Photography

It's that time of the year again. We've got our hands on the shortlisted pictures from the 2024 Close-up Photographer of the Year competition, so you can feast your eyes on a whole new collection of natural wonders from around the world.

It's 40 years since the first Lomo camera went into production, a Russian copy of the Cosina CX-2. That simple model spawned a global art-centred Lomography movement – which has now been embodied in the stylish and versatile Lomo’Instant Wide Glass.

For 50 years now, camera company Nikon has been highlighting microscopic marvels with the annual Nikon Small World photomicrography competition. Headlining this year’s winners is a groundbreaking view of mouse brain tumor cells.

For the 60th year in a row, the Natural History Museum of London has held its Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards. And for the 60th year in a row, the images are guaranteed to stir your love of the natural world and the animals that live in it.

Earth can only hold so many photography subjects – but the universe is basically infinite, and so is its beauty. The Astrophotography Prize is a relatively new international competition that celebrates this art, and this year’s winners have been unveiled.

At a time when we could do with a laugh, we present a pick of images that have made the shortlist in the 2024 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards. From clumsy birds to dramatic insects, these photos capture moments that happen often but we rarely get to see.

This stunning image of a bearded dragon soaking up the rays in southern Australian has taken out the overall prize in the 2024 British Ecology Society's photography competition, an annual contest open to any nature snapper around the globe.

From a baby tardigrade riding a nematode, to water droplets evaporating from the wing scales of a peacock butterfly, the winners of this year's Nikon Small World In Motion video microscopy competition let you see the unseen in astounding detail.

Few photography subjects offer the breadth of beauty as astronomy, and the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards celebrate that. The winners for 2024 have now been crowned, including breathtaking cosmic shots.

Your smartphone may shoot great photos and videos, but it's still much more awkward to use than an actual camera. The Snappy is one of the latest gadgets to address that problem, as it brings camera-like functionality (including a shot-stabilizing gimbal) to your phone.

The winners of the sixth annual Minimalist Photography Awards have been announced. These stunning images span 12 categories that capture the beauty, wonder and mystery of simplicity. Enjoy a selection of our favorites!

Though smartphone cameras can snap stunning images, most pros will haul a dedicated camera to assignments. Space inside camera bags is at a premium, but a nifty lens from Samyang could lighten the load by allowing optical elements to be swapped out.

The Centenary Institute has announced the winner of its When Art Meets Science competition, showcasing the intersection between ground-breaking medical research and stunning images. But you can cast your vote for the best image in the People’s Choice Awards.

This year marks the 15th year of the Urban Photo Awards, a worldwide competition that celebrates the world around us and encourages us to look at the built environment and its inhabitants in a new way. These finalists have captured just that.

In its eighth year, the Beaker Street Festival's Science Photography Prize tells the story of one of the more remote places on Earth, Australia's southern island state of Tasmania. The 12 finalists capture the beauty and diversity of this stunning land.