- Greek photographer Athanasios Maloukos won the top prize
- They participated in two series of low-light pictures: ‘Whirling Devotion’ and ‘Night of Sorrows’
- The judges judged the winner’s portfolio to be among the best they had seen in the competition’s 23-year history
Forget picture postcard views and Instagram-worthy shots of popular landmarks, the Travel Photographer of the Year winner won the top prize with a very different portfolio.
Greek photographer Athanasios Maloukos submitted two intriguing series of low-light images: Night of Sorrows: The Yacente’ Procession of Zamoraand Whirling Devotion: The Rituals of Sufism in Anatolia.
I am speechless to see that one of my most intimate, spiritual personal projects has touched the judges of TPOTY
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 a masterful use of shutter speed – there are no editing tricks here, all the effects we see are achieved in camera.
Befitting the spiritual significance of the ceremony, these images go beyond what we see – we get a sense of stillness, and despite being outside looking in, the images are deeply intimate.
Maloukos said: “I am speechless to see that one of my most intimate, spiritual personal projects has touched the judges of TPOTY.”
To me, it’s easy to see why, and you can judge for yourself from the selection of photos below, and by following the link to Maloukos’ Instagram page, where he unpacks what happens in 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 “one of the best over the last 23 years of these awards”, while TPOTY founder Chris Coe further elaborated on the judging panel’s decision:
“These images take tremendous skill to get right,” Coe said. “Shooting on the edge like this requires very careful use of shutter speed to selectively freeze and blur the movements of these two ceremonies.
“There is a sense of rhythm and reverence in the images that is incredibly difficult to achieve. It is all achieved in camera without over-processing and conveys the depth and intensity of each moment.”
All this is achieved in camera without over-processing and conveys the depth and intensity of each moment
Chris Coe, TPOTY Founder
I have included a selection of the other series Night of Sorrows: The ‘Yacente’ Procession from Zamorabelow. On the occasion of Holy Thursday, the series is equally spooky, with a style consistent with Maloukos’ other works.
Athanasios Maloukos shoots with a Canon EOS R5 and EOS R7, paired with one of the lenses RF 24-70mm, RF 15-35mm f/1.8L IS USM and RF 70-200mm.
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The EOS R5 was released in 2020 and is still the camera I see appearing most among competition winners five years on – including Landscape Photographer of the Year 2025.
It might well have been replaced by the EOS R5 Mark II, but these contests only confirm how incredibly capable the 45MP full-frame mirrorless camera is.
The entire collection of this year’s winning photos can be found on the TPOTY page. I also recommend checking out Athanasios Malouko’s Instagram, link below, it’s worth a look.
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