Photographer Mahmoud Khattab and film critic Ellen E. Jones have been named the winners of the 2025 Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards, the UK’s leading prize celebrating excellence in photography and moving image publishing.
The announcement marks the 40th anniversary of the prestigious awards, which spotlight books on photography that make outstanding cultural, historical, and educational contributions to their respective fields.
Khattab takes home the Photography Book Award for The Dog Sat Where We Parted, a self-published meditation on loneliness, service, and survival during his year as an Egyptian army doctor.
Shot in 2017 and blending photography with prose and illustration, the book draws on Khattab’s personal experiences during mandatory national service and is named after a stray dog, Antar, who became a companion during solitary desert marches.
Judge Taous Dahmani praised the work as a "raw, unfiltered glimpse into the everyday realities of conscript life," noting its "emotional resonance" and "urgent voice".
Ellen E. Jones won the Moving Image Book Award for Screen Deep: How Film and TV Can Solve Racism and Save the World, an urgent and accessible call for systemic change through screen storytelling.
Merging memoir, analysis, and interviews, Jones explores how representation in film and TV can combat racism in both personal and political spheres. Judge Isabel Stevens called the book "a rousing call to action" and "a highly astute study of racism across a broad range of popular film and TV".
Khattab and Jones will each receive £5,000 as part of the £10,000 prize fund. To celebrate the winners and the awards’ 40th year, the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation will host events in autumn 2025: a photography program at the V&A South Kensington and a moving image event at the Barbican, with further details to be announced.
The 2025 awards attracted over 200 submissions, reflecting a wide range of themes including cultural hybridity, personal and political identity, intergenerational storytelling, and archive preservation. Shortlists were announced earlier this month, following longlist showcases at Photo London and Offprint London in May.
Since its founding in 1985, the Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards have honored major figures in visual culture, including Isaac Julien, Susan Meiselas, and Edward Burtynsky. This year’s judging panels included leading curators, critics, and scholars from institutions such as Tate, the British Film Institute, and international film festivals.
A full list of shortlisted and long-listed entries can be found on the official awards website.
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