What happens when thousands of photographers from more than 40 countries submit their most powerful single image? You get the All About Photo Awards 2025 – “The Mind’s Eye”—a jaw-dropping collection of photos that capture the beauty, chaos, heartbreak, and wonder of our world.
From intimate human moments to sweeping landscapes and surreal visual concepts, this year’s winners prove that one image can tell an entire story. And with $5,000 in cash prizes up for grabs, the competition was fierce.
Whether you’re a photography geek or just someone who appreciates a powerful image, you’ll want to see what the fuss is about.
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#1 “Hands Of Time, Net Of Light” By Chester Ng (United States)
“Myanmar, 2025.”
Image credits: © Chester Ng
#2 “Untitled” By Pedro Jarque Krebs (Peru)
Image credits: © Pedro Jarque Krebs
#3 “Plastic Hiking” By Mohammad Foisal (Bangladesh)
“A worker doing challenging work by carrying a huge bag full of plastic trash up a big stack that is made entirely of wasted plastic bottles.”
Image credits: © Mohammad Foisal
#4 1st Place Winner And Photographer Of The Year 2025: “Husnah” By Marijn Fidder (The Netherlands)
“Husnah Kukundakwe (15) during an early swim training at the Elite Swim and Gym pool in Kampala, Uganda.
Husnah was born with a congenital limb impairment that left her with no right lower arm.
Husnah is a Ugandan swimmer who is currently the country’s only classified Paralympic swimmer. Her first appearance at the World Championships in London was mentioned among the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC’s) Top 10 Moments of 2019.”
Husnah: “Swimming was for me an escape from being really shy. I was always hiding my disability, because people look at me weirdly when they see my arm. So I’d always wear a sweater the whole day, even when it was hot, so people couldn’t see my hand. But when I started swimming, I learned to be more confident about myself.”
Image credits: © Marijn Fidder
#5 4th Place Winner: “Exhaustion” By João Coelho (Portugal/Angola)
“This group of young people risk their lives every day in this ship graveyard. They have to dive to pull iron plates from the sunken carcasses of ships using only their hands and the strength of their arms. Exhausted, they must find the strength to fight the waves and currents to bring the heavy pieces to the beach where they are weighed and sold.”
Image credits: © João Coelho
#6 “Fire Incident” By Syed Mahabubul Kader (Bangladesh)
“This photograph shows people surrounding the remains of a car previously engulfed in flames in Dhaka, Bangladesh.”
Image credits: © Syed Mahabubul Kader
#7 “Camel Fair” By Arne Strømme (Norway)
Image credits: © Arne Strømme
#8 3rd Place Winner: “Steamy Serenity In Güroymak” By Erhan Coral (Turkey)
“In the heart of Eastern Turkey’s winter landscape, men and water buffaloes share the warmth of the Budaklı hot springs in Bitlis. Rising mist veils the frozen surroundings, blending human and animal silhouettes in a primal ritual of survival and coexistence. While the snow-covered plains and distant mountains whisper solitude, the steamy embrace of the thermal waters becomes a sanctuary, where tradition, resilience, and nature converge in harmony.”
Image credits: © Erhan Coral
#9 “Symbol Of Strength And Grace” By Donell Gumiran (Philippines)
“A young girl with an Arabian horse reflects the growing role of women in preserving cultural traditions. While equestrianism was historically male-dominated, Emirati women today actively participate in horse breeding, endurance riding, and racing, making this image a tribute to both tradition and modern progress.”
Image credits: © Donell Gumiran
#10 “Luo He, 2024” By Tianhu Yuan (China)
“Luo He is a Lolita handcraftswoman. In the process of commercialization of the Lolita subculture community, a variety of creative industry occupations have arisen, and one of them is the handcraftswomen. They emphasize their subcultural identity by making handmade accessories to enrich their Lolita-style outfit. The hat and the mirror are both of her own design. From the series Lolita Dreams, which is about the Lolita fashion subculture community in China.”
Image credits: © Tianhu Yuan
#11 “Untitled” By Buck Holzemer (United States)
Image credits: © Buck Holzemer
#12 “Breakfast In The Hut” By Thibault Gerbaldi (United States)
“In a distant Ethiopian village without electricity, life unfolds under the natural light that guides daily activities, emphasizing a culture where life, work, and socializing predominantly occur between sunrise and sunset. Early in the morning, we shared breakfast with a local family. I was captivated by how the light entering the hut through a distinctive opening to the outside world illuminated the face of this beautiful Ethiopian woman.”
Image credits: © Thibault Gerbaldi
#13 “A Way To Feel Still Alive” By Valentina Sinis (Italy)
“In a secret workshop in Kabul, women are attending make-up classes. In 2023, the Taliban announced that all beauty salons in Afghanistan must close, citing that these establishments provided services that are prohibited by Islam and contributed to economic difficulties for the families of grooms during wedding celebrations. The Taliban has restricted women’s employment and access to public places like parks and gyms, and has imposed strict limitations on media freedoms.”
Image credits: © Valentina Sinis
#14 “Of Birds And Men” By Gavin Libotte (Australia)
“I noticed that hardly any street photographers shot from the level of the street. When I started doing this and adding the element of flash, I was astonished at the new perspective it reveals.”
Image credits: © Gavin Libotte
#15 “Competitors With Their Chickens” By Clark Mishler (United States)
“4-H kids enter their chickens at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, Alaska.”
