These Black and White Nature Photography Contest Winners Are The Calm Antidote To World Politics We All Need

Colour is nice, but it can sometimes be distracting. The 2025 Exposure One Nature Photography Contest winners remind us why black and white can be more impactful. Pulled from entries in over 80 countries, these images are studies in texture, shape, and mood.

Every photograph tells a story, whether it’s a windswept landscape, a fleeting wildlife moment, or a shadowy forest scene. Together, they make a case for monochrome photography’s timeless appeal: it forces you to slow down, pay attention, and see the natural world in a whole new light. Here are our picks of the winners.

Overall Winners: Professional

1st Place: LidijaNovković
“Začudno”

2nd Place: MarkFernley
“CrownedinDustandShadow”

A young male lion steps through a cloud of dust lifted by his own movement and caught in the back light. The night around him stays silent, but the glow reveals every contour of rising strength. A rare, intimate moment from the waterhole here in the Shompole Conservancy, southern Kenya. 

3rd Place: Thomas Brummett
“The Murmur of a Thousand Suns”

Multiple exposures in the Forest.

Overall Winners: Non-Professional

1st Place: Janet Gustin
“Ouch!”

While siblings nurse below, one kit fox pup demands attention the only way he knows how – by gently biting mom’s face. The tender chaos of motherhood captured in a single frame. Even in the wild, kids compete for affection, and sometimes getting noticed means being a little bit bold.

2nd Place: Markus Busch
“Snow rests without weight”

3rd Place: Rachael Ryan
“A Sea of Horns”

I took this photo on my iPhone as I was helping my sister move goats around the yards….the dust billowed up so much one could hardly see!

GOLD CATEGORY WINNERS (PROFESSIONAL)

Wild Portraits

Risto Raunio
“Emperors”

Emperor penguin family together after feeding the chick. 

Underwater

Chris Gug
“Holy Waters”

The iconic Christ of the Abyss statue lies in ~30′ of water off Key Largo. For decades, divers scrubbed it clean, but several years back, that became illegal, and set out for this shoot after several years of coral growth – not too much, not too little.

Pattern & Form

Robert Nowak
“Lake Ice”

Ice on Lake Twenty Two, Washington

Other

Stéphane Garnavault
“Flower Portraits”

Flower Portraits is a quiet dialogue between my inner world and flowers. Each image isolates a single bloom in a near-sacred light, where shadow and silence reveal what usually goes unseen—fragile, intimate, yet powerful.

Ocean

Frederico Cerdeira
“The sardine run”

The sardine run in Mexico is a feeding frenzy, sea lions, striped marlins, whales and the list goes on and on. The ocean truly alive.

Minimalism

Evan Watts
“A Lone Lodgepole”

In fresh, powdery snow, a lone lodgepole pine stands. Despite being almost completely buried under snow, it is resilient to winter’s wrath.

Light and Shadow

Caesar Sengupta
“Ghost of the Savannah”

In the moonlit stillness of Kenya’s Shompole wilderness, a hyena emerges from the darkness – its silhouette etched in dust and backlight. The photograph captures the raw, nocturnal spirit of the African savannah, where every sound and shadow tells a story of survival.

Land

Michael Paul
“Naturally Unfolding”

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.

Humans & Nature

Alan Lemire
“Stairway into Fog”

Earth’s Textures

Alex Aldaco
“Whispers of the Forest”

Mist weaves between the trees, softening their outlines and turning the forest into a fleeting vision suspended in silence.

Animals

Jana Hejzlarova
“Under a veil of algae”

Aerial

Holly Kirkland
“Flight Lines”

Photographed above Lake Magadi, flamingos lift off, their bodies forming loose diagonals across dark water. In flight, the flock becomes a study in rhythm—wings catching light in brief, alternating intervals crossing the frame. Movement becomes pattern, rendered in stark contrast from the air.

Abstract

RJ Muna
“Ripple Effect”

The subtle patterns of water.

GOLD CATEGORY WINNERS (NON-PROFESSIONAL)

Animals

Wouter Van Hofwegen
“Deadly fluff”

Thick fur hides claws and power. The bear’s paws show both strength and comfort, made to endure the endless winter.

Underwater

Fabi Fregonesi
“The dive”

Pattern & Form

Marcos Franchetti
“A Dream within a Dream”

Bambo Forest in Kioto, using a vertical panning Tecnique.

Other

Don Hooper
“Entangled”

Ocean

Thibault Gerbaldi
“Icelandic Whispers”

The dramatic Vestrahorn mountain rises from Iceland’s southeastern coast, its jagged peaks partly veiled by drifting clouds. Below, the black sands of Stokksnes meet the relentless Atlantic waves, creating a stark interplay of light and shadow.

Minimalism

Jack Lefor
“Fence In Snow”

I love minimal photography, and in this photo I like the fence disappearing in the distance providing depth to this snow covered landscape.

Light & Shadow

David Stine
“Gossamer Ballet”

This is a Calla lily lit by a flashlight. The abstract rendering reminded me of a ballerina soaring into the air with arms entwined above her head.

Earth’s Textures

Wesley Barker
“Dense”

A palm jungle on Indonesia’s Penida Island portrays how quickly the sun light is absorbed by the dense canopy above.

Aerial

Luca Tambella
“Black eagle”

I took this aerial picture in southern Iceland. The waves crashing on the black sand beach create the silhouette of an eagle thanks to the snow that had fallen the night before. It’s certainly a never-before-seen situation, which makes this photo unique.

Abstract

Anne Dignam
“Wings in Motion”

A long exposure of a single white egret taking flight at dawn.

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