The best press photos of January 2025 tell nineteen distinct stories — of courage, conflict, celebration, and wonder — captured by photojournalists stationed across every corner of the globe. This ninth set in our ongoing annual series brings together images that reflect the complexity of our world in a single, turbulent month.
Crisis and Conflict: The Human Cost on Land and in War Zones
On January 15, 2025, around fifty migrants — including at least one child — attempted to cross the English Channel from Sangatte beach near Calais, northern France, aboard a smuggler’s inflatable dinghy. One man is seen returning to shore after the attempt failed.
Eight days later, on January 23, the war in Ukraine produced another devastating scene. Police officers and a wounded resident worked together to carry an elderly woman out of an apartment building in Zaporizhzhia that had been struck by a Russian missile.
At the Australian Open on January 20, Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina delivered a powerful symbolic act after defeating Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova in their fourth-round match — she turned to a TV camera and wrote a message directly on its lens.
Science and Technology: Blue Origin’s New Glenn Takes Flight
January 16, 2025 marked a milestone in commercial spaceflight. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket lifted off on its inaugural launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, drawing crowds of spectators who watched the historic moment unfold.
Meanwhile, in London’s Shoreditch neighbourhood on the same day, Samsung staged a spectacular preview for its Galaxy Unpacked event. A 65-foot by 50-foot hologram show projected images of a blue whale, the Northern Lights, and football tricks into the night sky above the street.
Celebration and Culture Around the World
In the Spanish village of San Bartolome de Pinares, Avila, the annual Luminarias festival lit up the evening of January 16 — the eve of Saint Anthony’s Day, Spain’s patron saint of animals. Riders guided their horses directly through roaring bonfires in a centuries-old tradition meant to purify and protect the animals.
At the Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World aquarium in Thailand, divers took the Lunar New Year preparations underwater on January 16, performing an elaborate dragon dance inside the tanks to ring in the festivities.
In Santiago, Chile, the Santiago a Mil Theater Festival welcomed a towering guest on January 15: Mo, a giant puppet representing a boy fleeing a war-torn country, part of the acclaimed Mo and the Ribbon spectacle.
Old San Juan, Puerto Rico erupted in colour and sound on January 16 for the 55th Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastian. This year’s edition paid tribute to legendary local rapper Vico C, whose real name is Luis Armando Lozada, as traditional music filled every corner of the historic streets.
At Berlin’s International Green Week (Internationale Grüne Woche), one of the world’s largest agriculture and food fairs, visitors dressed in traditional costumes added a vibrant, folkloric atmosphere to the exhibition on January 17.
A Historic Step for Equality in Southeast Asia
On January 15, 2025, same-sex couples gathered for a photoshoot at the Government House in Bangkok to celebrate and promote Thailand’s Marriage Equality bill, set to take effect on January 22, 2025. With that law, Thailand became the first Southeast Asian country and only the third nation in Asia to legally recognise same-sex marriage.
Sport, Nature, and the Arts
French skipper Yoann Richomme brought his Imoca 60 monohull Paprec Arkea into port at Les Sables-d’Olonne on January 15, crossing the finish line in second place in the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe — the gruelling around-the-world solo sailing race.
In Colga, Chile, the night of January 18 offered a rare natural spectacle: fireflies illuminated the darkness in a quiet, glowing display that Reuters photographer Cristobal Saavedra Escobar was on hand to document.
Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay welcomed the Chinese New Year season with a stunning living floral installation on January 17. The centrepiece, a towering sculpture themed around the Madam White Snake legend, drew visitors eager to photograph the elaborate display.
In Nantes, France, journalists were given a rare preview on January 17 of the Reclining Vishnu — a bronze statue of the Hindu god from the West Mebon temple in Angkor, Cambodia, often called the “Mona Lisa of Cambodia” or the “Venus de Milo of Cambodia.” The piece is undergoing restoration at the Arc’Antique laboratory under the care of the Center for Research and Restoration in French Museums (C2RMF).
An icy winter storm swept through Galveston, Texas on January 21, leaving icicles hanging from parked vehicles in one of the more unusual weather photographs of the month.
At the boot Düsseldorf water sports and boat show on January 17, a more serene image emerged: a free diver gliding through a purpose-built transparent tank while a fellow diver observed from below the surface.
Finally, at the ABCRA National Finals in Tamworth, Australia on January 24, rider Riley Leys paraded through the arena carrying the Australian flag — one of a growing number of women making their mark in a sport long dominated by men. The Australian Bushmen’s Campdraft & Rodeo Association (ABCRA) continues to promote female participation through programmes like the Australian Rodeo Queen Quest.
Continuing the Best Press Photos of 2025 Series
These nineteen frames represent just a fraction of the extraordinary visual journalism produced in January 2025. For more outstanding images from the same period, explore our Best World Press Photos: Early January 2025 collection, or revisit the Most Powerful World Press Photos of 2025 – Set 5 for another compelling selection of the year’s defining images.
From rocket launches to refugee beaches, from underwater dragon dances to war-scarred apartment blocks, January 2025 proved once again that photojournalism holds a mirror to the world — unflinching, immediate, and essential.
