For many, football is more than a sport – it’s a surge of hope, tension and heartbreak. In this striking image, UK photographer Mike Taylor captures all of it in a single moment. The photograph, titled The Beautiful Game, has just won the Street Photography category at the CEWE Photo Awards.
However, it was actually taken years earlier, during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, in an unknown pub somewhere in the UK during the dramatic 4 – 3 match between France and Argentina.
The image centers on a man poised on the brink of either euphoric celebration or crushing disappointment — it’s impossible to say which. He’s surrounded by others, many wearing tense, anxious expressions that hint at the unfolding drama. Whether these are fans of either team or just punters, they all contribute to the charged atmosphere captured in the frame.
'The Beautiful Game' – Street Photography Category Winner
Speaking to CEWE, Taylor said: “Before this photograph was taken, I’d been struggling for a while to find my voice, so I made some big changes. ‘The Beautiful Game’ was the first image I captured that truly came from those changes, so it’s an image that holds a special place in my heart.”
Nearly eight years later, the image has finally received widespread recognition. Taylor shot it using a Leica Q (Typ 116) with flash, using its fixed 28mm wide-angle focal length and, despite a relatively low 1/60-second shutter speed, the scene is captured crisply, freezing what feels like sudden movement.
Mike has taken a whole series of images of people watching football in pubs. "In terms of actually welcoming a photographer in, landlords have been split 50/50 along the lines of either 'not in a million years mate' or 'come in, sit down and have a pint'," Mike explains.
"In the pubs that have let me in, there’s never been any problem getting a seat, even during a major tournament. Probably because the one I really want is right under the screen with no view of the action. It's the one seat in the house that's free, even on final night. The pub seat version of the losers' ribbons at the FA Cup final."
Established in 2018, the CEWE Photo Awards is the largest photography competition of its kind, with the latest edition attracting over 650,000 entries from more than 150 countries. For winning the Street Photography category, Taylor received a voucher worth €5,000 ($5,830), along with an additional €2,500 ($2,900) to spend on CEWE’s range of photofinishing products.
The overall winner of the CEWE Photo Award 2025 was Hasan Baglar, who captured an image of two dancing praying mantises in Cyprus. He snagged the grand prize of a €10,000 ($11,500) trip, €5,000 ($5,700) in equipment and €2,500 ($2,800) in CEWE photo products. You can see all of the category winners from the CEWE Awards 2025 here.
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