All the winners of the 39th AOP Awards – photos that will change your view of the world

Woman in China holding a Chinese flag and wearing a gas mask in smog

(Image credit: © Tom Parker courtesy of the AOP)

Jump to:

Documentary
Environment
Fashion + Beauty
Food + Drink
Lifestyle
Portrait
Spaces
Sport
Still Life + Object
Project
Best in Show
The AOP Open Award
The AOP Emerging Talent Award
The AOP Discovery Award

The winners of the 39th Association of Photographers Photography Awards celebrate excellence in the creative photography and image-making industry.

Announced at the ceremony on 26 September 2024 as part of the AOP Annual Showcase event, sponsored by MPB, were the winners of ten individual subject categories, as well as additional awards for Best Commissioned and Best Personal Work.

The gold and silver winners of all 10 broad-ranging categories, plus Best Commissioned and Best Personal and the AOP Discovery Award presented exclusively to AOP Assistant Photographer Members, are announced alongside the 2024 AOP Open Award, where professionals and amateurs compete on equal terms; the AOP's Emerging Talent Awards (sponsored by Hahnemühle), celebrating the very best in the new wave of photographers and image makers, who have been practising their craft for less than 3 years; the AOP Discovery Award presented exclusively to AOP Assistant Photographer Members; and the 2024 Martin Evening Excellence in Digital Retouching Award (sponsored by Luminar Neo).

The AOP was first formed in 1968 as the Association of Fashion and Advertising Photographers, and aims to "protect, promote and inspire the worth and standing of its members with the commercial photographic industry."

Isabelle Doran, CEO of the Association of Photographers, says of the 39th AOP Awards:

"Such a stunning array of winning images by our professional photographers for this year's Awards – they are all so different, but equally arresting and thought-provoking, enabling us as viewers to consider the human stories either in front of or behind the lens in a myriad of ways."

Let’s take a look at those winners. All other information about the AOP and winning images can be found on its website.

Documentary

Factual / observational photography and short form film documenting real-life that informs or promotes ideals. Includes photojournalism and reportage photography.

Gold: Todd Anthony

A black man against a smoky background — (Image credit: © Todd Antony courtesy the AOP)

Silver: Hannah Maule-ffinch

A young girl runs through fields on the Hebrides — (Image credit: © Hannah Maule-ffinch courtesy the AOP)

Environment

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.

Gold: (joint) Ian Kirby / Tom Parker (above cover image)

Hands reflect on a wall in the sun in Masima Nagar Village — (Image credit: © Ian Kirby courtesy the AOP)

Silver: Samual Hicks

A car with flowers spilling out of it under a bridge in a grassy park — (Image credit: © Samuel Hicks courtesy the AOP)

Fashion + Beauty

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.

Gold: Rocio Chacon

A black woman wearing a red hijab and black beret — (Image credit: _Fátima_ © Rocio Chacon courtesy the AOP)

Silver: Nádia Correia

A woman floats just below the surface of the ocean at dusk — (Image credit: © Nadia Correia courtesy the AOP)

Food + Drink

Photography and short form film where food or drink is the primary focus of the image.

Gold: Scott Grummett

A spiral of jelly — (Image credit: Jelly © Scott Grummett courtesy the AOP)

Silver: Chloe Hardwick

A bright green wheel chair against a pink background with ice cream on it — (Image credit: © Chloe Hardwick courtesy the AOP)

Lifestyle

Fictional / staged photography and short form film reflecting lifestyle scenarios that illustrate or promote brands, corporations, products, and ideas.

Gold: Ben Rayner

A group of people drinking Stella Artois — (Image credit: © Ben Rayner courtesy the AOP)

Silver: Michael Wharley

Five black boys lie on the grass from a birds eye view — (Image credit: © Michael Wharley courtesy the AOP)

Portrait

Photography and short form film where the subject, human or animal, is the primary focus of the image.

