In many ways, black-and-white nature photography is a more challenging art form than your standard color snapshot. It strips away the ‘easy’ beauty of color and forces the image to stand on its basic tenets: light, shape, texture, and timing. When it works, the results are no less than colour photography. Instead, they feel more direct. More honest. Like you’re looking at a dark chocolate candy instead of the pretty wrapper.
That’s the whole point of the inaugural Black & White Nature Photography Contest by the Exposure One Awards. Photographers from around the world were asked to show what nature reveals when you take the obvious hook away. And the 2025 winners, nominees, and honorable mentions make a pretty compelling case that monochrome isn’t about removing something, but rather about perfecting composition.
Without colour to guide your attention, everything shifts. Fur starts to read like topography. Dust becomes a physical thing you can feel in the air. Water turns into a sheet of metal, or a soft gradient of gray that feels endless. Even familiar subjects, animals, landscapes, and simple weather phenomena, can suddenly look unfamiliar and otherworldly. Contrast and shadow take over in the visual storytelling.
You get a sense of weight, tension, and curiosity, captured at exactly the right fraction of a second. Close-ups feel personal rather than decorative. Wider scenes feel like you’ve stepped into a place where the air itself has texture.
What connects the strongest photographs in this set is discipline. No visual noise. No gimmicks. Just a clear idea, a strong composition, and the patience to wait for the moment to line up. It’s a kind of confidence, really, letting the subject carry the image without adding extra “look at me” energy on top.
Taken together, the awarded and honored shots are a reminder of why black-and-white still matters. It slows you down. It makes you look closer.
Let us know in the comments which are your favorite animal photos here, and of course, check out submissions from this and other categories on Exposure One’s website and Instagram page.
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#1 “Scar” By Titch Tetley
Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Professional level.
Description: “The ox pecker was coming in land and I wanted to capture him in motion. It wasn’t until later that I noticed the scar down the giraffe’s eye.”
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#2 “Black And White_elephant” By Sergey Gorshkov
Nominee in the Animals category at the Professional level.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#3 “Deadly Fluff” By Wouter Van Hofwegen
Gold Award in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Description: Thick fur hides claws and power. The bear’s paws show both strength and comfort, made to endure the endless winter.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#4 “Drifters In Monochrome” By Christina Ford
Honorable Mention in the Underwater Category and the Animals Category.
Description: This series shows jellyfish glowing softly in darkness, their bells like lanterns and tentacles trailing like delicate strokes. Without color, they become pure form and motion, drifting like living shadows. Each image reveals quiet grace—slow pulses of light and gentle, weightless movement.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#5 “Eyes Raised High” By Laura Dyer
Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Professional level.
Description: Cheetah cubs, snuggling on their mom in a rain storm notice something flying overhead. They are alert to all dangers, especially in the rain as it dampens sounds. Mom is relaxed, but she know aerial battles are not of concern to the small family.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#6 “Sinister Eyes” By Faisal Zahir
Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Nominee in the Wild Portraits category at the Non-Professional level.
Nominee in the Minimalism category at the Non-Professional level.
Description: Shot at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park, New Jersey
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#7 “Against A Quiet Current’ By Michael Paul
Nominee in the Animals Category at the Professional level.
“An elk and her yearlings ford a rocky mountain river as the morning fog burns off. The current was so placid, it neither impeded their crossing nor concealed the sloshing of their steady march to the far bank.”
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#8 “Dreams Of Ice” By Douglas Sturgess
Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level. Description: A lone polar bear rests on a barren Arctic shore, its white fur glowing softly against the dark stones. In the stillness, there’s both peace and fragility, a quiet reminder of life enduring at the edge of a frozen world.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#9 “The Trust” By Alena Kámen Jakubová
Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Nominee in the Lights & Shadow category at the Non-Professional level.
Description: “The calm face of the animal, sharing the present peacefulness, the rust in the eye of the horse.”
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#10 “Clean-Up” By Jon Ehrmann
Honorable Mention in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Nominee in the Wild Portraits category at the Non-Professional level.
Description: “This voracious wild predator meticulously cleans up after a meal. The back and white rendering with steely texture articulates the power of the Praying Mantis. A bokeh halo completes the composition.”
