Claire Aho Award for Women Photographers: Meet the UK Shortlist for 2025 – World Food Photography Awards

The shortlist for the Claire Aho Award for Women Photographers 2025 was announced on 3rd April 2025. Part of the global World Food Photography Awards, this award aims to encourage and celebrate women photographers.  This year Women In The Food Industry were delighted to be on the judging advisory panel. We are particular fans of the Claire Aho Award and are delighted to share the photos by UK photographers shortlisted in this category.

Claire Aho, 1925-2015, was born into one of Finland’s greatest cultural and artistic dynasties. Given her first camera at the age of 10, she was a trailblazer in many ways – as a woman working as a commercial photographer from the late 1940s at a time when almost no women were working in this field, in her use of colour photography and in her unique photographic blend of style, wit and vitality.

“Her achievements and legacy are an inspiration to women everywhere to express themselves through the medium of photography and it made complete sense to us to commemorate her in this way.” said the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year Awards.

Jussi Brofeldt, Claire Aho’s son and Chairman of the AHO & SOLDAN Photo and Film Foundation, Helsinki, Finland, said

“This is very meaningful for my family and me to have my mother celebrated in this way. We hugely look forward to receiving the entries and seeing work from around the world.”

Here are the UK shortlisted entries in this strong category:

Plum Life: Photography by Cath Lowe

Gourd-geous Gown: Photography by Emma Dunham

Kleftiko: Photography by  Karolina Wiercigroch

Delfina, a pasta granny : Photography by Lizzie Mayson 

Sunset on the ladies working in the rice fields of Nepal –  Photography by Lara Jane Thorpe

Tea Plantation Topiary, Kerala: Photography by Linda Wride

All shortlisted in the Claire Aho Award for Women Photographers 2025 can be found here.

This year’s global judging panel, was chaired by legendary food photographer, David Loftus, and includes: Clare Reichenbach, CEO, the James Beard Foundation, Angela Nicholson, Founder of She Clicks, Ruth Watson, President of The Guild of Food Writers, Kerrie McCallum, Editor in Chief of delicious magazine, Vitalie Taittinger, President of Champagne Taittinger,  and Fiona Shields, Head of Photography at Guardian News and Media.

The winners of the 25 categories will be revealed on Tuesday 20 May in London at the competition’s Champagne Taittinger Awards Evening hosted by renowned chef, restaurateur and food writer Yotam Ottolenghi. The Overall Winner of the competition will take home a prize of £5,000 GBP.

A free-to-enter exhibition of all the Finalist images will premiere at The Mall Galleries, London, running from Wednesday 21st May – Sunday 25th May. A selection of images will also be exhibited at Fortnum and Mason from 2nd June, as well as the Museum of the Home from 3rd June – 7th September.

View the full shortlist of all categories of the World Food Photography Awards here.

You may also be interested in the following: 

World Food Photography Awards 2025 – call for entries, Feast for The Eyes – The Story of Food in Photography exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery 2019 – Women In the Food Industry Review and Food: Bigger than the Plate Exhibition at the V & A 2019 – Women In the Food Industry Review.