Liam Man Named Photographer of the Year at 2025 MUSE Photography Awards for Burning Cold

Crowned Photographer of the Year at the 2025 MUSE Photography Awards, Liam Man reveals a frozen world on the edge of fire and silence in his hauntingly beautiful piece, Burning Cold.

Nature photography is where the wild and the wondrous meet the eye of the artist. It captures the quiet poetry of a drifting cloud, the bold silhouette of a lone tree, or the subtle pulse of life in a forest floor. Each frame is a moment of stillness, a brushstroke from the natural world, inviting us to pause and look closer.

In Burning Cold, Liam Man captures a moment where extremes meet. High above Glacier Leones, an annular solar eclipse crowns the sky as two ice climbers stand still against the sweep of wind and snow. The image is striking, light collides with cold, silence meets force, and nature reveals both power and vulnerability. Snow rises in swirling plumes as sunlight touches the ice, and for a single breath, the landscape feels suspended between fire and frost.

It is the result of years of careful preparation and a deep respect for the frozen world. Liam documents not only the scale and danger of the glacier but also the quiet awe it inspires. Burning Cold is a tribute to the endurance of ice, the rhythm of light, and the people whose lives are shaped by the edges of the coldest places on earth.

The significance of this photograph lies in its rare ability to hold both awe and urgency within a single frame. The eclipse becomes a symbol of cycles far beyond our control, while the glacier beneath reminds us of what is vanishing before our eyes. There is beauty here, but also a quiet warning. The composition draws the viewer in with its stark contrasts and extraordinary timing, yet it lingers in the mind because of what it suggests. This is an image that does more than capture a moment; it invites reflection on the fragile balance between nature’s grandeur and its vulnerability.

With its powerful stillness and rare beauty, Burning Cold was recognized as Photography of the Year at the MUSE Photography Awards in the professional category for Nature Photography — Ice and Glacier. This image, both delicate and dramatic, stands as a reminder of how photography can bridge art and urgency.