Therese Iknoian wins Best in Show in the IFWTWA 2025 Photo Contest

Therese Iknoian, co-owner of HITravelTales.com, won Best in Show in the IFWTWA 2025 Photo Contest with an “environmental portrait” of a Jamaican drummer at a festival in Berlin, Germany.

Of the contest’s five-year history, Therese has won Best in Show twice (2021 and 2025) and HI Travel Tales co-owner Michael Hodgson has won twice (2023 and 2024).

“This award meant a lot because the portrait of this drummer is close to my own heart — the way I caught his direct gaze in one single shot that day in the middle of the street festival hubbub,” Therese said. An environmental portrait is a photo of one or more persons that is not posed.

“Being able to demonstrate excellence in photographic storytelling along with our storytelling in words is what HI Travel Tales is all about,” she added. “This once again shows the quality of our photojournalistic work.”

Therese Iknoian also earned first and second place in the Night Photography category: Nabbing the top prize was a photo at moonset of a twisted Bristlecone Pine at the summit of Mount Washington in Great Basin National Park. The tree in the photo called “Moonset Love” has a gap in its trunk that resembles a heart. In second place, was her light-painted photo of stars circling above old buildings and cacti in Nelson Ghost Town called “Starry Starry Church.”

The HI Travel Tales team has won multiple medals in every IFWTWA photo competition since Therese and Michael began entering in the first show in 2021. Michael and Therese continue to earn accolades, medals, and awards in many competitions, including Therese being named “Photographer of the Year” in 2024 by the North American Travel Journalists Association. This continues to demonstrate that the duo behind HITravelTales.com as well as HITravelTalesPhotography.com and the HITravelTales Substack newsletter ranks among the best travel journalists and photographers in the country.

Read more about the Best in Show photo and how Therese captured the image in their HI Travel Tales newsletter, where you are invited to subscribe for free to stay up to date on their travel and photography adventures.

Iknoian and Hodgson, both longtime journalists and photographers, have run HI Travel Tales for about a decade. They have been to all seven continents, 49 countries, and all 50 states. They focus on immersive storytelling in photos and words that connect readers with the culture, food, history, people, and natural wonders of a destination, with the hope that their discoveries will inspire others to connect with the world.

You can also see more of their photography at ThereseIknoian.com and MichaelHodgsonphoto.com.

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