The winners of the 2025 Environmental Photography Award revealed

The Grand Prize of the 2025 Environmental Photography Award was presented to photographer Angel Fitor for the image Unseen Unsung Heroes, winner in the “Ocean Worlds” category.

With an academic background in both photography and marine biology, Angel Fitor (Spain) has dedicated his life to giving a voice to aquatic ecosystems. His work has been recognized by the most prestigious photography awards, including World Press Photo, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, American Photography, and the Sony World Photography Awards.

“We environmental photographers have a simple yet colossal task: to translate the language of nature. The natural world is of course an endless source of beauty and fascination, but the mission of visual story telling is going further in order to reveal the hidden threads that weave the complex and fragile relationships that bind our own existence to the planet”, declared Angel Fitor who sees in his image Unseen Unsung Heroes the very essence of this mission. According to him, the image “portrays the silent actions of humble creatures that nonetheless have a pivotal influence on the entire Mediterranean marine ecosystem — an ecosystem upon which we, in turn, depend.”      

In addition to the Grand Prize, Angel Fitor also won in the “Change Makers: Reasons for Hope” category with the image Training Day, showcasing a baby loggerhead sea turtle in a recovery centre in Spain. Two more of his images were shortlisted in the “Ocean Wolds” category:  Night Stalker (White-spotted octopus, Spain, 2024) and Beauty Languages (Mediterranean ‘fried egg’ jellyfish, Spain, 2024).

Honoured by this multiple recognition, Angel Fitor “feels as a proud ambassador of this photo competition, which carries embedded the historical, long-lasting commitment of the Principality of Monaco with the Mediterranean Sea, which has inspired [his] career since [his] earliest childhood.”

The shortlisted selection for the 2025 edition of the Environmental Photography Award features 36 photographs and includes 7 prize-winning images: 5 category winners — “Polar Wonders”, “Into the Forest”, “Ocean Wolds”, “Humanity versus Nature” and “Change Makers: Reasons for Hope” each receiving a €1,000 cash prize, along with a Public Award and a Student’s Choice Award. The Grand Prize is selected amongst the 5 category winners. It is supported by a €5,000 grant.

Other category winners include Jellyfish and Iceberg by Galice Hoarau in the “Polar Wonders” section, Clash of Kings by Iacopo Nerozzi in “Into the Forest”, and Breeding Machine by Amy Jones in “Humanity versus Nature”.

This year, the Public Award is bestowed to After the Flames, Hope by Fernando Faciole. The SEK International University, historical partner of the competition, gives its winner the opportunity to visit the university's research station, based in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador, and receive a €500 grant.

Forest Guard by Bambang Wirawan is the recipient of the Student’s Choice Award, and receive a €500 grant.

As President of the Jury, Ami Vitale (USA), National Geographic photographer and documentary filmmaker, highlights the power of environmental photography and the importance of sharing these types of images with a broader audience: “In the past fifty years, we have lost 73% of the world’s wildlife. This stark reality underscores the urgent biodiversity crisis we face. The future of our planet is in our hands, and we cannot afford to feel overwhelmed or hope that someone else will address the problem. Continuous awareness and action are needed; conservation is not a one-day job. Photography plays a critical role in highlighting the interconnectedness of individual well-being and environmental health. Images prompt conversation and consideration of how we can protect and value these irreplaceable environments across the planet. They cut through apathy, capture reality, evoke empathy, and ignite action. Through this visual medium, we reconnect people with nature, highlighting not only the perils but also the promise and the hope that exists all around us. My hope is that these images and stories motivate more of us to transition from passive observation to active advocacy for our planet.”

The 2025 Jury brought together renown photographers and personalities deeply committed to conservation around Ami Vitale, President of the jury : Emanuele Biggi, naturalist and conservation photographer specializing in small vertebrates and arthropods (Italy), Aaron Gekoski, photojournalist and filmmaker, specialising in human-animal conflict (UK and USA), Tom Gilks, managing director and head of content at Nature Picture Library (United Kingdom), Ralph Pace, underwater and environmental photojournalist (USA), Audun Rikardsen, nature photographer and professor in biology, specialising in the Arctic regions (Norway) and Jaime Rojo, conservation photographer (Spain).

For this edition, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation renewed its collaboration with Sergio Pitamitz, conservation and wildlife photographer, National Geographic photographer for National Geographic Expeditions, who took on the role of Contest Chairman. Alongside the organising team, Sergio shared his expertise, most notably to ensure that the ethical standards of environmental photography were upheld.

A flagship event among the awareness-raising initiatives of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Environmental Photography Award, celebrating its fifth anniversary, shines a spotlight on the work of talented wildlife and conservation photographers dedicated to protecting the planet. One of the three pillars of the Foundation's Green Shift Initiative, dedicated to promoting inspiring ecological stories, the Environmental Photography Award allows “the voice of the living world to be heard and speaks directly to the heart of the public”, as Olivier Wenden, Vice-Chairman and CEO of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, explains. "The testimonies of the photographers feed our knowledge and weave new imaginary worlds that call for greater collective action to save our planet.”

The photographs shortlisted for the 2025 edition will be exhibited on the Promenade du Larvotto in Monaco from June 3 to July 31, 2025, before touring internationally.


To see all the images in the 2025 selection : here