The 2025 Mono Photography Awards have revealed their winning selections, celebrating the finest black and white photography from over 3,500 submissions across three main categories: people, places, and animals. These striking monochrome images demonstrate the enduring power and artistic impact of black and white photography in capturing life's most compelling moments.
In the People category, Amy Hughes claimed the top prize with her photograph "In the shearing sheds," depicting her eight-year-old son Kahu. Hughes describes the layered, authentic story her image tells, speaking to rural life, generational roles, and the deep connection between humans and animals. The runner-up in this category went to Em Hacon for "Mum said don't break the clothesline," which captures her children climbing on the family's Hills hoist clothesline – the same one she climbed as a child. "Mum was driven round the bend by my siblings and I climbing on it," Hacon recalls. "Now I feel her pain!"
Other notable entries in the People category included Rob Cleary's third-place "Bob After his early morning swim in Sawtell ocean rock pool," and Muhammad Amdad-Hossain's fourth-place "Overcrowded train," which documents thousands of Muslim devotees returning home on an overcrowded train after attending the final prayer of Bishwa Ijtema, considered the world's second-largest Muslim gathering after Hajj, in Tongi on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ji Yo Lee's fifth-place entry, "A timeless moment: From past shadows to future light," captures a calm and happy moment that gently reminds viewers that aging is not about waiting for the end, but about embracing life with every passing moment.
The Places category winner went to Will Eades for "The heights of Akron," captured on the US plains during a storm chase through eastern Colorado. As the storm structure matured, a violent tornado dropped in front of the photographer, casting dramatic shadows and creating a surreal interplay of light and dust. Eades knew it would be a powerful image due to the sheer scale, movement, and balance between chaos and form – all elements that translate powerfully in black and white photography.
David Niu secured runner-up position in Places with "The Opera House," where the silhouette of two seated passengers – one in a wide-brimmed hat, the other fading into shadow – contrasts beautifully with the Opera House, which is both framed and fragmented by ferry windows. Russell Shakespeare earned third place for "Varanasi rooftops," noting his fascination with finding only one person on a rooftop when looking over such a densely populated city of 1,752,000 people.
Ashley Pope's fourth-place "Lady Lochiel" presents an abstract photograph from Lake Bumbunga in Lochiel, South Australia, captured by drone. The natural formation of vegetation, soil, and water flows creates the visual appearance of an eye, complete with iris, eyebrow, and wrinkles. Pope admits to being increasingly drawn into the photograph the more he looks into "her eye." Alan Coligado rounded out the Places category with his fifth-place entry "Borderless."
The Animals category showcased equally impressive work, with George Dian taking the top prize for "When mammoths ruled the earth." This photograph features an Asian super tusker sporting tusks of the relative size and shape of the southern mammoth, ancestor of the woolly mammoth. Dian notes that very few people know Asian elephants can grow such amazing ivory, as African big-tusked elephants are better known to the public. It is estimated that just 40 big-tusked bulls from each of the two species of African and Asian elephants remain today, with only a handful considered super tuskers blessed with the largest and longest ivory tusks.
Lilly Siemon earned runner-up status in Animals with "Henry's nose," described as an entirely experimental image taken with a borrowed macro lens. While photographing flowers in her backyard, her dog attempted to eat the camera, resulting in this spontaneous, unplanned shot. Nina Bowles captured third place with "A moment of reflection," showing a wild chimpanzee sitting quietly as sunlight filters through the jungle canopy.
Rudy Kalele's fourth-place "Cockatoo v Moon" presented what he calls "the ultimate monochrome standoff," captured during golden hour with sun rays shining on the cockatoo against a backdrop of a rising moon, also illuminated by the same sun rays. Jason Moore completed the Animals category winners with his fifth-place "Backlit roo," photographed after evening rain when he knew there would be opportunities to capture images with beautiful bokeh effects if he could find a backlit subject.
These award-winning photographs demonstrate the continued relevance and artistic power of black and white photography in today's digital age. The 2025 Mono Awards celebrate photographers' ability to strip away color and focus on composition, light, shadow, and emotion to create images that resonate deeply with viewers across all three categories of human experience.
