Every autumn, Gem-A opens submissions for the Photographer of the Year competition, a now well-established annual event celebrating the finest photomicrographs produced over the previous twelve months. The competition is open not only to students, alumni, and members of the Association, but also to colleagues and professionals from across the global gem and jewelry community. The result is a curated selection of images that reveal the extraordinary universe of gemmological photography through the eyes of both professional gemmologists and passionate enthusiasts.
Once again, the 2025 edition was dedicated to the inner landscapes and hidden worlds of gemstones.
The submitted photomicrographs highlighted information concealed within gem materials and revealed through microscopic observation: inclusions, internal features, patterns, and unusual discoveries. As in previous editions, the first-place winner received a one-year Gem-A membership and a voucher for Gem-A Instruments; in addition, the winning image was featured on the cover of the Winter 2025 issue of Gems&Jewellery magazine.
Alongside the five main prizes, the competition also included a People’s Choice Award, determined by public voting. The most-voted image was awarded together with the first-place winner and two Honorable Mentions, selected by a jury of three judges, including Liviano Soprani, winner of the 2024 edition with his photomicrograph of a black hematite “rose” in a 31.15 ct colorless quartz cabochon from the State of Bahia, Brazil.
People’s Choice Award: Pyrite inclusion by Giovanni Pace
Giovanni Pace was proclaimed the winner of this year’s Facebook public vote thanks to his striking photomicrograph depicting a pyrite inclusion within a 14.35 ct hyaline quartz cabochon. The material originates from the State of Bahia, Brazil.
The photomicrograph was produced from a stack of 18 images at 90× magnification (field of view 1.60 mm), captured under darkfield illumination using fiber-optic lighting and polarized light. To enhance microscopic details, a blue filter was placed between the darkfield light source and the specimen, then digitally removed during post-processing in Photoshop.
First Place: Inclusions in a Russian emerald by Keith Chow
The winner of the 2025 edition is Keith Chow, who impressed the jury with an outstanding image of fine, film-like fluid inclusions in a Russian emerald (field of view 3.5 mm). The photomicrograph, created using focus stacking, was captured with a Leica S9D microscope paired with a Canon EOS RP, employing darkfield and fiber-optic illumination with polarizers.
One of the competition judges, Liviano Soprani, commented: «Keith Chow (who also took third place) demonstrates exceptional control of focus stacking, carefully calibrating the depth of field to keep the surface of the film perfectly sharp while gradually blurring the peripheral areas, thereby enhancing the three-dimensional character of the inclusion system. The image, subjected only to minimal digital processing limited to colour balance, contrast and sharpness adjustments, maintains a high degree of visual fidelity and represents a significant contribution to the photomicrographic documentation of principal inclusion systems in emeralds of Russian origin».
Sammantha Maclachlan, also a member of the jury, added: «When viewed under crossed polarising filters, the interference colours truly come alive, revealing vivid and beautifully saturated rainbow hues that immediately draw the viewer’s eye. The careful composition further strengthens the image, creating a balanced and visually engaging result that is both gemmologically informative and aesthetically pleasing».
Second Place: The Little Fish by Francesco Protopapas
Second place was awarded to Francesco Protopapas for the photomicrograph entitled The Little Fish. The image shows a fully melted crystal within a natural beryllium-treated sapphire from Thailand (field of view 1.2 mm). Protopapas explains that the material which flowed into a fracture took on almost arboreal forms; within the blue background, the inclusion appeared like a tiny fish swimming in water.
Judge Liviano Soprani commented: «“The Little Fish” stands out as a remarkable example of technical mastery and precise control of the photomicrographic process. The final image is a composite of 183 individual frames, captured through micrometric focus advancement and subsequently merged via stacking — a process that requires exceptional precision and mechanical stability. From both an aesthetic and scientific perspective, the composition is well-balanced.
Particularly noteworthy is Mr Protopapas’s lighting choice: a modified LED source originating from a sewing machine, equipped with a diffusing filter. This seemingly simple solution reveals a profound understanding of material optical properties and the creative potential of unconventional light sources, providing the image with soft, evenly distributed illumination».
For Francesco Protopapas, 2025 has been a year rich in recognition. He had already won the photography contest organized in 2025 by IGR – Italian Gemological Review, “The Soul of Precious Stones: From Earth to Light”, thanks to another fish-shaped inclusion, Il pesce luna (“The Moonfish”).
Third Place: Dumortierite crystals by Keith Chow
Keith Chow also claimed third place with a photomicrograph of dumortierite crystals in quartzite.
«This is an image with striking visual and compositional impact, in which the distribution of hues and modulation of light intensity impart an almost painterly quality», declared judge Liviano Soprani, adding that «the clarity and vibrancy of the interference colours indicate meticulous specimen positioning and precise control over the illumination conditions within the microscope».
Indeed, dumortierite — a borosilicate mineral commonly occurring as blue fibrous aggregates within quartzite — typically appears chromatically uniform under standard illumination. When observed under crossed polarizers, however, the inclusion reveals distinct and vivid interference colors, highlighting its anisotropic optical behavior.
Fourth Place: The Penguin by Dmitry Petrochenkov
Fourth place was awarded to Dmitry Petrochenkov for his photomicrograph The Penguin (field of view 4 mm), which highlights negative crystals containing a mobile oil and gas bubble that moves with sample inclination, within quartz from Pakistan. The image reveals an irregularly shaped cavity whose outline strikingly resembles a small penguin. The photograph is correctly oriented, allowing the viewer to fully appreciate both the cavity’s form and the clarity of the host quartz.
Fifth Place: Boulder opal by Randy Lightfoot
Fifth place went to Randy Lightfoot for a photomicrograph of an 11.82 ct boulder opal, captured using oblique fiber-optic lighting (field of view approximately 2.50 mm). According to Sammantha Maclachlan, the image beautifully captures the play-of-color often present in this material: «The use of stacking is particularly effective, allowing us to peer deep into the opal and appreciate the layered complexity and internal structure that give the stone its unique visual character».
