- British photographer Zed Nelson Scoops SWPAS $ 25,000 Top Prize
- 10 category winners advertised
- The exhibition is open to the public in London’s Somerset House until May 5
“In a small fraction of Earth’s history, humans have changed the world beyond everything it has experienced in tens of thousands of millions of years. Scientists call it a new era: Anthropocene – the age of man.”
These are the opening words that describe the Sony World Photography Awards 2025 -Winner Zed Nelson’s project, The anthropocene -illusion.
The project, which spans six years and four continents, explores human consumer behavior towards nature and wildlife.
“So even though we are destroying the world around us, we have become masters of a stage-controlled, artificial ‘experience’ of nature-a reassuring sight, an illusion … To mask our destructive influence on the natural world.”
Powerful words and confrontational images of wildlife in zoos, national parks and museums all over the world, some of which I have included below.
Picture 1 of 2
As I was preparing to interview Zed during the opening day of the SWPA 2025 exhibition, held in Somerset House in London until May 5, it struck me how serious AI affects the landscape with imaging in an equally small fraction of the history of photography.
I asked Zed about his thoughts on AI image generation in photography, and here’s what he said.
“The biggest concern in documentary photography are people who stop believing in what they see. Already we are at the stage where we can see a picture and the first questions are; is this photoshopped” it really happened? Did you know something? Is that picture really?
“The problem with that is that the joy and beauty of photography is to see something and be amazed and believe that this happened, this is real, this is a record – even for future generations – of who we were and what we did.
“If AI erodes people’s belief in the media (photography), we have problems. On the other hand, we may start to appreciate the truth more. And if a picture is declared real – this is not AI, but a reality document – it may be that its value increases.
There will also be a step, a valuation of what is real, and so documentary work will begin to become more important, no less.
“As AI multiplies it will cause problems, people will question what is real and what is not. But I can imagine that there will also be a step, a valuation of what is real, and so documentary work will start to become more important, no less. People want what they want to know it is real.
“I think there will be a separation between what is completely created through AI and what is declared real. We will force what is verified as real, created by people who care for, and have a genuine interest in telling stories.”
After our conversation, I shake through the SWPA exhibition and soften in the different collection of very real images. A greater appreciation grows in me for the real stories, real people, real places, created at a real time, and they affect me even more.
I agree with zed-self when AI-generated images become increasingly credible and abundant, and the tools are getting easier and cheaper to access, we still need to know and experience what is real and be moved by it.
We cannot afford to be discontinued from photography due to AI image generation, just as ZED suggests in its project that we have been disconnected from nature and instead are consumers of it.
I have included a selection of SWPA -winning images below. Nevertheless, if you are in London, I highly recommend experiencing the exhibition from the first hand and looking for other photography shows near you. More details can be found on the World Photography Organization Website.
Sony World Photography Awards 2025 winners for each category
The Sony World Photography Awards include 10 categories, and the winner of one of these categories is also awarded to this year’s overall photographer. As mentioned, this year’s award went to Zed Nelson, who also won the Wildlife & Nature category.
In addition to these categories, there is a student photographer and a youth photographer of the year. I have included a photo from each of these winners below.
In total, there were about 420,000 items from the 206 countries-a record for the 18-year competition.
