Spectacular Black & White Nature Photos from the 2025 One Exposure Awards

1st Place Winner: “Začudno” by Lidija Novković

In 2025, the One Exposure Awards shifted to pure black‑and‑white, creating a nature photography showcase that feels strikingly different.

The absence of color amplifies every shadow, texture, and emotional beat in each winning image. Across categories ranging from wildlife to fine‑art experimentation, the contest highlighted nature in its most elemental form. Lidija Novković earned 1st Place with “Začudno,” a low‑angle giraffe portrait that transforms the familiar into something mythic. Mark Fernley’s 2nd Place image, “Crowned in Dust and Shadow,” captures a young lion moving through glowing dust in a moment of quiet strength. In 3rd Place, Thomas Brummett’s “The Murmur of a Thousand Suns” turns a forest into a dreamlike, breathing world through layered exposures. Together, the 30 monochrome winners show that stripping away color can reveal nature’s rawest and most powerful truths.

More: One Exposure Awards, Instagram

2nd Place Winner: “Crowned in Dust and Shadow” by Mark Fernley

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

Abstract – Gold: “Ripple Effect” by RJ Muna

Abstract – Silver: “Headin’ Home” by Bayliss Ward

Aerial – Gold: “Flight Lines” by Holly Kirkland

Aerial – Silver: “The Road of Serenity” by Yu Hsuan Su

Animals – Gold: “Under a veil of algae” by Jana Hejzlarova

Animals – Bronze: “Majesty in Focus” by Saleh Alshamali

Earth’s Textures – Gold: “Whispers of the Forest” by Alex Aldaco

Earth’s Textures – Silver: “Drink it In” by Christina Ford

Humans & Nature – Gold: “Stairway into Fog” by Alan Lemire

Humans & Nature – Silver: “A walk in Paris” by Veronique Vial

Land – Gold: “Naturally Unfolding” by Michael Paul

Land – Silver: “Balancing Boulders” by Alan Lemire

Light & Shadow – Gold: “Ghost of the Savannah” by Caesar Sengupta

Light & Shadows – Silver: “The Breathe Of Silence” by Pierluigi Gualano

Minimalism – Gold: “A Lone Lodgepole” by Evan Watts

Minimalism – Silver: “Dew” by Alan Lemire

Ocean – Gold: “The sardine run” by Frederico Cerdeira

Ocean – Silver: “Force” by Eduardo Esses Gritzewsky

Other – Gold: “Flower Portraits” by Stéphane Garnavault

Other – Bronze: “First Lessons” by Holly Kirkland

Pattern & Form – Gold: “Lake Ice” by Robert Nowak

Pattern & Form – Bronze: “Calligraphy” by Holly Kirkland