Unexpected visual captured in this year's Wellcome Photography Prize awards

News Article: Winners of the Wellcome Photography Prize 2025 Showcase Global Health Issues

The Wellcome Photography Prize 2025 has unveiled its winners, showcasing a diverse range of photographic approaches that delve into the complex interplay between science, health, and society. The winners were selected across three categories: Striking Single Image, Storytelling, and The Marvels of Scientific and Medical Imaging.

In the Striking Single Image category, Mithail Afrige Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi documentary and street photographer, won for his series titled Urban Travel. This work captures the nuanced realities of climate migration and everyday life impacted by environmental changes in urban Bangladesh. One of the standout images, "Urban Travel," depicts a mother and daughter recreating a "nature experience" on the roof of their apartment building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Every day 2,000 climate migrants take up permanent residence in Dhaka, and they now comprise close to half of the total population.

The Storytelling category was awarded to UK-based artist Sujata Setia for her series that explores the hidden toll of domestic abuse, revealing deeply personal and complex intersections between health and human experience. "A Thousand Cuts," a visual meditation on the insidious, everyday forms of violence that are hidden and often go unacknowledged within South Asian culture, studies the mental and physical trauma caused by domestic abuse. Setia, a survivor of domestic abuse, worked in close collaboration with the charity SHEWISE and a group of volunteers for this project. The portraits depict the stories of these survivors as they chose to be seen, and Setia used the Indian paper-cutting technique sanjhi to maintain the women's anonymity.

Steve Gschmeissner, a UK-based electron microscopy specialist and science photographer, won in the Marvels of Scientific and Medical Imaging category for his images depicting microscopic processes underpinning heart disease. The image, "Cholesterol in the Liver," is an image of cholesterol crystals within a lipid-laden liver cell taken from a human liver. The scale of the image is 12 micrometres in width for the lipid droplet. The detailed image serves as a reminder of the impacts of climate change on residents' daily lives and can support scientists and the public to better understand these effects.

Each winner was awarded a £10,000 prize, and their work was recognized for powerfully reflecting how science and health shape lives in complex ways. The images exemplify visual storytelling’s role in advancing understanding of global health issues, from societal struggles to microscopic biological phenomena.

The exhibition of the top 25 entries, including these winners, is on display at the Francis Crick Institute in London from July 17 to October 18, 2025, allowing the public to engage with the stories behind these compelling photographs. The shortlisted finalists can also be explored on the Wellcome Photography Prize's website.

This prize highlights how science and health impact personal and societal narratives, presented through diverse photographic approaches from documentary to electron microscopy.

| Category | Winner | Story Behind the Winning Image | |--------------------------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Striking Solo Photography | Mithail Afrige Chowdhury | Urban Travel: climate migration and urban realities in Bangladesh | | Storytelling | Sujata Setia | The hidden toll of domestic abuse | | Marvels of Scientific Imaging | Steve Gschmeissner | Microscopic views of heart disease processes |

Mithail Afrige Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi photographer, won in the Striking Single Image category for his series Urban Travel, showcasing the effects of climate change on urban Bangladesh and its inhabitants.
One of Chowdhury's captivating images, Urban Travel, features a mother and daughter attempting to recreate a "nature experience" on their apartment building's roof in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Each year, approximately 2,000 climate migrants take up permanent residence in Dhaka, with close to half of the city's population now consisting of these new residents.
Sujata Setia, a UK-based artist, was awarded first place in the Storytelling category for her series exploring the hidden toll of domestic abuse and its intersections with health and human experience.
Setia's project, titled A Thousand Cuts, utilizes the Indian paper-cutting technique sanjhi to depict the stories of survivors of domestic abuse while maintaining their anonymity.
Steve Gschmeissner, a UK-based electron microscopy specialist, took home the win in the Marvels of Scientific and Medical Imaging category for his image of cholesterol crystals within a liver cell, increasing public understanding of heart disease.
The top 25 entries, which include these winners, will be on display at the Francis Crick Institute in London from July 17 to October 18, 2025.
By examining global health issues through diverse photographic techniques such as documentary, street photography, and electron microscopy, the Wellcome Photography Prize sheds light on the intricate ties between science, health, and society.