Travel Photographer of the Year Awards 2025: The photo of this Indian destination stole the show | - The Times of India
The living cultures of India have once again shone brightly on the international platform, this time with the theme of travel photography. At the Travel Photographer of the Year Awards 2025, a picture that has its origins in the arid regions of Maharashtra has received international acclaim, highlighting one of the most famous spiritual journeys in the country.Photographer Dashawatar Gopalkrishna Bade won the Runner-Up award in the Culture, Heritage & Beliefs category for an interesting photograph of the Pandharpur Wari pilgrimage. The recognition places Bade among the world’s leading travel photographers and brings renewed global attention to a pilgrimage that has shaped Maharashtra’s cultural identity for centuries.Now in its 22nd edition, the TPOTY Awards are regarded as one of the most respected platforms for travel imagery worldwide, attracting photographers who explore people, rituals, landscapes and belief systems across continents. Photographer Dashawatar Gopalkrishna Bade won the Runner-Up award in the Culture, Heritage and Beliefs categoryCapturing the spirit of the Pandharpur Wari, the unique pilgrimageBade’s award-winning image centres on a moment of spontaneous celebration during the annual Pandharpur Wari, an on-foot pilgrimage undertaken by lakhs of devotees, known as Warkaris, who walk for days to reach the temple town of Pandharpur. The photograph is shot from a low angle, which enables the expansive blue sky to feature prominently in the image, as well as the earthly reality of the journey.At the center of the photograph are two men performing a traditional dance, which is momentarily paused. The rest of the devotees are arranged in a semicircle, clapping in rhythm. Their clothes are a testament to the journey that they have been on, with earthy mud stains that speak of the distances that they have walked barefoot, as well as their devotion.Bade has explained that the photograph captures the meeting point of faith, energy, and cultural heritage, which is the essence of the Wari tradition that has been practiced for over a thousand years.Taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and a 35mm lens, with a slow shutter speed that gives the impression of movement, the image combines technical expertise with emotional resonance. Travel Photograher of the Year AwardA prestigious platform for travel storytellingFor over two decades, the Travel Photographer of the Year Awards have been honoring visual storytelling that is a product of travel and exploration. The competition is open to both professional and amateur photographers, and the 2025 competition received over 20,000 entries from 157 countries. Talk about global reach!This year’s winners come from 56 different nationalities, chosen through an anonymous judging process. There is a strict set of rules that has to be followed: no use of generative AI is permitted, and shortlisted photographers have to provide original RAW files or equivalent JPEG files.The prestigious Travel Photographer of the Year 2025 award was won by Athanasios Maloukos of Greece, whose series of photographs explore the themes of ritual and movement. His series of photographs include the Holy Week procession in Zamora, Spain, as well as the fascinating Sema ritual performed by the whirling dervishes in Konya, Turkey. The photographs were largely taken in low-light settings, where motion and stillness are used to capture the spiritual essence of the subjects.The Travel Image of the Year award was claimed by Dana Allen from the United States for a dramatic wildlife photograph featuring a bull elephant enveloped in dust. With only one eye visible above the haze.In the Young Travel Photographer of the Year, Jamie Smart of the UK was awarded for his portfolio of flying foxes (fruit bats). Her work showcased the intimate moments of a wildlife hospital in Queensland.Also, Italian photographer Sara Bardotti won the award for Adventures & Experiences Portfolio with her black-and-white portfolio of Nenet fishermen in Siberia. Her photographs concentrate on physical effort, depriving the frozen landscape of any romanticism and emphasizing the resilience of the fishermen in such conditions.
