My best pictures of 2025 and here’s why
This was definitely a year of major changes in my photography. It started innocently enough, with a simple resolution to dedicate all my free time to photography and writing about the process.
The beginning of the year was tough - the lack of daylight and time meant that my 1 photo a day challenge became a real challenge.
During the first months, I genuinely struggled making at least a couple of really interesting images. But I kept on going.
In the meantime, it also naturally became clear where my biggest area of interest lay, besides the Dutch coast.
It turned out that travel street photography became my second biggest passion. Yet I still lacked a clear definition of my subject or more specific direction.
And somewhere before the middle of the year, a kind of breakthrough happened. At some point, something finally clicked.
I remember exactly when that moment was and how did it feel.
I don’t want to give it any sort of magical meaning, but it was definitely a symbolic moment.
I felt it as a sudden understanding of what I was actually doing with my camera and - most importantly - which direction I should be pointing it.
I’ve also realized that to tell a story, you don’t need to produce series of photos. A single image can just as well spark curiosity, raise questions, and invite you, as the viewer, to search for your own answers.
Looking back, I know that this moment of clarification wasn’t the result of the photography gods touching me with their finger, but simply the outcome of the intense, consistent work I had put into photography. This included exploring different photographic genres, as well as other fields of art.
My 2025 in photos - summary
Instead of doing a typical end-of-year summary - which would be nothing more than patting myself on the back (or kicking myself in the ass) - I decided to put together a small recap of my 12 favorite photos of 2025, one photo for each month.
Favorite in this case means the ones I simply enjoy coming back to and looking at.
I will try to break them down to show why I consider them as my - subjectively - best of the year.
I’m excluding family photos and portraits here. For obvious reasons, I revisit those regularly, but that’s driven by emotional attachment rather than purely aesthetic reasons.
January
This photo sums up The North Sea project (I think I should come up with a fancier name) in a very simple way. The sea and those coastal vibes, with a focus on a surf culture.
What’s more, this glass display belongs to my favorite spot along the entire coastline - a surf school on the border of Hoek van Holland and ’s Gravenzande.
The colours, the boards framed by the window panes, the subtle reflection of the sea in the background. That’s what made this photo for me.
The reflection of the shower pole positioned right at the intersection of the rule of thirds lines only added a bit more to it.
February
A shot from my solo trip to Mallorca.
It’s a blurry image taken through a rain-covered car window.
I really like that the palms aren’t arranged in a perfectly symmetrical order - the one on the right is shifted slightly to the side. Meanwhile, the lettering on the building balances the composition within the frame.
What adds here is the fact that the text is red while the overall tint of the image is green (complementary colors).
March
Out of the many photos of the sky and cloud formations, this little cloud has such a perfect shape that it simply had to be included.
I also really like how the sky renders here - how gently it shifts from light to dark. Proof that I really do pay attention to details.
The photo later became the cover of my mini guide on minimalist photos, which I released shortly after - and which is still available for free on my website.
April
An American flag laid out on the back seat of an American car is a fairly banal, yet somehow timeless motif.
I like how it’s framed by the triangle formed by the blurred seat belts and the window pillar in the foregroud, adding lots of depth.
May
This photo of a pile of wooden beach posts in the morning sun was taken on the day I wrote about at the beginning of this post. The day I realized the direction I wanted to take with my documentary project on the Dutch coast, both thematically and aesthetically.
The frame is very simple, but I really like the patterns - both of the beautifully lit wood and of the container that the wood rests against.
The fact that the outer parts of the frame are lit (where the lines of the container and wood thin out), while the center remains gently shadowed, in my opinion, adds a bit more of depth.
June
I’ve photographed the facade of this beach club in Hoek van Holland many times, in different lighting and at various times of day.
What draws me to it is the ridiculous number of air-conditioning fans.
What gets me it’s not only beautiful pink glow of the setting sun on a somewhat cool summer evening, but also that pink ball. These two elements come together nicely in the frame and make the image.
July
I love this photo because the color plays perfectly in it. Not only the doors of the Strand Hub (Beach Hub) are yellow - there are also the edges of the sidewalk, a sticker on the trash bin, and even a piece of litter on the ground. It’s probably that yellow piece of litter that really makes the photo for me.
The sign in the background nicely balances the composition.
August
Common sense told me to choose a different photo than this one.
But for some reason, it draws me in.
Maybe it’s the red, maybe it’s my emotional connection to the place (the photo was taken in a former cable factory in Delft which is such a cool space), I really don’t know.
One thing’s for sure: together with the photo of the little cloud, it wins the contest for the most minimalist photo of the year. And for some reason, it stays here.
September
Parking posts in Dornie, Scotland.
In the background, mountains shrouded in clouds. What a beautiful morning that was. I have a ton of photos from that day, but this is my favorite. I dare to say it’s my favorite photo of the year.
You can clearly see the influence of photographers associated with Woofer Magazine. The best Christmas gift would be having this photo published on Woofer's profile.
October
Worn-out sea containers on a gloomy day in IJmuiden.
There’s nothing pretty or eye-catching here, except for this conglomeration of pre-winter ugliness. This photo is a bit of a summary of late autumn on the Dutch coast.
For some reason, I like this simple composition, and even though the light that day was dull, it really worked here.
November
Almost fallen beach fence arranged in a wave, with a mound of sand peeking out from behind them, make for another minimalist frame, and another summary of winter on the Dutch coast.
The way these clusters and the sand align created the composition for me, and that’s why this photo stays.
December
This photo is from my last trip to Portugal. Three completely empty notice boards are the essence of what I experienced traveling from village to village in the Algarve: stillness, calm, slow life, and a world that’s been forgotten.
Images like this one, that perfectly fit my sense of aesthetics.
In 2025, I took tens of thousands of photos across various niches: street photography, travel, landscape, documentary, portrait, product photography, and probably a few others as well.
When I am looking at selected my favorite images, I have no doubt that my sense of aesthetics - which had always leaned toward minimalism - has now reached an ultra-minimalist state.
You can also see an emerging romance with color.
Color has become a very significant part of my compositions, I’ve finally started using it fully consciously.
Most of the pictures were made with my trustworthy Fujifilm x100V and I bet all of them were edited with presets from my Nostalgic Summer pack. It’s my go to package when I search for the instant pleasure and no hustle process while editing.
If my writings and insights resonate with you, and you want to support my work, purchasing presets is the best way to do so. You will find the links below. Thank you!