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#11 “Začudno” By Lidija Novković
1st Place, Overall Contest Winner.
Silver Award, Abstract Category.
Honorable Mention, Animals Category.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#12 “Crowned In Dust And Shadow” By Mark Fernley
2nd Place, Overall Contest.
Silver Award in the Animals Category at the Professional level.
Description: A young male lion steps through a cloud of dust lifted by his own movement and caught in the back light. The night around him stays silent, but the glow reveals every contour of rising strength. A rare, intimate moment from the waterhole here in the Shompole Conservancy, southern Kenya.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#13 “Tails Of The Sea” By Anthony Brown
Bronze Award in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Honorable Mention in the Ocean category at the Non-Professional level.
Description: A large humpback whale had just breached. Just as a whale behind it started to tail slap. Making it look like this was just one big tailslap.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#14 “Exhale” By Richard Bagdasarian
Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Description: Manitoban Elk during a cold and frosty morning in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park (U.S.A)
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#15 “Evolution In Tandem” By David Volonte
Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#16 “Reverence” By Pam Dorner
Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Honorable Mention in the Wild Portraits category at the Non-Professional level.
Description: Baby bear looks up at Mom with such deep respect at Katmai National Park.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#17 “Tiger” By Abdul Kader Kagalwala
Honorable Mention in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Description: “He rules the silence of the jungle — unseen, unwavering, untamed.”
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#18 “The Open North” By Rachel Spencer
Nominee in the Animals category at Professional level.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#19 “Through The Fog” By Evan Watts
Honorable Mention, Animals Category.
Nominee, Light & Shadow Category.
Description: “High in the Wyoming Rockies, a grizzly bear sow and her cub cross a mountain river. It was a cool morning, and thick fog hung overhead as steam rose from the river, creating an ethereal scene around one of nature’s most respected predators.”
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#20 “Black And White_young Foxes” By Sergey Gorshkov
Nominee in the Animals category at the Professional level.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#21 “Don’t Even Think About It” By Tom Raymond
Honorable Mention, Wild Portraits Category
Nominee, Animals Category.
Description: Adult hippo strikes a menacing pose, as if to say don’t even think about coming any closer. Photographed in the Northern Kruger, South Africa.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#22 “The Horses Of Camargue” By Laura Mommicchi
Nominee in the Animals category.
Description: “Freedom at its finest. The white horses of Camargue, free, galloping in the wilderness. The Guardians, showing the care and the love that humans have for horses for centuries and generations in this region. A dance to witness. Complicity, Tenderness and Rawness.”
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#23 “Just A Little Swish” By Bayliss Ward
Nominee in the Animals category.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#24 “Bighorn Battle!” By Jeff Beatty
Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Description: Horns clash and rocks fly as two bighorn rams battle for dominance.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#25 “Bear Shake Down” By Charles Janson
Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Description: In the last light of day, a backlit Brown Bear shakes his wet coat. He was foraging for salmon in a nearby creek and had just emerged onto land.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#26 “Taking A Bear Break” By Heidi Ferguson
Honorable Mention in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Nominee in the Wild Portraits category at the Non-Professional level.
Description: “This two year old was following mom fishing in Alaska, when it decided to take a little rest. We were supposed to have left that day but the weather was too windy, and as a result I got the chance to photograph mom and baby. This is the photo I had hoped to get and felt that B&W was best.”
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#27 “Majesty In Focus” By Saleh Alshamali
Bronze Award, Animals Category.
Nominee, Wild Portraits Category.
Nominee, Light & Shadow Category.
Description: A striking black and white portrait of a falcon, symbolizing power and grace. The sharp contrast of light and shadow highlights every feather detail, capturing the bird’s regal presence and untamed spirit.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#28 “Antarctic Storm” By Michel Groleau
Honorable Mention in the Animals Category.
Description: Frozen for more than 30 million years, Antarctica is the coldest place on our planet. Antarctica plays a major role in regulating the climate of the entire planet. Less than 1% of Antarctica is not covered in ice. These rocky formations are the only places where penguins can lay their eggs.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#29 “Skysurfing” By Xiaoping Lin
Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Professional level.
