The photograph
The composition is split on a diagonal. In the lower left, in sharp focus, sits Morimus asper, a longhorn beetle that lives in decaying wood. In the upper right, out of focus and much larger, stands the machinery used to take the old beech trees out of the forest. The setting is the Lepini Mountains of central Italy, in an area that had already been logged.
The Natural History Museum's own reading of the image is that it tells two stories at once: human ecological destruction against which a small creature has no defence, and resilience, because the framing gives the insect as much weight in the picture as the machines. One of the judges, the marine biologist Jennifer Hayes, put it in terms of authority. “The photographer has given M. asper authority in this image,” she said. “It does exactly what a strong photograph should do.”
The competition
Wildlife Photographer of the Year is run by the Natural History Museum in London and is the largest competition of its kind. The 2025 edition drew 60,636 entries from 113 countries and territories. The Young award, which Dominizi won, is judged separately from the adult grand title, which went to Wim van den Heever for Ghost Town Visitor, a brown hyena photographed in the abandoned settlement of Kolmanskop in Namibia.
Entries are judged on the image alone, anonymously, by a panel of photographers, editors and scientists. That matters for a young winner: the jury does not know the age of the person whose picture is in front of it when it makes the shortlist.
His age, and where it comes from
The Natural History Museum's announcement of the winning images does not state Dominizi's age or nationality. The figure of 17 comes from later coverage: the photography site 121Clicks headlined its piece “17-Year-Old Andrea Dominizi Wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year”.
The birth year given on this page is derived from that age and should be read as an approximation rather than a documented fact. His home town, school and the equipment he used are not stated in either source. Nothing here records how long he has been photographing, who taught him, or what he intends to do next.
What the beetle is
Morimus asper is a longhorn beetle of European woodland, a species whose life cycle depends on dead and decaying timber. That dependency is the reason the photograph works as an argument rather than only as a picture: the machinery in the background is not incidental to the beetle's habitat, it is the process that removes it.
Old beech forest of the kind logged in the Lepini Mountains is exactly the habitat such species need, and it takes far longer to replace than to remove. A photograph that places an insect and a harvester in the same frame, at the same apparent scale, makes that relationship visible without a caption.
What is documented, and what is not
Firm: the award, Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025; the title of the image, After the Destruction; the species, Morimus asper; the location, the Lepini Mountains of central Italy, in a previously logged area; the judge's quotation; and the scale of the competition, 60,636 entries from 113 countries.
Not documented in these sources: his exact age or date of birth, his home town, his schooling, his camera and lens, and how the picture came about. No quotation from Dominizi himself appears in the material used here, and nothing records what he has done since the award was announced in October 2025.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| P. Karthik | India | Winner, Doodle 4 Google India 2015, aged 9 | Age 9 |
| Elisabeth Anisimow | United States | Living paintings sold at 11 for $2,500-$5,000 each | Age 11 |
| Carmel Bechler | Israel | Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2023 | Age 16 |
| Andrea Dominizi | Italy | A beetle in the corner of the frame, logging machinery behind it, and a wo | Age 17 |
| Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas | Germany | Winning Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 for After the Destruction
- Subject: Morimus asper, a longhorn beetle, photographed in the Lepini Mountains of central Italy
- Judge Jennifer Hayes: “The photographer has given M. asper authority in this image”
- 60,636 entries from 113 countries and territories in the 2025 competition
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- The Natural History Museum announcement does not state his age or nationality
- His date of birth, home town, school and equipment are not documented
- No direct quotation from Dominizi appears in these sources
- Nothing records what he has done since October 2025
Questions people ask about Andrea Dominizi
How old is Andrea Dominizi?
Photography coverage describes him as 17 at the time of the award. The Natural History Museum's own announcement does not state his age, and no source used here gives a date of birth.
What did Andrea Dominizi win?
Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025, awarded by the Natural History Museum in London.
What does the winning photograph show?
A longhorn beetle, Morimus asper, in sharp focus at the bottom left of the frame, with logging machinery blurred behind it, taken in a logged area of the Lepini Mountains in central Italy.
What is the photograph called?
After the Destruction.
How big is the competition?
The 2025 edition drew 60,636 entries from 113 countries and territories.
Who won the adult grand title in 2025?
Wim van den Heever, for Ghost Town Visitor, a brown hyena photographed in Kolmanskop, Namibia.
Where is Andrea Dominizi now?
Not documented. Neither source used here follows him beyond the 2025 award, and neither quotes him directly.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Andrea’s story?
What species is in Andrea Dominizi's winning photograph?
Where was the image taken?
How many entries did the 2025 competition receive?
Sources
- Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 winning images — Natural History Museum, 2025-10
- 17-Year-Old Andrea Dominizi Wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year: See the Stunning Winning Photo — 121Clicks, 2026-05-02
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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