A communication resource from the world's particle physics laboratories.
The Interactions Collaboration has announced the winning images of the 2025 Global Physics Photowalk. These photographs transform the invisible frontier of particle physics — from a detector hunting for dark matter a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, to a deep-sea neutrino telescope studying violent astrophysical phenomena — into visual testaments that capture the beauty, precision and nature of humankind’s search to understand the universe.
Selected from hundreds of images submitted by more than 100 amateur and professional photographers across the U.S., Europe and Asia, the Global Physics Photowalk provides a glimpse into the people and technology behind some of the world’s most exciting science.
The 16 science laboratories that took part in the Global Physics Photowalk explore the fundamental nature of the universe and matter itself, seeking answers to profound questions about the origin of the universe, its building blocks, and uncovering the mystery behind dark matter, while pioneering technologies that benefit society.
Each organization hosted their own local Photowalk during 2025, and then they entered their top three images into the global competition. From the final collection of 48 images, a global panel of judges chose their top three photographs. The judges were: Dmitri Denisov, deputy associate laboratory director for high energy physics at Brookhaven National Laboratory; Tabea Rauscher, creative lead at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory at the time of judging, head of communication and marketing at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association as of Jan. 1, 2026; and Will Warasila, freelance photographer for the New York Times, willwarasila.com. The public also chose their top three favorite images through an online vote carried out January 13-27, 2026.
Marco Donghia’s photograph of a researcher at the CryOgenic Laboratory for Detectors at INFN National Laboratories of Frascati was selected by the judges as first place.
“The image stood out for its clear visual storytelling and masterful use of light, which leads the eye through the scene and emphasizes the moment of discovery,” Rauscher said. “The researcher appears small in relation to the cryostat, highlighting the scale of the technology while keeping the human presence at the center. The lighting creates a quiet, almost cinematic atmosphere that captures both the intensity and the solitude of scientific work.”
“Finding out I had won left me speechless,” Donghia said. “The cryostat I photographed is just a few fractions of a degree above absolute zero, yet this recognition filled me with such warmth and emotion that no cryogenic temperature could cool them down.”
Denisov noted that while the judges chose Donghia’s photograph for its ability to convey the “deep connection between the apparatuses used in particle physics and the human developing them,” the second- and third-place photographs were chosen for their “deep looks into the inner workings of experiments and impressive display of colors.” February 12, 2026
Many submissions beyond the winning photographs impressed the judges. “Serving as a judge for the 2025 Global Physics Photowalk, I was struck by the range and sensitivity of the submissions,” Warasila said. “The photographs move between abstraction and lived experience — finding form, rhythm and quiet beauty in scientific spaces, while foregrounding the people whose labor and curiosity make this work possible. Across geographies and institutions, these images show how photography can slow us down, make complex systems legible and remind us that science is not only technical, but deeply human.”
The winning photographs and additional submissions will be displayed at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, from February 12-14. Find the Interactions Collaboration and the Photowalk exhibit at booth 113.
The Global Physics Photowalk is organized by the Interactions Collaboration, an international network of particle physics institutions. This is the fifth international Photowalk hosted by Interactions. Past Photowalks were carried out in 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2018.
2025 Photowalk First Place winner - Marco Donghia, INFN National Laboratories of Frascati
Photographer: Marco Donghia
Title: Research at COLD
Description: A young researcher at work at the CryOgenic Laboratory for Detectors (COLD) at INFN National Laboratories of Frascati. The laboratory’s cryostat (in the foreground) can reach -273.14 °C, just a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, allowing scientists to detect extremely weak and rare signals, such as those possibly produced by dark matter in our galaxy.
2025 Photowalk First Place winner - Yannig Van De Wouwer, GANIL / CNRS
Photographer: © Yannig Van De Wouwer / GANIL / CNRS
Title: The tunnel
Description: At the back of theLinear Accelerator of SPIRAL2 is a corridor where you can see a beautiful, orderly arrangement of numerous cables and pipes. The light in this area was much better than in many other areas. Using a small aperture, the light sources take on a pleasant star-like shape. Photo taken at the Large Heavy Ion National Accelerator (GANIL, CNRS/CEA), in Caen, France.
Title (non-English): Le tunnel
Description (non-English): À l'arrière de l'Accélérateur Linéaire de SPIRAL2 se trouve un couloir où l'on peut découvrir une belle répétition ordonnée de nombreux câbles et tuyaux. La lumière à cet endroit était de qualité nettement supérieure à celle de nombreux autres endroits. En utilisant une petite ouverture, les sources lumineuses prennent une forme étoilée agréable. Photo prise au Grand accélérateur national d’ions lourds (GANIL, CNRS/CEA), à Caen, France.
2025 Photowalk Second Place winner - Matteo Monzali, INFN National Laboratories of Legnaro
Photographer: Matteo Monzali
Title: AGATA–PRISMA Setup for nuclear physics experiments
Description: AGATA (Advanced GAmma Tracking Array) photon detector coupled with PRISMA magnetic spectrometer. These instruments, used in low and medium energy nuclear physics experiments, are installed in an experimental room of the TANDEM-ALPI-PIAVE accelerator complex at INFN National Laboratories of Legnaro.
