2025 PEOPLE CATEGORY: TOP 20

Photographer of the Year, presented by Ted's, is the largest competition of its kind for amateur photographers in Australia and New Zealand. Congratulations to the following photographers who finished at the top of the PEOPLE category.

The PEOPLE category challenges photographers to shoot four images that work together as a cohesive series. Images are judged as a group, rather than individually, and series where there is a thematic or aesthetic relationship between the images tend to perform better in judging.

Images in the PEOPLE category may be of one or more people and may be posed or candid. Congratulations to everyone who entered. Here are the Top 10 and Top 20 images from the 2025 competition.

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WINNER, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Lodi Pertovt, 'The Faces of Iraq'

Photo © Lodi Pertovt. Winner, People category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

RUNNER-UP, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Brett Ferguson, 'The Performer in Red'

Photo © Brett Ferguson. Runner-Up, People category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

3RD, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Marisa Baldini, 'Ethiopia'

Photo © Marisa Baldini. Third, People category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

4TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Eric Wong, 'Metamorphosis... Transformation of a Chinese Opera Singer'

Photo © Eric Wong. Fourth, People category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

5TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Teresa Qin, 'Commute'

Photo © Teresa Qin. Fifth, People category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

6TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Grant Hunt, 'End of an Era'

Photo © Grant Hunt. Sixth, People category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

7TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Julie Spencer, 'Siblings'

Photo © Julie Spencer. Seventh, People category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

8TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Owen McLachlan, 'Defying Gravity'

Photo © Owen McLachlan. Eighth, People category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

9TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Terry O'Hagan, 'Life's A Drag!'

Photo © Terry O'Hagan. Ninth, People category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

10TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Jacob Dedman, 'Moments in the Yard'

Photo © Jacob Dedman. Tenth, People category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

11TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Donald Chin, 'Singkawang's Spirit Festival'

Photo © Donald Chin. 11th, Donald category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

12TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Kimberly Grounds, 'The Curious and Friendly Faces of Jaipur'

Photo © Kimberly Grounds. 12th, Kimberly category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

13TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Laura Crimmins, 'The Quiet Knowing'

Photo © Laura Crimmins. 13th, Laura category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

14TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Lodi Pertovt, 'Boyhood'

Photo © Lodi Pertovt. 14th, Lodi category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

15TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Kim Talento, 'Lines of Division'

Photo © Kim Talento. 15th, Kim category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

16TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Chris Hawkins, 'Roads Of Malawi'

Photo © Chris Hawkins. 16th, Chris category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

17TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Jacob Dedman, 'Under the Southern Rod Lights'

Photo © Jacob Dedman. 17th, Jacob category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

18TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Hadriel Torres, 'Tiger Eye Kid – Champion of Ko Lanta'

Photo © Hadriel Torres. 18th, Hadriel category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

19TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Yoko Sameshima, 'Seven Centimeters and Thirty Years'

Photo © Yoko Sameshima. 19th, Yoko category, Photographer of the Year 2025.

 

20TH, PEOPLE CATEGORY
Steven Warner, 'Ancestral Echoes'

Photo © Steven Warner. 20th, Steven category, Photographer of the Year 2025.