The Best 60 Images Of The Year By Non-Professional Photographers From Around The World

3rd Place / Architecture/Cityscapes.

Description: “Captured in Shanghai, this image contrasts the layered history of the city: an illuminated road threads through the aged rooftops of the old town and Yu Garden, leading into the luminous skyline of modern towers. I took this photo from a high vantage point at dusk with a tripod, hoping to show how Shanghai’s past and future are stitched together by streets that carry memory, movement, and transformation. No digital compositing was used, only long exposure and color grading to enhance the mood.”

3rd Place / Architecture/Buildings.

Description: “These towers, located in the suburbs of Toronto, are absolutely fascinating because of their slightly twisted crankshaft shape, side by side like two sisters. Their feminine shape has earned them the nickname of the Marylyn Towers!”

1st Place / Analog / Film/Other.

Description: “A snowy day in my favorite waterfront park in Buffalo, NY. The falling snow created a vast white canvas on which the black shapes of lampposts, benches, trees, and fences stood in stark contrast. I decided to capture this minimalistic landscape in a short study, focusing on the relationships between the resulting elements. The final frames, with their strong contrasts, highlight the graphic qualities of that day.”

1st Place / Fine Art/Landscape.

Description: “A gentle morning mist rises, enveloping the trees in a soft embrace of silence. Light dances on the water’s surface, revealing a hidden reflection of a world both real and intangible. In this delicate balance between clarity and obscurity, there is a quiet invitation to step beyond the known, and to see not just with the eyes but with the heart. This scene is a reminder of the ephemeral beauty that awaits those who pause to notice it—a place where nature whispers its poetry to those willing to listen.”

2nd Place / Editorial / Press/Photo Essay / Feature Story.

Description: “It all begins at the bottom of this bay, a dark world where the presence of man is not welcome. It's in this realm, strewn with iron and sharp plates that come apart from the hulls of ships that are succumbing to rust, that a group of fearless youths defy immense risks every day to retrieve iron to sell. It's a titanic effort that only ends on the beach when they succeed in loading the heavy pieces onto bikes that take them to a zone where they are weighed.”

3rd Place / Architecture/Interior.

Description: “In this series of photographs, I explored various hotel and shopping mall interiors in Dubai and created symmetrical images inspired by Islamic art.”

2nd Place / Architecture/Industrial.

Description: “The energy tower located in the desert Gobi can save 46,000 tons of standard coal each year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 121,000 tons.”

1st Place / Architecture/Industrial.

Description: “For about 300 years since the Industrial Revolution, we have pursued modernization. Factories are a symbol of modernization, operating day and night to give us convenience. However, in exchange for this, we have destroyed much of nature. The situation in which so much nature is lost due to modernization overlaps with the sight of Mount Fuji, a symbol of Japan, hidden by clouds. However, the Earth has not completely abandoned us. Mount Fuji is still visible, isn't it? Let's find a way to balance modernization and protecting the Earth before Mount Fuji disappears from view altogether.”

Analog / Film Photographer Of the Year.

Description: "Misplaced Childhood explores the theme of early maturity among children growing up in rural Poland. This documentary series captures the moments where innocence intertwines with responsibility, freedom with constraints, and childhood with the inevitability of growing up too soon. Through a series of black-and-white portraits, the project reflects on the lived realities of children who, while still engaged in play, are already confronting the structures of adulthood—be it through the responsibilities imposed by their environment, economic circumstances, or cultural expectations.

3rd Place / Event/Traditions and Cultures.

Description: “Muslim worshippers performing Friday prayers atop a floating bridge, with a polluted river flowing beneath. The image contrasts spiritual devotion with the harsh reality of environmental degradation, symbolizing resilience amidst crisis. The river’s dark, contaminated waters highlight the urgent need for ecological awareness whereas the scene blends faith and nature.”

1st Place / Editorial / Press/Travel / Tourism.

Description: “In the windswept plains of Kayseri, wild horses charge through the haze, led by a lone rider and his dog. Shadows dance through dust and light—echoes of ancient rhythms still alive beneath the Turkish sky.”

3rd Place / Editorial / Press/Other.

Description: “In the Peruvian Andes, the Maras salt mines—still active since pre-Inca times—comprise over 4,000 terraced pools, collectively owned and maintained by local families. At over 3,000 meters above sea level, salt is harvested through ancestral methods passed down across generations. This is a quiet yet enduring power: the power of human perseverance and cultural resilience. It is found in every gesture of labor under the Andean sun, in the unbroken chain of transmission, and in nature itself—steady, abundant, and eternal.”

2nd Place / Architecture/Cityscapes.

Description: “Dubai gets a few foggy mornings when the seasons are changing normally in October or February. To capture the fog you need to gain access to a high vantage point (above the 50th floor) and also try to pick the mornings with the best chances. Which means you need to follow the weather. I had read there was a chance of fog the next few days and booked a slot at a hotel viewpoint and was so excited in the morning when I woke up and saw fog everywhere. Arriving at the 55th floor of the hotel, I was astounded to see the fog forming. I feel the black and white conversion adds to the eeriness.”

2nd Place / Architecture/Abstract.

Description: “Sequence of decontextualized walls, observed as simple, regular, schematic compositions.”

3rd Place / Analog / Film/Nature.

Description: “This short series depicts three forces of nature deemed to be impending on human territory, when more accurately it is nature existing on the terrain that has always been theirs.”

1st Place / Analog / Film/Nature.

Description: “The photos were taken during my month-long visit to Patagonia in 2024, on a Mamiya RB67 medium format camera, with Sekor 127mm and Sekor 50mm lenses on Ilford HP5+ film.”

1st Place / Analog / Film/Architecture.

Description: “Unfinished homes are a common sight in Greece, many halted after the GFC or paused to avoid taxes amid legal uncertainty. Greece’s unclear property laws often lead owners to start building quickly, leaving skeletal frames in limbo. Some are generational projects, passed down awaiting completion. This structure in Santorini, set starkly against volcanic rock, highlights the contrast between human ambition and natural permanence—between the island’s timeless beauty and the quiet, enduring presence of decay.”

1st Place / Editorial / Press/Contemporary issues.

Description: “They live on the margins of society, fleeing police raids and taking refuge in the ruins of houses or buildings on the verge of collapse. They all have a history of violence or abuse when they were teenagers that led them to abandon their families and join gangs, their real families now. Freedom is what they have left and camaraderie is what unites them. For how long will we remain oblivious to them? For how long will we avoid reflecting on who is responsible for these young people having no place and no future in our societies?”

2nd Place / Architecture/Historic.

Description: “San Biagio was built between 1518 and 1540. It was designed by Antonio de Sangallo the Elder. I was on a four day journey through Tuscany. I shot San Biagio from three different areas. This shot was from the side of the road with many cars zipping past. I stepped off the road and into the tall grass and brush to capture this stunning sunset. I would have loved to come back every morning and evening to capture the changes in the clouds and light. San Biagio was the perfect model.””

2nd Place / Architecture/Buildings.

Description: “The images show different close-ups of a brick building in Germany, highlighting the contrast between a smooth, light-colored brick wall and a darker brick section with a pitched roof and recurring orange-red brick insets. The different brick types, colors, and patterns create a visually striking abstract composition.”