Image credits: © Clark Mishler
#16 “Untitled” By Mark Seymour (United Kingdom)
Image credits: © Mark Seymour
#17 “Ice Crack” By Yuan Su (United States)
Image credits: © Yuan Su
#18 “Running Through The Silence Of Snow” By Raghuvamsh Chavali (Canada)
“This picture was captured during a snowstorm near St. Jacobs and Elmira, in the Township of Woolwich, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Running Through the Silence of Snow shows a powerful moment of tradition and resilience. While the world around us moves faster every day, the Amish hold on to a simple and strong way of life. In this photo, a horse-drawn buggy moves quickly across a quiet, snowy landscape. The only sound was the steady beat of the horses’ hooves, with everything else covered in silence. I wanted to capture the feeling of that moment, peaceful, timeless, and full of quiet strength.”
Image credits: © Raghuvamsh Chavali
#19 “Non Stop” By Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra (Spain)
“Athletes of the Bilbao triathlon competition in the estuary.”
Image credits: © Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra
#20 “Quartier De Dharavi” By Manuel Besse (France)
Image credits: © Manuel Besse
#21 “Piglets” By Damian Lemański (Poland)
“Piglets and pig pens in the settlement of Pata-Rât with a landfill in the background and garbage spread by the wind throughout the area.
Pata-Rât is a Roma settlement on the outskirts of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, whose community lives in close proximity to a garbage dump. Roma are by far the most long-standing discriminated against minority in the EU, and in addition, the Pata-Rât community faces environmental racism.”
Image credits: © Damian Lemański
#22 “The Museum” By Charles Schiller (United States)
“This image, The Museum, is a reflection—both literal and metaphorical—of how we perceive nature when it’s removed from its context. I was drawn to the quiet stillness of the taxidermy displays, but what truly caught my eye was the layered interplay of glass, light, and reflection. In that moment, the animals, the museum, and the young boy observing them all became part of the same silent tableau. The boundaries between viewer and exhibit blurred. This photograph is my attempt to capture that intersection: of life and preservation, wonder and melancholy, observation and memory.”
Image credits: © Charles Schiller
#23 “Wall Photo” By Doris Mitsch (United States)
“My house and all my belongings were recently destroyed by a fire, turning the site into something like an archaeological dig for my own life. One morning, I got up to make coffee and smelled smoke. Minutes later, I was standing in the street in bare feet and pajamas, watching everything I had turn to ashes. This series, The Burn, is a way of coming to terms with this loss. It resonates with psychologist William Worden’s “Four Tasks of Grief,” a framework for understanding how people journey through grief: (1) Accept the reality of what happened. (2) Feel the feelings. (3) Build a new life that includes the loss. (4) Build a new relationship with what you lost.”
Image credits: © Doris Mitsch
#24 “Hard Times” By Michael Lee (United States)
“A Black and White street portrait of a young impoverished couple with a baby taken in 1999, in Northampton Massachusetts.”
Image credits: © Michael Lee
#25 5th Place Winner: “Hand And Cigarette” By Francesco Gioia (Italy)
“Through a close-up of a woman smoking a cigarette, her red nail polish, and the swirling smoke, we witness the artful interplay of colours that evoke classic cinema’s timeless elegance. This photograph holds a moment of intrigue, A whisper to reflect on the balance of indulgence and mystique. A delicate dance between pleasure and secrets.”
Image credits: © Francesco Gioia
#26 “Maidan Park” By Andrea Bettancini (Italy)
“Maidan is the largest park in Kolkata; a soldier on horseback poses for a portrait.”
Image credits: © Andrea Bettancini
#27 “Untitled” By Alvaro Vegazo (Spain)
Image credits: © Alvaro Vegazo
#28 “Reality TV” By Eric Seidner (United States)
“On the side of an HDB complex in Singapore, an abstract mural mimics a TV test signal pattern. I spotted it from a taxi en route to the airport, jumped out—luggage in hand—and climbed a nearby building to frame the design at eye level. Just as I set up, a resident biked home through the center of the pattern, completing the scene.”
Image credits: © Eric Seidner
#29 “Legacy For Children Of The Future” By Hardijanto Budiman (Indonesia)
“This Imaginary story photo tells about the children of our future who must pay the price for the impact of our current disposable habits! As we all know that the issue of plastic bottle waste escalated quickly into a very scary and complicated environmental issue that contributes to pollution to the ecosystems everywhere. Millions of tons of plastic waste end up in the oceans each year that posing a very harmful threat to Biodiversity and the Environment.”
Image credits: © Hardijanto Budiman
#30 “Untitled” By Leslie Gleim (United States)
Image credits: © Leslie Gleim
#31 “The Gateway” By Dmitry Ersler
“Inspiration often comes from unexpected places — whether it’s other artists, films, or simply a moment of discovery. For me, this image was born when I came across a brutalist concrete structure on the beach in Khao Lak, Thailand. The building, with no real purpose, contained a small platform where local children played. I took a quick photo, and the surreal contrast between the playful children and the dark concrete structure against the vast sea struck me. The next day, I returned to shoot a man deep in philosophical contemplation, reflecting on the world. Later, I added a woman and a child, creating a visual triptych that reflects on the social roles of individuals in society.”
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Image credits: © Dmitry Ersler
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