WINNERS HISTORY
Since launching in 2018, Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) has celebrated the world's finest close-up, macro and micro photography. Here are the photographers who have won the overall title.
Overall Winners
CUPOTY 7 (2025)
Ross Gudgeon, Australia
Fractal Forest
A view inside a cauliflower soft coral, photographed using an underwater probe lens in the Lembeh Strait, Indonesia.
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Read the story behind Ross’s picture →
CUPOTY 6 (2024)
Svetlana Ivanenko, Russia
Clash of the Titans
Two stag beetles battle for dominance in the Voronezh region of Russia.
CUPOTY 5 (2023)
Csaba Daróczi, Hungary
The Bird of the Forest
A Eurasian nuthatch flies among woodland trees in Kiskőrös, Hungary.
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Read the story behind Csaba’s picture →
CUPOTY 4 (2022)
Samantha Stephens, Canada
Nature’s Pitfall
Northern Pitcher Plants in Algonquin Provincial Park consume two juvenile Spotted Salamanders.
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Read the story behind Samantha’s picture →
CUPOTY 3 (2021)
Pål Hermansen, Norway
Insect Diversity
Insect remains found inside a house light in Norway emptied onto a large light box.
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Read the story behind Pål’s picture →
CUPOTY 2 (2020)
Galice Hoarau, France
Eel Larva
An eel larva discovered while blackwater diving off the island of Lembeh, Indonesia.
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Read the story behind Galice’s picture →
CUPOTY 1 (2019)
Emanuele Biggi, Italy
Namib’s Gaze
A Peringuey’s adder hides in its sandy habitat in the Namib Desert waiting for prey.
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Read the story behind Emanuele’s picture →
Challenge Winners
Something Beautiful (2024)
Linda Repasky, USA
Puddle Reflection
A reflection of a leafless tree in a tiny puddle in Massachusetts, USA, its bare branches coming alive with soft colours amid scattered acorns and pebbles.
Water (2023)
Tibor Litauszki, Hungary
Between the Stars
An Alpine newt feasts on frog spawn at night in a German stream, photographed underwater using a weighted housing and remote release.
Minimal (2022)
Ferenc Kocsis, Hungary
In Her Wedding Dress
A female Danube mayfly, swollen with egg clusters, flies above the river at night during the final hours of her one-year life.
Two of a Kind (2021)
Alex Pansier, Netherlands
True Love
Two European ground squirrels share a faded poppy on a lawn in Vienna, Austria.
One Colour Frame (2020)
Alena Shevtsova, Russia
Life in the Vertical
Grasshopper larvae (Acrida bicolor) on blades of dry grass.