RSB Photography Competition 2025: Restoring Biodiversity Through the Lens

Every year, the Royal Society of Biology invites photographers across the globe to train their eyes on the wonders of the natural world. The 2025 Photography Competition theme, Restoring Biodiversity and Habitat, called for images that capture fragile ecosystems bouncing back, and the creative community responded with over 1,300 entries.
Two standout winners emerged from a shortlist of ten, each telling a powerful story of resilience and regeneration.

Title: Humpback chin
Photographer: Huw Griffiths
Location: Weddell Sea, Antarctica

Photographer of the Year 2025: The jellyfish lake by Matthias Rueger

Vienna-based photographer Matthias Rueger took the £1,000 top prize with an ethereal shot of a jellyfish lake in Raja Ampat, Indonesia.
The image reveals a surreal world where hundreds of thousands of stingless jellyfish float in harmony, their population thriving after strict protection laws were introduced. Pollution and tourism once threatened the delicate balance of these saltwater lakes, but careful intervention has allowed biodiversity to bloom once more.

“Our planet is full of such wonders above and below the water,” Rueger said.
“We must realise that these need to be protected, and so these sensitive areas must be treated with great care, and in a sustainable way.”

Young Photographer of the Year 2025: Home under the sea by Alexander Carson

The Young Photographer accolade went to Alexander Carson for his image Home under the sea, captured on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.
His photograph of Barrier Reef anemonefish (Amphiprion akindynos) showcases coral restoration in action. Thanks to dedicated charities cultivating new coral, ecosystems are reviving, and species are once again living in vibrant symbiosis.

Beyond the Frame

Both winning works will be showcased at the Royal Society of Biology’s Awards Ceremony during Biology Week, held at the House of Commons on 15 October 2025.
This year’s judging panel, Claude Barbé-Brown (Wiley), Alice Campain (CABI), and Helen Robertson (Field Studies Council), highlighted the winners for their ability to fuse artistic vision with ecological urgency.

Title: Taking flight
Photographer: Jack Allman
Location: St Chad’s Church, Liverpool, UK

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Why We Love This at People of Print

Photography, like print, has the power to freeze moments and magnify ideas. What resonates here is not just the beauty of the images but the message stitched into them: creative expression as a form of activism. Rueger and Carson remind us that the lens can document more than aesthetics; it can advocate for the fragile environments that make up our shared planet.
At People of Print, we see this as parallel to what drives print culture: taking responsibility for the stories we share and ensuring they resonate beyond the page (or, in this case, the photograph).

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