Photographer of the Year 2025 Weekly Selection: Week 9 - Gallery 1 - Africa Geographic

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Tuesday, 15 April 2025

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Our Photographer of the Year 2025 is open for submissions. The overall winners, runners up and their partners will enjoy a teamAG safari to explore the primal forests of Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the remote north of Congo-Brazzaville – in search of lowland gorillas, forest elephants, forest buffaloes, bongos and much more. Read more about the Photographer of the Year 2025 prizes here. In association with Ukuri and African Parks.

Photographer of the Year is open for entries from 1 February 2025 to midnight on 30 April 2025. Judging will take place throughout those months and for the month of May 2025, and the winners of Photographer of the Year will be announced in early June 2025.

Here is Gallery 1 of the best Photographer of the Year submissions for this week. To see the other gallery, follow the link: Gallery 2

Photographer of the Year 2025 — Kamaya, the dominant silverback of the Atananga gorilla family, takes a break. Despite being in his late 30s, he is still spry, can climb high trees and breed. As a habituated group, the Atanangas are an important research focus for the study of critically endangered western lowland gorillas. Loango National Park, Gabon. © Turgay Uzer

Photographer of the Year 2025 — A confusion of wildebeest churns out a veil of light and dust. Ndutu, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania. © Alexander Perov

Africa Geographic African safari — After her eggs hatch, the mother crocodile carries her hatchlings to the water. For nearly two years, they will stay close to her as she watches over them. Here, hatchlings float near their mother on the Chobe River, Botswana. © Nellie Tromp

Africa Geographic African safari — Snatched from its mother’s side, a lifeless warthog piglet hangs in the jaws of a determined leopardess. This hard-earned kill ensures another vital meal for her growing cub, who waits eagerly nearby. South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. © Michael Stavrakakis

Africa Geographic Travel

Africa Geographic African safari — A lappet-faced vulture flies in to preside over the committee. These often-overlooked custodians find refuge here in Busanga Plains, Zambia. © Maddy Nielsen

Africa Geographic African safari — On the edge of the plains, a lone cheetah watches the tide of wildebeest arriving. The time of plenty has arrived. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. © Liz Hart

Africa Geographic African safari — A warrior in miniature, an Acraea butterfly perches, showing off its vibrant colour. Makalali Private Game Reserve, South Africa. © Kevin Dooley

Africa Geographic African safari — Tumbles and trumpets. Young elephants play in unfiltered joy. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. © Shihai Shao

Africa Geographic African safari — A white-bellied sunbird clings to a lion’s ear stalk, as it takes a break from sipping from its flowers. A brief stillness in a bright corner of the bush. Selati Game Reserve, South Africa. © Mac Stevenson

Photographer of the Year 2025 — Storm clouds retreat, leaving gold in their wake. A lioness, separated from her cubs, moves through the watered plains, contact calling to find them. Amboseli National Park, Kenya. © Dewald Tromp

Africa Geographic Travel

Africa Geographic African safari — “I spent a couple of healing weeks immersed in wildlife in the Kruger. There’s something about elephants, something about elephants’ trunks, something about the circle of life that brings us back to our centre, isn’t there?” Kruger National Park, South Africa. © Karen Blackwood

Africa Geographic African safari — Red-headed finches explode into flight, narrowly dodging the outstretched talons of a juvenile lanner falcon. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. © Ernest Porter

Photographer of the Year 2025 — The dominant silverback mountain gorilla and one of his female companions attempt to relax in a clearing in the forest. Their peace is upended by a restless youngster, a tangle of limbs, nips, and mischief. He bites, pulls legs and arms, and tries to evoke playtime – to no avail. Giving up, he sits in between his guardians for a sulk. Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. © Dewald Tromp

Photographer of the Year 2025 — Sodden and surly, a juvenile spotted eagle-owl attempts to recover from a desert thunderstorm. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. © Braeme Holland

Photographer of the Year 2025 — Acting together, three African social spiders subdue their large grasshopper prey, making teamwork work. Harare, Zimbabwe. © Anjuli-Rebelo

Africa Geographic Travel

Photographer of the Year 2025 — In a rare sight following a deluge, the drenched desert sands of Sossusvlei glisten under cloud-smothered sunlight. Sossusvlei National Park, Namibia. © Andre Stipp

Photographer of the Year 2025 — A windblown ember in a desert village. A young woman clothed in orange smiles through her veil. Nouakchott, Mauritania. © Daniel Rodrigues

Photographer of the Year 2025 — On the banks of the Chobe River, a Nile crocodile basks in the sun, an impala watching cautiously nearby. Captured from a boat safari on the river. Chobe River, Botswana. © Daniela Anger

Photographer of the Year 2025 — A brief clash at the waterhole. Two gemsbok lock horns, testing strength and stance in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. © Abrie Du Plessis

Photographer of the Year 2025 — Still as stone, the green-backed heron waits. Then, a strike, faster than thought. Patience rewarded. Zimanga Private Game Reserve, South Africa. © Andreas Hemb

Photographer of the Year 2025 — A lion cub toys with the skull of a fallen wildebeest. A moment of innocent and macabre play in the Ndutu dust. Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania. © Alexander Perov

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