Description: “When an egret was fishing, it happened to encounter a silver carp rushing out of the sea. One of the egret’s feet pressed the silver carp under its feet, like an egret playing skateboarding in the air.”
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#30 “One Fine Morning” By Will Runk
Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Professional level.
Description: A pod a spinner dolphins surfaces and dives off the coast of west Oahu, HI.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#31 “Classic” By Lidija Novković
Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Professional level.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#32 “The Giants Whisper” By José Miguel Angulo
Nominee in the Animals Category at the Professional level.
Description: Photographs of elephants made in Amboseli (Kenya) as part of a long project in support of this ecosystem and the maasai community in Africa, driving to the publication of the book “The Giants Whisper”
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#33 “Ouch!” By Janet Gustin
1st Place winning image at the Non-Professional Level .
While siblings nurse below, one kit fox pup demands attention the only way he knows how – by gently biting mom’s face. The tender chaos of motherhood captured in a single frame. Even in the wild, kids compete for affection, and sometimes getting noticed means being a little bit bold.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#34 “Under A Veil Of Algae” By Jana Hejzlarova
Gold Award in the Animals category at the Professional level.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#35 Aguila Mora (Geranoaetus Melanoleucus) By Alejandra Rebagliati
Silver Award in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#36 “The King” By Klaus Mayer
Silver Award in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Description: “This look. This expression. This confidence and showing of power. He looks like the real king of the plains. What a fantastic sighting. I’m still getting goosebumps watching him. One of the male lions of the pride that resides around the Mara Bush Camp.”
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#37 “Mothers Love” By Kerrie Norrie
Bronze Award in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#38 “Born To Soar” By Jason Marino
Bronze Award, Wild Portraits Category.
Honorable Mention, Animals Category.
Description: An eagle soars among the mountain peaks of Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#39 “King Of The Night” By Diego Romero Sandoval
Honorable Mention in the Animals Category.
Description: An Alpha Lion patrolling at night.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#40 “Black And White_the Arctic Fox 2” By Sergey Gorshkov
Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Professional level.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#41 “In Motion” By Rachel Spencer
Nominee in the Animals Category at the Professional level.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#42 “Hawk” By Joe Dollens
Nominee in the Animals Category at the Professional level.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#43 “Traffic Jam” In Tanzania By Tom Raymond
Nominee in the Animals Category at the Professional level.
Description: A crush of thousands of Wildebeest at the Mara River, Tanzania
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#44 “Textures Of Survival” By Saleh Alshamali
Honorable Mention, Earth’s Textures Category.
Nominee, Animals Category.
Description: A black and white portrait of a chameleon clinging to a branch. The fine textures of its skin and the dramatic play of light and shadow reveal nature’s intricate design and the quiet resilience of wildlife.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#45 “The Thinker” By Stafford Robinson
Nominee in the Animals category at the Professional level.
Description: Snow Monkey, Nagano, Japan.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#46 “Individuality” By Takayuki Nakamura
Bronze Award in the Animals category at the Professional level.
Description: “I collect and photograph the skulls of Japanese deer. It is difficult to understand the individuality of each animal. However, when they die and only the bones remain, their individuality becomes clear.”
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#47 “The Gentles” By Amit Armoza
Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#48 “Ascend” By Titch Tetley
Nominee in the Animals category at the Professional level.
Desription: “Taken in the Masai Mara in the heat of the day. I had put my camera away but as we headed back to camp we saw this sight and I just had to capture it. The tree is such an iconic symbol of the plains and with the giraffe reaching up I managed to capture the image that I saw.”
Image source: Exposure One Awards
#49 “King Of The Coast” By Evan Watts
Honorable Mention, Animals Category.
Nominee, Wild Portraits Category.
Description: Alaska’s Bear Coast stretches hundreds of miles and boasts some of the best brown bear habitat on earth. This massive boar was the largest and most dominant on his stretch of coast, and in this image, he is seen eyeing a sow, a potential mate, that might allow his dominant bloodline to continue.
Image source: Exposure One Awards
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