These 40 Award-Winning Color Photos From 2025 Capture Beauty In Every Shade

Color is more than just a visual element. It is emotion, atmosphere, and storytelling all wrapped into one frame. This year’s Refocus Awards 2025 pulled together the most breathtaking examples of color photography from across the globe, showcasing images that didn’t just capture reality, they transformed it.

From surreal landscapes to raw human moments, this year’s winning and shortlisted entries are a vivid reminder of how powerful color can be in the hands of a truly skilled photographer. We’ve selected some of the most stunning shots that defined this year’s competition, and trust us, each one is a masterpiece in its own right.

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#1 Underwater Category | Gold: "Underneath The Surface" By Kirvan Baldassari

Image source: © Kirvan Baldassari "Underwater in French Polynesia, a surfer rides through the barrel of a wave. Nearby, another person floats, watching the moment unfold."

#2 Photojournalism Category | Silver: "Sustainable Childhood" By Paolo Marchetti

Image source: © Paolo Marchetti "According to UN estimates, approximately 320.000 children between 5 and 14 years of age are forced to work. 
In Managua (Nicaragua), nearly 1.000 children live on the largest garbage dump in Central America, where they rummage in search of recyclable materials, which can later be resold on the streets."

#3 Film/Analog Category | Gold: "Blue Swallow" By William Mark Sommer

Image source: © William Mark Sommer "Seeing Route 66 change from boom to bust, season to year, surviving the loss of the surroundings and the bypass of old routes, The Blue Swallow survives as a living part of history for the nostalgic traveler that seeks the roadside relics that convey of America's passing culture."

#4 Wildlife Category | Gold: "Incoming" By Maddison Woollard

Image source: © Maddison Woollard "This is my only capture of this adult Australian fur seal. The pups were curious and playful. This fella would float in the distance, ignoring us. A younger seal was chasing and nibbling him, and that interaction sent him charging in my direction. Unveiling this remarkable, dynamic encounter."

#5 Wildlife Category | Bronze: "Snowy Owl I See You" By Kathy Sergio

Image source: © Kathy Sergio

#6 Landscapes Category | Bronze; Nature Category | Silver: "A Place Called Home" By Fenqiang Liu

Image source: © Fenqiang Liu "Canoeing through a quiet Louisiana swamp at sunrise, I watched soft light filter through the trees. A Great Egret glided over the water, drawing my lens to the richness of the swamp—a warm, thriving habitat many wildlife species call home."

#7 Nature Category | Gold: "Earth’s Galaxy" By Navaneeth Unnikrishnan

Image source: © Navaneeth Unnikrishnan "Beneath the earth lies a glowing realm, where Bioluminescent Glow Worms create a galaxy-like spectacle. This image captures the awe of exploration, blending the soft glow with the cave’s textures, highlighting nature’s fragile, otherworldly beauty in a moment of quiet wonder."

#8 Photojournalism Category | Gold: "Nowhere Is Safe For Them" By Veronique De Viguerie

Image source: © Veronique De Viguerie "Pakistan is expelling 1,5 million undocumented Afghans, refugees in the country. These women fled Afghanistan when the Talibans took over, but now they are forcibly back in their country, registering at the border with Taliban authorities."

#9 Street Category | Gold: "Two Time" By Nikolay Schegolev

Image source: © Nikolay Schegolev "Past and present, light and cold shadow, man and woman... one morning I came to the train station and took this photo shortly before the departure of the retro train."

#10 Wildlife Category | Silver: "Surrounded By Love" By Jacquie Matechuk

Image source: © Jacquie Matechuk "In the vast expanse of the Maasai, the soft light of dusk gives way to a scene of profound, almost sacred intimacy. A family of elephants stands close together — whose true majesty lies not in their size, but in the depth of their connection, a bond as old as time itself."

#11 Domestic Animals Category | Bronze: "Of The Sea" By Lieke Zweekhorst

Image source: © Lieke Zweekhorst "From the series 'A Man and His Horse', made in The Gambia. This image shows a weekly ritual in which he bathes the horse and checks her skin for parasites."

