Photography 2025 Winners and Honorable Mentions – Philip Kennicott, Juror

The photographs in this year’s Hill Center photography exhibition capture both the unease and the beauty of the world. They span a dizzying range of techniques and artistic perspectives, from evocative vignettes of places we know well to bewildering new visions of a world that is unfamiliar every time we encounter it anew. The winners and runners up were chosen both for the excellence of their work, and to represent the richness and variety of the material submitted by the 109+ photographers whose work is on view. They show us how the camera can capture a mood, pose a question and distill our deep emotional need to bring order to the world. They inspire us to keep our eyes open.