The winning images of Female in Focus 2025 have been revealed, centering around the theme 'On the Cusp' – capturing lives in moments of transformation.
Selected from entries submitted by women and non-binary photographers worldwide, the winning works explore what it means to exist in moments of change – personally, culturally and environmentally.
This time, the globally renowned photography competition awarded photographs that range from intimate portraits of sisterhood and care to striking reflections of displacement, identity and belonging.
Female in Focus
Organized by the British Journal of Photography in partnership with Nikon, Female in Focus is a platform that amplifies underrepresented voices on the world stage.
Ruby Nicholson, senior communications manager at Nikon Northern Europe, notes, "I’ve been particularly struck by the playful rebelliousness threaded through so many of the images, each one offering a bold and thoughtful perspective on liminality."
The winners will be exhibited at the 10 14 Gallery in London, England (April 24 - May 29) and at the International Centre for the Image in Dublin, Ireland (September 10 - October 25). For more information and to discover more award-winning photography, visit the British Journal of Photography website.
Winners – Single Images
Crush by Andrea Marti
A Mother's care by Rayna Carruthers
4ever &ver &ver by Jip Schalkx
Damian habita el agua by Karen Paz
Winners – Series
“The two series that are recognised in this edition of Female in Focus stand at the fault lines of history, where private lives collide with vast systems of power," says Louise Fedotov-Clements, director of Photoworks and Female in Focus x Nikon judge.
"Together, they are not only timely, they are alarms. They capture the world on the cusp of irreversible change and insist that photography remains an important tool not just for seeing, but for reckoning.”
New Scramble by Giya Makondo-Wills Giya
Makondo-Wills' New Scramble examines a different kind of turning point: the rapid expansion of data centres across South Africa and what the artist describes as a modern "scramble" for Africa.
Predominantly set in Johannesburg, with work extending into the Limpopo and Cape provinces, the project considers how patterns of extraction historically tied to land and minerals may now be replicated through data infrastructure.
The Other Battlefields by Laetitia Vançon
Laetitia Vançon The Other Battlefields is a poignant and quietly profound portrait of Ukrainian youth living through war. The project began in June 2022, some 6 months after Russia’s full-scale invasion, when Vançon photographed graduates in Odesa dancing among sandbags erected for protection.
The image became a catalyst for a wider exploration of young people "standing between two worlds – the life they imagined, and the life the war has imposed on them."
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