The Sony World Photography Awards Perspectives and Portraiture Finalists 2025

M’kumba is an ongoing project that illustrates the resilience of Afro-Brazilian communities in the face of local religious intolerance. Its name derives from an ancient Kongo word for spiritual leaders, before it was distorted by local society to demean African religions. For more than 300 years, nearly 5 million African people were brought to Brazil. They lost their freedom, and their spiritualities were persecuted by colonial ideologies. Until 1970, Afro-Brazilian religions were criminalised, and due to longstanding prejudice they still face violence – more than 2,000 attacks were reported in 2024 alone. Although 56 per cent of Brazilians are of Afro-descent, fewer than 2 per cent identify as Afro-religious due to fear of persecution. As an Afro-religious priest in training, Gui Christ wanted to photograph a proud, young generation representing African deities and mythological tales. Through intimate imagery, this project challenges prejudice while celebrating these spiritual traditions as vital to Brazil’s cultural identity. (Photo: Gui Christ, Brazil, Finalist, Professional competition, Portraiture, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards)

M’kumba is an ongoing project that illustrates the resilience of Afro-Brazilian communities in the face of local religious intolerance. Its name derives from an ancient Kongo word for spiritual leaders, before it was distorted by local society to demean African religions. For more than 300 years, nearly 5 million African people were brought to Brazil. They lost their freedom, and their spiritualities were persecuted by colonial ideologies. Until 1970, Afro-Brazilian religions were criminalised, and due to longstanding prejudice they still face violence – more than 2,000 attacks were reported in 2024 alone. Although 56 per cent of Brazilians are of Afro-descent, fewer than 2 per cent identify as Afro-religious due to fear of persecution. As an Afro-religious priest in training, Gui Christ wanted to photograph a proud, young generation representing African deities and mythological tales. Through intimate imagery, this project challenges prejudice while celebrating these spiritual traditions as vital to Brazil’s cultural identity. (Photo: Gui Christ, Brazil, Finalist, Professional competition, Portraiture, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards)

Nothing in the world could have prepared Raúl Belinchón for what he was about to experience in the days that followed the most catastrophic flooding in the history of Spain’s Valencia region. The natural disaster affected 80 municipalities resulting in more than 220 deaths and over 100,000 cars destroyed. Over a 72-hour period in the municipality of Paiporta, Belinchón witnessed the fierce determination of young volunteers who refused to turn away from the catastrophe. Armed with mops, buckets, brushes and shovels, they cleaned houses, stores and streets; they brought medicine to the sick; food to the hungry; and clothes to those who had lost everything. Setting up a white background by a long footbridge renamed the ‘Bridge of Solidarity,’ Belinchón photographed the volunteers on their way home, paying tribute to the caring ‘Mud Angels.’ (Photo: Raúl Belinchón, Spain, Finalist, Professional competition, Portraiture, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards)

Nothing in the world could have prepared Raúl Belinchón for what he was about to experience in the days that followed the most catastrophic flooding in the history of Spain’s Valencia region. The natural disaster affected 80 municipalities resulting in more than 220 deaths and over 100,000 cars destroyed. Over a 72-hour period in the municipality of Paiporta, Belinchón witnessed the fierce determination of young volunteers who refused to turn away from the catastrophe. Armed with mops, buckets, brushes and shovels, they cleaned houses, stores and streets; they brought medicine to the sick; food to the hungry; and clothes to those who had lost everything. Setting up a white background by a long footbridge renamed the ‘Bridge of Solidarity,’ Belinchón photographed the volunteers on their way home, paying tribute to the caring ‘Mud Angels.’ (Photo: Raúl Belinchón, Spain, Finalist, Professional competition, Portraiture, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards)

‘I don’t often carry,’ Jennie said. ‘I’m just not that confident with a pistol yet, but the boys are going to give me some lessons to get my confidence up.’ Spending her formative years in California, she had only recently relocated their family to Prescott. ‘California’s crime has just gotten out of control, and we don’t feel it’s a safe enough environment for our kids,’ Jennie said glumly. (Photo: Tom Franks, United Kingdom, Finalist, Professional competition, Portraiture, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards)

