Global Physics Photowalk 2025: discover the winning photos from French laboratories
Six laboratories of CNRS Nuclear & Particle Physics opened their doors to amateur and professional photographers for an exclusive visit. It was a unique opportunity to step behind the scenes of particle physics research and cast an artistic eye on places usually reserved for scientists. Discover the eighteen photos selected to represent the French laboratories in the international Global Physics Photowalk competition.
In spring 2025, CC-IN2P3 (Lyon), CPPM (Marseille), GANIL (Caen), IPHC (Strasbourg), LAPP (Annecy) and LPSC (Grenoble) organised photographic walks through some of their flagship facilities. Among the sites explored were the data centre’s computer rooms, assembly workshops for detectors of the future High-Luminosity LHC or the KM3NeT experiment, the Cyrcé cyclotron platform, and the new-generation SPIRAL2 linear accelerator.
In total, 44 photographers toured the laboratories over the course of nine visits. As the number of places was deliberately limited, the organisers made sure to select participants with diverse profiles, and chose not to open the competition internally, in order to encourage fresh perspectives. Each photographer then submitted 5 to 10 images of their choice. At each laboratory, a jury, composed of staff members, artists and photographers depending on the site, selected three winning photos. The evaluation criteria combined visual quality, aesthetic and emotional impact, originality, and scientific relevance.
International winners to be announced in December
The photos awarded in France are now heading to the international round of the Photowalk, alongside images from research institutes all over the world. This is the 9ᵗʰ edition of the competition, organised by the Interactions collaboration, a global network of communication professionals working in major high-energy physics laboratories.
In just a few weeks, the public will be invited to vote for their favourite shot. Both the public’s choice and the international jury’s decision will be revealed in December. The winning photos will also be featured in CERN Courier and Symmetry Magazine.
In the meantime, congratulations to the French contest winners, and many thanks to all the photographers for their creativity and curiosity!
Discover the 18 selected photos
Browse the winning photos, all submitted images, as well as behind-the-scenes shots on the CNRS Nuclear & Particle Physics photo library.
Learn more
- Competition rules (in French) : https://www.in2p3.cnrs.fr/fr/photowalk2025
- Press release from the Interactions collaboration, published on 25 February 2025.
- International competition website and photos awarded in previous editions (en anglais)