Global Physics Photowalk winners announced

(Press-News.org) The Interactions Collaboration has announced the winning images of the 2025 Global Physics Photowalk. These photographs transform the invisible frontier of particle physics — from a detector hunting for dark matter a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, to a deep-sea neutrino telescope studying violent astrophysical phenomena — into visual testaments that capture the beauty, precision and nature of humankind’s search to understand the universe. 

Selected from hundreds of images submitted by more than 100 amateur and professional photographers across the U.S., Europe and Asia, the Global Physics Photowalk provides a glimpse into the people and technology behind some of the world’s most exciting science.

The 16 science laboratories that took part in the Global Physics Photowalk explore the fundamental nature of the universe and matter itself, seeking answers to profound questions about the origin of the universe, its building blocks, and uncovering the mystery behind dark matter, while pioneering technologies that benefit society.

Each organization hosted their own local Photowalk during 2025, and then they entered their top three images into the global competition. From the final collection of 48 images, a global panel of judges chose their top three photographs. The judges were: Dmitri Denisov, deputy associate laboratory director for high energy physics at Brookhaven National Laboratory; Tabea Rauscher, creative lead at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory at the time of judging, head of communication and marketing at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association as of Jan. 1, 2026; and Will Warasila, freelance photographer for the New York Times, willwarasila.com. The public also chose their top three favorite images through an online vote carried out January 13-27, 2026. 

Marco Donghia’s photograph of a researcher at the CryOgenic Laboratory for Detectors at INFN National Laboratories of Frascati was selected by the judges as first place.

“The image stood out for its clear visual storytelling and masterful use of light, which leads the eye through the scene and emphasizes the moment of discovery,” Rauscher said. “The researcher appears small in relation to the cryostat, highlighting the scale of the technology while keeping the human presence at the center. The lighting creates a quiet, almost cinematic atmosphere that captures both the intensity and the solitude of scientific work.”

“Finding out I had won left me speechless,” Donghia said. “The cryostat I photographed is just a few fractions of a degree above absolute zero, yet this recognition filled me with such warmth and emotion that no cryogenic temperature could cool them down.”

Denisov noted that while the judges chose Donghia’s photograph for its ability to convey the “deep connection between the apparatuses used in particle physics and the human developing them,” the second- and third-place photographs were chosen for their “deep looks into the inner workings of experiments and impressive display of colors.”

Many submissions beyond the winning photographs impressed the judges.

“Serving as a judge for the 2025 Global Physics Photowalk, I was struck by the range and sensitivity of the submissions,”  Warasila said. “The photographs move between abstraction and lived experience — finding form, rhythm and quiet beauty in scientific spaces, while foregrounding the people whose labor and curiosity make this work possible. Across geographies and institutions, these images show how photography can slow us down, make complex systems legible and remind us that science is not only technical, but deeply human.”

The winning photographs and additional submissions will be displayed at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, from February 12-14. Find the Interactions Collaboration and the Photowalk exhibit at booth 113.

The Global Physics Photowalk is organized by the Interactions Collaboration, an international network of particle physics institutions. This is the fifth international Photowalk hosted by Interactions. Past Photowalks were carried out in 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2018.

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