‘Shot in low light, these images require immense skill to get right’ – see the Travel Photographer of the Year 2025 and the stunning in-camera winning images
- Greek photographer Athanasios Maloukos wins first prize
- They captured two sets of low-light images: “Whirling Devotion” and “Night of Sorrows.”
- The judges considered the winner’s portfolio to be one of the best they had seen in the competition’s 23-year history.
Forget postcard views and Instagram-worthy photos of popular landmarks, this year’s Travel Photographer of the Year winner took home the top prize with an entirely different portfolio.
Greek photographer Athanasios Maloukos has submitted two haunting series of low-light images: Night of Sorrows: Procession of Yacente de ZamoraAnd Whirling Devotion: Rituals of Sufism in Anatolia.
I am speechless seeing that one of my most intimate and spiritual personal projects touched the TPOTY judges.
Athanasios Maloukos
Each series documents spiritual ceremonies in Spain and Turkey, respectively – the latter in particular beautifully captures a sense of movement and stillness with masterful use of shutter speed – there’s no editing trickery here, all the effects we see are achieved in camera.
Tailored to the spiritual meaning of the ceremony, these images go beyond what we see: we get a sense of calm and, even though we are from the outside looking in, the images are deeply intimate.
Maloukos said, “I am speechless that one of my most intimate and spiritual personal projects has touched the TPOTY judges.”
For me, it’s easy to see why, and you can judge for yourself from the selection of images below and by following the link to Maloukos’ Instagram page, where he reveals what happens during each spiritual ceremony he’s documented.
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Rhythm and reverence
One of the competition’s judges, Jeremy Hoare, described Maloukos’ work as “some of the best in the last 23 years of these awards”, while TPOTY founder Chris Coe expanded on the jury’s decision:
“These images require immense skill to get right,” Coe said. “A borderline shot like this requires very careful use of shutter speed to selectively freeze and blur movement during these two ceremonies.
“There is a sense of rhythm and respect in the images, which is incredibly difficult to achieve. All of this is done in camera, without over-processing, and conveys the depth and intensity of each moment.”
All of this is done in camera without excessive processing and conveys the depth and intensity of each moment.
Chris Coe, founder of TPOTY
I have included a selection of the other series Night of Sorrows: The “Yacente” Procession of Zamorabelow. Marking Maundy Thursday, the series is equally haunting, with a style consistent with Maloukos’ other works.
Athanasios Maloukos shoots with a Canon EOS R5 and EOS R7, paired with one of the RF 24-70mm, RF 15-35mm f/1.8L IS USM and RF 70-200mm lenses.
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The EOS R5 was released in 2020 and remains the camera I see most among competition winners five years later, including 2025 Landscape Photographer of the Year.
It could very well have been replaced by the EOS R5 Mark II, but these competitions only reaffirm how incredibly capable the 45MP full-frame mirrorless camera is.
The entire collection of this year’s winning images is available on the TPOTY website. I also recommend checking out Athanasios Maloukos’ Instagram, link below, it’s worth a look.
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