Gold: Liam Arthur

A young woman with no hair wearing a pink hoodie — (Image credit: © Liam Arthur courtesy the AOP)

Silver: (joint) Brian Doben / Julia Fullerton-Batten

People sit on the bank of the Thames after what appears to be a shipwreck — (Image credit: © Julia Fullerton-Batten courtesy the AOP)

A costumed Monk, Ngalhaklang village Bhutan — (Image credit: © Brian Doben courtesy the AOP)

Spaces

Photography and short form film where interior spaces and decoration, built exteriors and locations are the primary focus of the image.

Gold: Joseph Ford

Brightly colored wall arches — (Image credit: © Joseph Ford courtesy the AOP)

Silver: Matthew Joseph

The swirls of a tunnel — (Image credit: © Matthew Joseph courtesy the AOP)

Sport

Photography and short form film where sport or fitness activity is the primary focus of the image, includes sports fans and venues.

Gold: Nick David

A young man on a horse wearing a cowboy hat at the rodeo — (Image credit: © Nick David courtesy the AOP)

Silver: Will Cornelius

A black man riding a white horse — (Image credit: © Will Cornelius courtesy the AOP)

Still Life + Object

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.

Gold: Euan Myles

A pygmy marmoset skull — (Image credit: © Euan Myles courtesy the AOP)

Silver: James Day

A bird sitting on a phone with an orange background — (Image credit: © James Day courtesy the AOP)

Project

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.

Gold: Carol Allen-Storey

Two women, one with down syndrome, hug — (Image credit: © Carol Allen-Storey courtesy the AOP)

Silver: Owen Harvey

A man standing on top of a Cutlass car in Pasadena California — (Image credit: © Owen Harvey courtesy the AOP)

Best in Show

Best in Show Personal / Non-commissioned

A specific award celebrating inspirational personal work from amongst all 2024 eligible finalist entries.

Winner: Nigel Riches

Miners down the Cerro de Rico mine — (Image credit: © Nigel Riches courtesy the AOP)

Best in Show Commissioned

A specific award celebrating inspirational commissioned work from amongst all 2024 eligible finalist entries.

Winner: Jack Eames

A black woman wearing a pink dress dangles her feet while sitting on a wall — (Image credit: © Jack Eames courtesy the AOP)

The AOP Open Award

The Open Award is open to everyone – both professional and amateur – and is about championing exquisite imagery with no categories or restrictions.

Gold: Drew Gardner

Austin Morris, descendant of Frederick Douglass — (Image credit: © Drew Gardner courtesy the AOP)

Silver: Matt Davies

A child standing in a wood panelled room — (Image credit: © Liam Arthur courtesy the AOP)

The AOP Emerging Talent Award

Celebrating the very best in the new wave of photographers and image makers.

Gold: Ruth Samuels

Three black women stand close together — (Image credit: © Ruth Samuels courtesy The AOP)

The AOP Discovery Award

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.

Joint Winners: - Oliver Clyde, Theo Deproost, Lesley

Three white boys about to jump in the sea — (Image credit: © Lesley Lau courtesy the AOP)

Winner: Matt Brewin, Retouch

A man jumping over a canal in Manchester — (Image credit: © Owen Peters courtesy the AOP)

A large pina colada in a scientific flask — (Image credit: © Theo Deproost courtesy the AOP)

White wine swirling around the glass — (Image credit: Swirls_ © Oliver Clyde courtesy the AOP)

If this has inspired you to take your own photographs, take a look at our guides to the best cameras for beginners, the best cameras for professionals, and the best travel cameras.

After graduating from Cardiff University with an Master's Degree in Journalism, Media and Communications Leonie developed a love of photography after taking a year out to travel around the world.

While visiting countries such as Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh and Ukraine with her trusty Nikon, Leonie learned how to capture the beauty of these inspiring places, and her photography has accompanied her various freelance travel features.

As well as travel photography Leonie also has a passion for wildlife photography both in the UK and abroad.