LCE Photographer of the Year 2025 competition winners announced
- First prize awarded to London-based Capri McPherson-Noel with outstanding portrait ‘Sunkissed Boy’
- Total prize fund of £10,000, with 14 category winners including ‘Emerging Talent’ and the ‘People’s Choice’ publicly-voted award
- Second year of London Camera Exchange competition attracts thousands of stunning entries from around the world
10 March 2025
London Camera Exchange (LCE) has announced the winners of its LCE Photographer of the Year 2025 competition, which attracted entries from around the world, submitted in 14 diverse categories. This year’s contest featured a new ‘Emerging Talent’ category for photography students, with a prize awarded to both the individual photographer and their university or college.
First prize winner: Capri McPherson-Noel
The overall first prize winner is London-based Capri McPherson-Noel with her exceptional portrait ‘Sunkissed Boy’, captured last year in the UK. Commenting on the photograph, Capri said, “I wanted to create the connection between humans and nature. The way the sunlight bounces off the sunflowers for growth is similar to the way the sun beams off the model’s skin tone. As humans, we gain energy from the sun, just as the flowers do.”
British-Caribbean Capri was raised in Ireland and moved back to the UK ten years ago. She currently works in the television industry, but aims to make photography her full-time career, and has a passion for all things creative. “I am a big believer in showcasing stories, especially in my work. I am outgoing and love to meet people. Hearing about different walks of life has always been intriguing for me and this has definitely contributed to my view as a photographer. I try to see the best in everything and live life to the fullest.” Sunkissed Boy was shot on a Canon EOS 90D in summer 2024. Capri received £3,000 in LCE vouchers as the top prize winner.
Category winners (£500 vouchers each):
- Action – ‘Blowing the Cheeks’ by Lester Woodward (overall runner-up)
- After Dark – ‘Cosmic Gates’ by Dawid Glawzin
- Birds – ‘Backlit Cuckoo’ by Colin Vanner
- Creative – ‘Future Portrait’ by Gilbert Murray
- Emerging Talent – ‘Abigail’ by Martina Aguirre Torres
- Landscape – ‘Close to Heaven’ by Edyta Rice
- Macro – ‘Season of Love’ by Sandip Guha
- Music – ‘Creation of Deadletter’ by Gracie Hall (overall runner-up)
- Pets – ‘Muesli Yawn!’ by Jon Pauling
- Portrait – ‘Sunkissed Boy’ by Capri McPherson-Noel (overall winner)
- Street – ‘Platform No. 1’ by John Seager
- Travel – ‘Mundari Women’ by Lynn Fraser
- Wildlife – ‘After the Kill’ by Caroline English
- People’s Choice – ‘Steep Hill Lincoln’ by Andrew Scott
A standout winner in the Emerging Talent category caught the judges’ attention. Simply entitled ‘Abigail’, the photo was also chosen as a runner-up in the Music category, and portrays charismatic singer Abigail Morris from British indie rock band The Last Dinner Party. The image was captured on the group’s tour in October 2024 at the Eventim Apollo, by student Martina Aguirre Torres, who is studying fashion photography at the London College of Fashion. Martina commented, “Editing photos from this gig is what made me find my editing style. Before, I was a bit lost, as I’m sure a lot of young photographers are – but after playing around in Lightroom and Photoshop, and then seeing the final result, I felt like I could cry! I’m super proud of this photograph because of that.”
Also of note is overall runner-up (and Action category winner) ‘Blowing the Cheeks’ by Lester Woodward, which was taken at the 2023 British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championship practice sessions, featuring Dutch champion and Paralympics gold medallist Jiske Griffioen. Lester said, “I think this image really highlights the dedication and effort put in by the athlete, and felt the practice sessions were a lot harder than the match. I was lucky to have great lighting on the day.”
Lee Harasyn, managing director of LCE, commented, “The calibre of entries this year was outstanding, and it took the judges many, many hours to agree on the shortlist, as the standard generally was so very high. Submissions in the ‘Emerging Talent’ category for photography students blew us away with their diversity and creativity. We are particularly thrilled to present this new award, celebrating up-and-coming photographers and providing a platform for their work to be in the spotlight. On behalf of the LCE team, I’d like to congratulate the all the winners and thank all the entrants for making the second year of our competition such a triumph.”
The awards were presented at a special ceremony at The Photography & Video Show on Sunday 9 March 2025 at Excel, London. All the finalist images were displayed in an exhibition at the four-day show and have been published in a commemorative book. Winners received a share of the £10,000 prize fund and an impressive trophy.
Open to entries from October 2024 to January 2025, the LCE POTY competition received more than 10,000 submissions. The prize fund was generously supported by major photo industry brands including headline sponsors Canon, Nikon and Sony, plus partners Fujifilm and OM System. The judging panel included Chris George, content director at Future Publishing, street photographer Peter Dench, journalist and SheClicks founder Angela Nicholson, and Lee Harasyn, Managing Director at London Camera Exchange.