just a great clear sky."
#4. Birds: "Backlit Cuckoo" by Colin Vanner
"I knew of a place that a cuckoo sometimes landed, so set up camera on a tripod with sun facing the camera to get a backlit shot. I used a remote control on camera so I didn’t shake the camera when taking this shot. Then I sat back and waited, I did this a lot of times before getting this result."
#5. Creative: "Future Portrait" by Gilbert Murray
"This is a double portrait of a model using a mixture of monochrome and colour. Capturing the picture was quite easy as it was great photography weather – it was winter, so soft light. It just needed some patience. I processed it through Photoshop, using all the usual sliders, heal brush for bits and a light gradient layer to really bring out the subject from the rest."
#6. Emerging Talent: "Abigail Martina" by Aguirre Torres
"Taken during The Last Dinner Party’s tour in October 2024 at the Eventim Apollo. I edited it to make it look as magical as possible and to showcase my personal photography style.
Editing photos from this gig is what made me find my editing style, before I was a bit lost, as I’m sure a lot of young photographers are, but after playing around on Lightroom and Photoshop and then seeing the final result, I felt like I could cry! Super proud of this photograph because of that."
#7. Landscape: "Close to Heaven" by Edyta Rice
"Captured in the early hours of the morning, this image showcases the breathtaking beauty of the Tuscan countryside wrapped in a soft veil of mist. Above, the sky is charged with drama as the sun battles to pierce through the dense clouds, casting a golden glow that dances across the landscape.
What makes this image unique is the dramatic interplay between light and shadow. The sun, though partially obscured, cast a diffused golden glow that illuminated pockets of the landscape, creating a painterly effect reminiscent of classic Renaissance paintings."
#8. Macro: "Season of Love" by Sandip Guha
"The courtship of the Crab Spider."
#9. Music: "Creation of Deadletter" by Gracie Hall
"Stood in a sweaty pit of a Deadletter gig and captured lead singer Zac Lawrence reaching out into the crowd, a real life replication of The Creation of Adam by Michaelangelo. There’s something so genuine that comes with photographing a show without a photo pit.
This is truly the most organic and best photo I ever could have dreamed of taking."
#10. People’s Choice: "Steep Hill Lincoln" by Andrew Scott
"5am snow falling on the cobbled Lincoln streets. Although virtually dark, hand holding at 1/15 of a second allowed the snow filled skies to light up. No one else in sight – the journey to get there on snowy road was quite tricky… but worth it!"
#11. Pets: "Muesli Yawn!" by Jon Pauling
"A shot of my long suffering muse, Muesli, caught mid yawn! Muesli, along with my other cat Lexi, tend to bear the brunt of my hobbyist photography passion, especially when the weather or health issues prevent me getting out after actual wildlife subjects."
#12. Street: "Platform No. 1" by John Seager
"I took this image in Berlin in April 2024. I lived in Berlin for a while and have a particular affection for the U-Bahn stations across the city. This is one of my favourites, with its bold architecture providing perfect frames for platform life."
#13. Travel: "Mundari Women" by Lynn Fraser
"The women are an essential part of running a Mundari cattle camp. Here they are going about their early morning chores before heading off to the river to collect water. The atmosphere in the image is caused by smoke and dust."
#14. Wildlife: "After the Kill" by Caroline English
"We tracked 11-year-old twin cheetah brothers in Botswana. In the morning the weaker hunter of the two failed to catch an impala. Later that same day, his brother, the stronger hunter, made no such mistake – the hanging droplet of blood symbolising the face of the victorious predator. The image was taken very late in the day, and the light was fading fast."