#12 People Category | Silver; Portrait Category | Silver: "Sulfur Miner At The Top Of The Crater" By Mitchell Kanashkevich

Image source: © Mitchell Kanashkevich

#13 Landscapes Category | Gold: "A Quiet Moment" By Manuela Palmberger

Image source: © Manuela Palmberger "A quiet moment captured in the geothermal area of Kerlingarfjöll, Iceland."

#14 2nd Place Winner And Gold In Fine Art Category: "The Lake" By Masoud Mirzaei

Image source: © Masoud Mirzaei

#15 Minimalism Category | Silver: "Back To Your Own World" By Thomas De Franzoni

Image source: © Thomas de Franzoni "This photo likely depicts a solitary flamingo standing or wading in a tranquil lagoon, surrounded by the soft haze of winter fog. The mist diffuses the light, creating a dreamy and ethereal atmosphere."

#16 People Category | Bronze: "Night Market At Inle Lake, Myanmar" By Daniel Garzon Moreno

Image source: © Daniel Garzon Moreno "Every week, on Inle Lake (Myanmar), hundreds of canoes gather to form the night market with different fruits and vegetables to trade with the local population."

#17 Travel Category | Bronze: "Echoes Of Heritage: The Buffalo Keeper's Path" By Sam Oetiker

Image source: © Sam Oetiker "A local water buffalo farmer and his daughter cross an ancient stone bridge as the first rays of sunshine spill over the peaks. Location: Guilin, China."

#18 Minimalism Category | Gold; Fine Art Category | Bronze: "Nowhere" By Alessandro Tagliapietra

Image source: © Alessandro Tagliapietra "These photographs are part of a series taken in the northern part of the Venice lagoon, where I live. All images are taken with long exposures, sometimes with the tripod directly stuck in the underwater mud. I look forward to the foggy days to isolate the subjects as much as possible."

#19 People Category | Gold: "Chile Pepper Workers" By Serkan Dogus

Image source: © Serkan Dogus "Bangladeshi women contribute to the household economy by working in chile pepper factories during the summer."

#20 St Place Winner And Gold In Event Category: "Ring Of Fire, And Ice" By Liam Man

Image source: © Liam Man "A 'Ring of Fire' solar eclipse reaches annularity as two intrepid ice climbers summit the mighty Glacier Leones. A drone illuminates the ice’s textures and colours, battling fierce winds that whip up plumes of snow that burn in the sun’s rays."

#21 Architecture Category | Bronze: "The Citi Never Sleeps" By Orestes Gonzalez

Image source: © Orestes Gonzalez "The lone Citibank Tower in Long Island City, Queens, NY, acts like a backdrop to a snowy embankment of graves in Queens' historic Calvary Cemetery."

#22 Nature Category | Bronze: "Naturally Unfolding" By Michael Paul

Image source: © Michael Paul "At the foot of Wyoming's Tetons, the waning day brings a cast of characters together to mingle for a moment of refreshingly untouched nature."

#23 Photojournalism Category | Bronze: "The Silent Displacement" By David Lombeida

Image source: © David Lombeida "Abdu-Rahnan’s child sleeps outside on a property where the owners let the family use the land temporarily. In the West Bank, Abdu-Rahnan and his family have been displaced by settler violence after their entire community was forced out of their homes, days following the October 7th attacks."

#24 Underwater Category | Silver: "Sea Puppy Gaze" By Remuna Beca

Image source: © Remuna Beca "With irresistible puppy-like eyes, an Australian sea lion playfully engages with the camera with curiosity in South Australia’s kelp forests. Listed as Endangered, these rare sea lions face threats from habitat loss, fishing bycatch, and pollution."

#25 Domestic Animals Category | Silver: "Sagaz" By Tori Gagne

Image source: © Tori Gagne "Pure Raza Spanish Stallion."

