cutting-edge scientific endeavors of 2022, illustrated through 14 striking visuals
The 2025 Wellcome Photography Prize is back, showcasing powerful images that intersect science, health, and human experience. This annual competition, celebrating its 11th year, features three categories: Striking Single Image, Storytelling (Series), and The Marvels of Scientific and Medical Imaging.
This year's competition includes a diverse range of entries, exploring topics such as psychiatric care, daily realities of living with a disability, and biomedical imaging. Notable winners for 2025 include:
- Storytelling Series: Sujata Setia, a UK-based artist, won for A Thousand Cuts, a project developed with South Asian women survivors of domestic abuse. The portraits combine photography and the Indian paper-cutting technique sanjhi to preserve anonymity while expressing their stories.
- Striking Single Image: Mithail Afrige Chowdhury won for Urban Travel, depicting a mother in Dhaka, Bangladesh, recreating a nature picnic on their apartment roof due to rapid urbanization and climate impact on green spaces.
- The Marvels of Scientific and Medical Imaging: Steve Gschmeissner was recognized for images revealing the hidden danger of cholesterol at a microscopic level.
Other notable entries include "Blooming Barrier" by Lucy Holland, "Cholesterol in the liver" by Steve Gschmeissner, "From butterflies to humans" by Amaia Alcalde Anton, and "I've got you under my skin: microplastics in mammalian tissue" by P Stephen Patrick and Olumide Ogunlade.
The competition also features series such as Dream to Cure Water by Ciril Jazbec, Sandipani Chattopadhyay's Searching for Life, Stereo EEG Self-Portrait by Muir Vidler, and Ice and Fire Chronicles by Ingrid Augusto, Kildare Rocha de Miranda, and Vania da Silva Vieira.
One of the highlights of this year's competition is a non-invasive image of microplastics beneath human skin, shedding light on the impact of pollution on our health. Another highlight is a journey to the remote Peruvian Andes, where Indigenous farmers blend traditional knowledge with modern science to tackle water pollution.
The article also references additional unrelated series not part of the Wellcome Photography Prize, such as "15 unforgettable photos of Earth from space," "The best optical illusions that will blow your mind," "The top 10 most dangerous roads in the world," and "The 25 weirdest and best images in nature in 2025 (so far)."
Each winner received £10,000. The top 25 entries will be displayed in a public exhibition at the Manby Gallery in London’s Francis Crick Institute from July 17 to October 18, 2025. The winners of the competition will be announced on 16 July 2025.
The Wellcome Photography Prize is more than just a competition; it's a platform that encourages dialogue and raises awareness about crucial health and science issues. This year's competition underscores the importance of taking women's health more seriously, as highlighted by the series "This Is Endometriosis - Self Five Years On 2014-2022."
Join us in celebrating the power of photography at the 2025 Wellcome Photography Prize exhibition. Let these images inspire you, challenge you, and open your eyes to the wonders and challenges of our world.
- The 2025 Wellcome Photography Prize showcases powerful images that intersect science, health, and human experience, with a focus on storytelling, single images, and scientific and medical imaging.
- This year's competition includes entries about psychiatric care, living with disabilities, biomedical imaging, and more, with winners such as Sujata Setia, Mithail Afrige Chowdhury, and Steve Gschmeissner.
- Notable entries also include "Blooming Barrier" by Lucy Holland, "Cholesterol in the liver" by Steve Gschmeissner, "From butterflies to humans" by Amaia Alcalde Anton, and "I've got you under my skin: microplastics in mammalian tissue" by P Stephen Patrick and Olumide Ogunlade.
- The competition features series like Dream to Cure Water, Searching for Life, Stereo EEG Self-Portrait, and Ice and Fire Chronicles, providing a diverse range of topics related to environment, climate, health, and wellness.
- A highlight of this year's competition is a non-invasive image of microplastics beneath human skin, shedding light on the impact of pollution on our health.
- Another highlight is a journey to the remote Peruvian Andes, where Indigenous farmers blend traditional knowledge with modern science to tackle water pollution.
- The Wellcome Photography Prize serves as a platform for dialogue and awareness about crucial health and science issues, as seen in the series "This Is Endometriosis - Self Five Years On 2014-2022."