2025 Photowalk Second Place winner - Yannig Van De Wouwer, GANIL / CNRS
Photographer: © Yannig Van De Wouwer / GANIL / CNRS
Title: Vacuum
Description: An essential part of the science behind accelerators is searching for patterns in enormous volumes of data. For this photo, I played with that concept: searching for an interesting pattern in the complex installation filled with numerous pipes and ducts. Do you know what you see here? It's a close-up of the casing of a vacuum pipe. Photo taken at the Large Heavy Ion National Accelerator (GANIL, CNRS/CEA), in Caen, France.
Title (non-English): Sous vide
Description (non-English): Une partie essentielle de la science derrière les accélérateurs est la recherche de motifs dans les énormes volumes de données. Pour cette photo, j'ai joué avec ce concept : rechercher un motif intéressant dans l'installation complexe remplie de nombreux tuyaux et conduits. Savez-vous ce que vous voyez ici ? C'est un gros plan de la gaine d'un tuyau sous vide. Photo prise au Grand accélérateur national d’ions lourds (GANIL, CNRS/CEA), à Caen, France.
2025 Photowalk Third Place winner - Hugo Pardinilla, CPPM / CNRS
Photographer: © Hugo Pardinilla / CPPM / CNRS
Title: Eye of a Neutrino Telescope
Description: Close-up image of a photomultiplier from the KM3NeT/ORCA experiment (Cubic Kilometer Neutrino Telescope), a neutrino telescope currently being installed in the Mediterranean Sea at a depth of 2,500 meters off the coast of Provence, France. Each underwater optical module of the experiment (a sealed glass sphere) is equipped with 31 of these photomultipliers, which are able to detect extremely faint flashes of light in the deep darkness of the abyss. Each sphere is connected to other similar modules to form the detection lines of the KM3NeT experiment. Arranged vertically and spaced several tens of meters apart, these lines form gigantic neutrino detectors by instrumenting large volumes of water—several million cubic meters—on the seafloor. When a neutrino interacts in the surrounding environment, it produces charged particles, in whose wake a cone of light—the Cherenkov radiation—appears and can be detected by the sensors along the KM3NeT detection lines.
Title (non-English): Œil d'un télescope à neutrinos
Description (non-English): Image en gros plan d'un photomultiplicateur de l'expérience KM3NeT/ORCA (Cubic Kilometer Neutrino Telescope), télescope à neutrinos en cours d'installation en Méditerranée, par 2 500 mètres de profondeur au large des côtes provençales (France). Chaque module optique sous-marin de l'expérience (sphère de verre étanche) est équipé de 31 de ces photomultiplicateurs qui permettent de capter d'infimes éclats de lumière dans le noir profond des abysses. Chaque sphère est reliée à d'autres modules similaires pour former les lignes de détection de l’expérience KM3NeT. Placées verticalement et espacées de plusieurs dizaines de mètres, ces lignes forment de gigantesques détecteurs à neutrino en instrumentant de grands volumes d’eau, plusieurs millions de mètres cubes, au fond des mers. Lorsqu’un neutrino interagit dans l’environnement proche, il produit des particules chargées dans le sillage desquelles un cône de lumière – le rayonnement Tcherenkov – apparaît et peut être détecté par les capteurs des lignes de détection de KM3NeT.
2025 Photowalk Second Place winner - Matteo Monzali, INFN National Laboratories of Legnaro
Photographer: Matteo Monzali
Title: AGATA–PRISMA Setup for nuclear physics experiments
Description: AGATA (Advanced GAmma Tracking Array) photon detector coupled with PRISMA magnetic spectrometer. These instruments, used in low and medium energy nuclear physics experiments, are installed in an experimental room of the TANDEM-ALPI-PIAVE accelerator complex at INFN National Laboratories of Legnaro.
Laboratories Participating in the Global Physics Photowalk 2025:
The Interactions Collaboration
The Interactions Collaboration (Interactions.org) seeks to support the international science of particle physics and to set visible footprints for peaceful collaboration across all borders. The www.interactions.org/photowalk website was developed and is jointly maintained by the Interactions Collaboration, whose members represent the world's particle physics laboratories and institutions in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, with funding provided by science funding agencies from many nations.
Global Physics Photowalk contacts
Brookhaven Lab: Stephanie Kossman (skossman@bnl.gov)
Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe: Motoko Kakubayashi (motoko.kakubayashi@ipmu.jp)
Local Photowalk contacts
Asia
KEK: Public Relations Office (press@kek.jp)
J-PARC: Public Relations Section (web-staff@j-parc.jp)
Europe
CERN: Daniela Antonio (daniela.maria.antonio@cern.ch)
CNRS Nuclear & Particles: Perrine Royole-Degieux (royole@in2p3.fr)
INFN: Martina Galli (martina.galli@presid.infn.it) or Francesca Mazzotta (francesca.mazzotta@presid.infn.it)
North America
Fermilab: Madeleine O'Keefe (mokeefe@fnal.gov)
SNOLAB: Blaire Flynn (Blaire.Flynn@snolab.ca)
SURF: Matt Kapust (mkapust@sanfordlab.org)
TRIUMF: John Biehler (jbiehler@triumf.ca)