Winners Announced for the 40th AOP Awards

The winners of the 40th AOP Photography Awards, celebrating excellence in the creative photography and image-making industry, have been announced live at an Awards ceremony in London on the evening of Thursday 9 October 2025 as part of the AOP Annual Showcase event, sponsored by MPB, this year’s headline sponsor. As the voice for photographers since 1968, the AOP Awards programme recognises and promotes professional excellence, technical ability and talent at all stages of a photographer’s career. 2025 marks the Awards’ 40th anniversary reflecting the AOP’s commitment to celebrating every facet of the photography industry.

The gold and silver winners of all 10 broad-ranging categories, plus Best in Commissioned Work, Best in Personal Work, Best in Moving Image, and the AOP Discovery Award presented exclusively to AOP Assistant Members, are announced alongside the 2025 AOP Open Award (sponsored by Fujifilm), where professionals and amateurs compete on equal terms; the AOP's Emerging Talent Awards (sponsored by WEX Photo Video), celebrating the very best in the new wave of photographers and image makers, who have been practising their craft for less than three years; the AOP Discovery Award presented exclusively to AOP Assistant Members; and the 2025 Martin Evening Excellence in Digital Retouching Award. This year the AOP introduces two new Industry Awards - the AOP Production Award, and AOP Green Award (sponsored by MPB). The AOP’s diverse awards showcase the very best in original human-authored photography, and as the voice of photographers and image-makers since 1968, the AOP champions the rights of visual artists and campaigns tirelessly on issues of copyright, best practice, and professionalism. Isabelle Doran, CEO of the Association of Photographers, says of the 40th AOP Awards, “With enormous thanks to our distinguished judges this year who had the impossible task of choosing our 40th AOP Photography Awards winners for such an auspicious occasion. Their selection has brought together an electrifying and provocative mix of still and moving imagery that illustrates such a uniquely personal perspective and how our photographers see the world around them. It’s even more poignant in the digital age of AI we find ourselves in. I’m thrilled to see that such strong visual storytelling lives on.”


The Winners Are:


Documentary

GOLD - Jack Margerison
SILVER - Todd Antony
Factual/observational photography and short form film documenting real life that informs or promotes ideals. Includes photojournalism and reportage photography. (Judged by Simon Roberts (Photographer), Alya Al-Khatib (Head of Creative & Storytelling at Oxfam GB), and Josh Lustig (Deputy Picture Editor, Financial Times). Sponsored by Leica.)

Environment

GOLD - Sean Breithaupt
SILVER - Greg Funnell
Photography and short form film where the overall situation or location is the primary focus of the image that covers outdoors, environmental and natural landscape photography. (Judged by Joanne Coates (Photographer), Matt Hocking FRSA (Creative Sustainability), and Jo Green (Global Director, AdGreen). Sponsored by EIZO.)

Fashion + Beauty

GOLD - Hugh Fox
SILVER - Jack Eames
Photography and short form film that illustrates or promotes clothing or beauty products. (Judged by Carla Guler (Photographer), Anna Foster (Founder & Creative Director, ELV Denim), and Linda Rodin (American Beauty Entrepreneur, Model and former Stylist). Sponsored by MOT Models.)

Food + Drink

GOLD - Henrik Knudsen
SILVER - Martin Poole
Photography and short form film where food or drink is the primary focus of the image. (Judged by Patrice de Villiers (Photographer), Avril Beavan (Series Producer, Optomen Television), and Luis Peral-Aranda (Art Director/Prop Stylist). Sponsored by FreeLicensing by Pixray.)

Lifestyle

GOLD - Owen Harvey
SILVER - Simon Winnall
Fictional/staged photography and short form film reflecting lifestyle scenarios that illustrate or promote brands, corporations, products, and ideas. (Judged by Isy Anderson (Photographer - Photography By Anderson), Cara Swindell (Production Lead, New Commercial Arts), and Stephen McGilvray (Executive Creative Director, FutureBrand London).)


Portrait

GOLD - Todd Antony
SILVER - Hugh Fox
Photography and short form film where the subject, human or animal, is the primary focus of the image. (Judged by Pål Hansen (Photographer), Joanna Moran (Photography Director, Empire), and Joe De Souza (Creative Director, Wieden + Kennedy). Sponsored by Capture One.)

Spaces

GOLD - Yuki Sugiura
SILVER - Dan Burn-Forti
Photography and short form film where interior spaces and decoration, built exteriors and locations are the primary focus of the image. (Judged by Taran Wilkhu (Photographer), Suzanne Imre (Brand Consultant, former Editor of interiors magazine Livingetc), and Marianne Cotterill (Interior Stylist, Creative Director). Sponsored by Street Studios.)

Sport

GOLD - David Clerihew
SILVER - Tom Parker
Photography and short form film where sport or fitness activity is the primary focus of the image, includes sports fans and venues. (Judged by Hy Money (Photographer), Sara Rose (Director of Brand and Creative, Manchester United), and Megan Williams (former News Editor, Creative Review). Sponsored by LaCie.)

Still Life + Object

GOLD - James Day
SILVER - Jonathan Knowles
Photography and short form film where still life or objects are the primary focus of the image. This can be any type of object in any place. (Judged by Aaron Tilley (Photographer), Sukvir Gil (Global Senior Creative Designer, Vodafone), and Aileen Grebović (Head of Art Production, Uncommon Creative Studio, London). Sponsored by Williamson Carson.)