#26 Landscapes Category | Silver: "Chessboard Of The Isles – Battle At Sea" By Shih Hung Yang

Image source: © Shih Hung Yang "In Norway’s Arctic archipelago, scattered islets resemble chess pieces on the sea. Upon the rocks lies a lone green pitch—like a king’s square. Beneath shifting skies, each match becomes a game of fate and strategy in this oceanic chessboard."

#27 Street Category | Bronze: "Mexican Mennonite Boys, Chihuahua, Mexico" By Morad Bouchakour

Image source: © Morad Bouchakour "Mexican Mennonite boys having fun under cover of the night."

#28 Abstract Category | Gold: "Liquid Soul N°7712 Extinctions" By Gaëtan Changeur

Image source: © Gaëtan Changeur "I create visual worlds blending abstraction and nature through fluid forms born from the interaction of water, pigments, and light. In a studio setting, I photograph these dreamlike landscapes, questioning the boundary between the natural and the artificial, the real and the imagined."

#29 Domestic Animals Category | Gold: "In The Light" By Daniela Schnabel-Sahm

Image source: © Daniela Schnabel-Sahm "When I saw this church, I knew I had to take photos there. The church has a light channel in front of its entrance. And I was lucky, the model fit perfectly with the stones of the church and during the shoot the sun came out and shone directly into her face."

#30 3nd Place Winner And Gold In Aerial Category: "Where Water Once Was" By Octavio Campos Salles

Image source: © Octavio Campos Salles "Dozens of caimans lie motionless in a shrinking mud pool, awaiting the return of the rains in the heart of the Pantanal at the peak of the dry season."

#31 Architecture Category | Silver: "Former Armstrong Rubber Building" By Owen Davies

Image source: © Owen Davies "The former Armstrong Rubber Building in New Haven, Connecticut. Part of my series LIGHT/MASS, which explores the alien-like urban landscapes found in cities and towns across the United States."

#32 Event Category | Silver: "Pe'ahi Canonball" By Aaron Lynton

Image source: © Aaron Lynton "In an attempt to avoid an even worse big wave beating, Rafael Tapia hits the eject button."

#33 Nature Category | Silver: "Sunset Ascent" By Mike Rigney

Image source: © Mike Rigney "Bottlenose dolphins jumping in the Gulf of California at sunset in Baja California, Mexico."

#34 "Eclipse" By Remuna Beca

Image source: © Remuna Beca "A shark silhouette transforms the sun into an underwater eclipse. Captured while scuba diving in the Bahamas."

#35 Conceptual Category | Gold: "Iranian Girl" By Kristina Makeeva

Image source: © Kristina Makeeva "A woman is not decoration. A woman is not a shadow. A woman is not a ghost through which one can see the environment. She should not hide in the walls of buildings."

#36 Fashion & Beauty Category | Gold: "Luceatanima" By Daniil Slomakin

Image source: © Daniil Slomakin "The suit is tailored to give the figure a sculptural sharpness and add an air of mystery to the image. The background is flooded with a vast, almost bleached sun or diffuse light, making the model’s silhouette appear strikingly graphic and high-contrast against the gentle outlines of the mountains."

#37 Portrait Category | Gold: "Crestline Queen" By Elijah Barnes

Image source: © Elijah Barnes 35201-2025-CC-Elijah Barnes-elixbarnes

#38 Travel Category | Gold: "This Icecap Is To Go" By Jacquie Matechuk

Image source: © Jacquie Matechuk "Gliding through a cathedral of ice, this moment in the Arctic feels suspended in time. But beneath the stillness lies urgency—these ancient giants, reflected in fleeting waters, remind us just how swiftly beauty can disappear."

#39 Architecture Category | Gold: "Tempelhof" By Jonathan Ducrest

Image source: © Jonathan Ducrest "The vintage charm of the decommissioned Tempelhof airport in Berlin."

#40 Conceptual Category | Bronze: "Not An Exit" By Austin Irving

Image source: © Austin Irving "NOT AN EXIT is a collection of large format analog photographs that proposes a closer examination of the nondescript interiors that we routinely pass through; doorways and hallways, spaces intended for movement but here, somehow appear impenetrable."