Click meets craft as OPPO Photography Awards 2025 frame India’s stories

MUMBAI: Sometimes, it only takes a phone and a feeling. That belief sat at the heart of the OPPO India Photography Awards 2025, which wrapped up its second edition by celebrating creators who transformed everyday moments into striking visual stories, one frame at a time.

Anchored in the theme Super Every Moment, the awards drew over 30,000 entries from across India, underlining the growing appetite for emotion-led smartphone photography. Powered by OPPO’s LUMO imaging system, the platform spotlighted how fleeting, ordinary scenes can be elevated into lasting narratives with the right mix of intent and technology.

From thousands of submissions, three photographers emerged as national winners. Soumyasikha Manna from West Bengal took Gold, earning Rs 5,00,000, for a quiet yet powerful portrait capturing the dignity and resilience of a specially abled tribal man. Prathamesh Ganesh Shinde of Maharashtra won Silver and Rs 2,00,000 for his elegant depiction of the traditional sport of Mallakhamb, while Shubham Keshari from Uttar Pradesh secured Bronze and Rs 1,00,000 for a richly textured visual ode to Varanasi’s timeless rhythms.

Beyond the podium, the competition widened its lens across nine categories, from Super Snap and Super Youth to Super Culture and Super Environs. Forty photographers progressed to the second round, shooting exclusively on the OPPO Find X8 Pro, a real-world test of how flagship mobile imaging performs when placed in creative hands.

The jury brought together industry heavyweights, including renowned photographer Joseph Radhik and Vikram Channa, who assessed entries on both technical finesse and emotional resonance. Their verdict was clear: the strongest images were those rooted in lived experience and local nuance.

Category winners reflected the diversity of Indian storytelling, with photographers from West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh recognised. Each category winner will receive OPPO’s latest flagship device from the Find X9 series, extending the brand’s push to nurture emerging talent.

OPPO India head of product and digital marketing Sushant Vashistha said the awards are built on a simple idea, technology should deepen expression, not overshadow it. That sentiment was echoed by Joseph Radhik, who noted that the most memorable images were those where intent and innovation worked in quiet harmony.

Indian talent also made its mark globally. The international edition of the OPPO Photography Awards 2025 attracted nearly 2 million entries from 87 countries, the largest response in the contest’s history. Two Indian photographers were honoured with regional awards for works captured on the Find X8 Pro, carrying Indian stories to a worldwide stage.

At the centre of it all is OPPO’s LUMO Imaging System, blending advanced hardware with AI-driven computational photography to deliver richer tones, nuanced light and cinematic depth. The result is mobile photography that feels less like a shortcut and more like a serious storytelling tool.

In an age of endless scrolling, the OPPO Photography Awards 2025 served as a reminder, when observation meets intention, even the smallest moment can command attention and linger long after the screen goes dark.