Ashes of the Arabian’s Pearl emerged from the photographer’s desire to closely observe the dynamics of economic development in the Sultanate of Oman following the death of Sultan Qābūs in 2020. Faced with an urgent need for economic diversification as oil and gas resources declined, this documentary project sought to examine this period of monarchical transition and explore the prevailing trajectory for the region's monarchies in a world undergoing transformation and facing growing inequalities and climate change. The series cultivates a metaphorical conversation between two distinct demographics: the skilled artisans who craft the dreams of the nation, largely hailing from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and those from Omani entrepreneurial families. (Photo: Valentin Valette, France, Finalist, Professional competition, Perspectives, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards)

Ashes of the Arabian’s Pearl emerged from the photographer’s desire to closely observe the dynamics of economic development in the Sultanate of Oman following the death of Sultan Qābūs in 2020. Faced with an urgent need for economic diversification as oil and gas resources declined, this documentary project sought to examine this period of monarchical transition and explore the prevailing trajectory for the region's monarchies in a world undergoing transformation and facing growing inequalities and climate change. The series cultivates a metaphorical conversation between two distinct demographics: the skilled artisans who craft the dreams of the nation, largely hailing from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and those from Omani entrepreneurial families. (Photo: Valentin Valette, France, Finalist, Professional competition, Perspectives, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards)

Terra Nullius, Latin for ‘nobody's land,’ was a colonial construct used to justify the seizure of territories deemed ‘unclaimed’ or ‘uncivilised.’ It served as a foundation for European expansion across the Americas, displacing Indigenous peoples and erasing their sovereignty. Beneath Canada’s progressive image lies a history of Indigenous exploitation, forced assimilation and uprooting, often obscured by romanticised pioneer myths and the allure of a multicultural society. Over the past decade, Giovanni Capriotti has worked alongside Indigenous communities in Canada, gathering archives, creating images and assembling collages. With guidance from local elders and those living with intergenerational trauma, this project disrupts dominant narratives by piecing together fragments of a silenced history. As an immigrant, the photographer’s aim is to confront colonial erasure, amplify Indigenous voices and advocate for self-determination – challenging the lens that dismisses these injustices as mere footnotes of progress. (Photo: Giovanni Capriotti, Italy, Finalist, Professional competition, Perspectives, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards)

Terra Nullius, Latin for ‘nobody's land,’ was a colonial construct used to justify the seizure of territories deemed ‘unclaimed’ or ‘uncivilised.’ It served as a foundation for European expansion across the Americas, displacing Indigenous peoples and erasing their sovereignty. Beneath Canada’s progressive image lies a history of Indigenous exploitation, forced assimilation and uprooting, often obscured by romanticised pioneer myths and the allure of a multicultural society. Over the past decade, Giovanni Capriotti has worked alongside Indigenous communities in Canada, gathering archives, creating images and assembling collages. With guidance from local elders and those living with intergenerational trauma, this project disrupts dominant narratives by piecing together fragments of a silenced history. As an immigrant, the photographer’s aim is to confront colonial erasure, amplify Indigenous voices and advocate for self-determination – challenging the lens that dismisses these injustices as mere footnotes of progress. (Photo: Giovanni Capriotti, Italy, Finalist, Professional competition, Perspectives, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards)

Making our way home from school is a simple, nostalgic, universal activity that we can all relate to. This project explores the tumultuous public lives of young people in the gang-governed Cape Flats area of Cape Town, South Africa, where their daily commute carries the risk of death. Using handmade, lo-fi experimental techniques, this project explores how young people have to walk to and from school avoiding the daily threat of gang crossfire. Through poetry, analogue photography, drawings, collages and cyanotypes, an intimate portrayal of adolescence amidst stark social divides is created that offers a rare insight into this confusing and challenging world. (Photo: Laura Pannack, United Kingdom, Finalist, Professional competition, Perspectives, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards)

Making our way home from school is a simple, nostalgic, universal activity that we can all relate to. This project explores the tumultuous public lives of young people in the gang-governed Cape Flats area of Cape Town, South Africa, where their daily commute carries the risk of death. Using handmade, lo-fi experimental techniques, this project explores how young people have to walk to and from school avoiding the daily threat of gang crossfire. Through poetry, analogue photography, drawings, collages and cyanotypes, an intimate portrayal of adolescence amidst stark social divides is created that offers a rare insight into this confusing and challenging world. (Photo: Laura Pannack, United Kingdom, Finalist, Professional competition, Perspectives, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards).DM