Project

GOLD - David Clerihew
SILVER - Sebastian Nevols
A long-term photographic project on a singular subject that portrays a narrative, illustrated in a series of 10–20 images, or short form film. (Judged by Thomas Dworzak (Photographer, Magnum Photos), Carl Palmer (Pictures Lead, Channel 4), and Brett Rogers OBE (Former Director of The Photographers’ Gallery, London). Sponsored by Genesis Imaging.)

Best in Show Personal / Non-commissioned

WINNER - Tom Parker, Sport category
A specific award celebrating inspirational personal work from amongst all 2025 eligible finalist entries. (Judged by Roberta Genovese (Art professional specialising in cultural strategy, partnership, development, and art prizes).)

Best in Show Commissioned

WINNER - James Day, Lifestyle category
A specific award celebrating inspirational commissioned work from amongst all 2025 eligible finalist entries. (Judged by Kirstie Johnston (Creative Production Partner).)

The AOP Open Award

GOLD - Owen Harvey
SILVER - Jerome Mass
The Open Award is open to everyone – both professional and amateur – and is about championing exquisite imagery with no categories or restrictions. (Judged by Robert Fairer, AOP Accredited Photographer; Melissa Terrelonge, Senior Manager, Netflix UK; Julie Cook, Executive Producer/Production Lead; John Cross, Artist Management, CRXSS.)

The AOP Emerging Talent Award

GOLD - Jack Currie
SILVER (JOINT) - Ruben Davies, Safa Malik
and image makers. (Judged by Todd Antony, Award-winning AOP Accredited Photographer and Director; Francis Augusto, AOP Accredited Photographer; Kate Congreve, Producer, Mother London; and Lucille Flood, Content Producer and Commissioner.)

The AOP Discovery Award

WINNER - Ruben Davies
Part of the main AOP Photography Awards and with the same judges, the Discovery Award is a way of singling out and encouraging Assisting Photographer members.

The Martin Evening Excellence in Digital Retouching Award

WINNER - Kai Bastard – Bad Start Studios / now Rock Paper Scissors
Spanning both photographic stills and short form film, recognising outstanding work in digital retouching and post-production. Launched in 2023, this Award is for an individual or team who excels at digital retouching in either still or moving image. (Judged by Gandee Vasan, AOP Accredited Photographer; Matt Brewin representing I Am Retouching, 2024 AOP Martin Evening Award Winner; and Ruth Clapp, Senior Retoucher, Roo Clapp.)


The 40th AOP Photography Awards comprises ten individual subject categories, plus additional Awards for Best Commissioned and Best Personal work which are considered by key industry figures from all the selected finalists. The Awards are open to all AOP Accredited Photographer and Assisting Photographer members. As in previous years, stills, moving image and innovation can now be entered into each category. All still and moving images have been created (by a person) or published as new from January 2024, with the exception of the Project category which has no date limitation but must be a proven ongoing project.

Also announced live at the AOP Showcase Event were the winners of the 2025 AOP Open Award, where professionals and amateurs compete on equal terms, the winners of the AOP's Emerging Talent Awards (sponsored by Wex Photo Video), celebrating the very best in the new wave of photographers and image makers who have been practising their craft for less than 3 years, and the winner of the Martin Evening Excellence in Digital Retouching Award, for an individual or team who excel at digital retouching in either still or moving image, in commemoration of the late Martin Evening, a highly influential photographer who was an early pioneer of digital retouching. This year the AOP introduces the AOP Production Award 2025, recognising outstanding achievement in the craft, execution, and impact of production for creative work made in the UK, together with the AOP Green Award 2025, encouraging environmental good practice across the photographic industry.

Katie Thompson, Head of Marketing UK & Ireland at MPB, the Awards’ headline sponsor, says, “We are proud to continue our longstanding collaboration with the AOP, having supported their celebration of photographers’ work for several years now. The AOP’s dedication to protecting and guiding visual storytellers is a cause we deeply share at MPB, and we look forward to working with them again this year as we strive to make photography accessible for all.”

This year the AOP celebrates 40 years of photography awards, which has long been recognised for its strength in portraying professional excellence and influencing visual styles and shifting trends. From advertising to publishing, fashion, brands and broadcast, our members have captured the zeitgeist of the past four decades influencing visual commercial culture and society. The AOP looks forward to many decades of continuing to protect, promote and inspire creative human endeavour.

Julia Fullerton-Batten, multiple AOP Awards winner including Silver Winner 39th AOP Photography Awards, enthuses, “I’ve been entering the AOP Awards every year since I was an assistant and I can say with 100% certainty that it’s had a huge effect on my career. In a world where we’re all bombarded with imagery and there seem to be thousands of new photo competitions, it’s never been more important to stand out and to know which competitions are worth entering. For me it’s always going to be the AOP Awards; it’s the real deal, it’s judged by my peers and it gets my work seen by the people that count.”

The many awards presented by the AOP in its calendar reflect the organisation’s focus on human creativity and professional practice and are an unmissable opportunity to be seen by leading commissioners and names in photography.