Physics Photowalk 2025: the ten pictures on the Italian podium

2 October 2025

Sixty-eight competing photographs, twenty-four photographers involved, ten winning pictures: this is how the first phase of the Physics Photowalk ended, the national edition of the wider global photography contest that opens the doors of physics laboratories around the world to photography enthusiasts. For the 2025 competition, numerous research institutions in the United States, Switzerland, Japan, France, and Canada took part, and INFN joined through its National Laboratories of Frascati (LNF), Gran Sasso (LNGS) and Legnaro (LNL).

The photographs of the Italian edition were evaluated by a diverse jury composed of Barbara Bernardini, producer and director of science television programmes, Gabriele Agostini, photographer, Lisa Castelli, INFN researcher from the Florence division and the CHNet network for cultural heritage, and the INFN communications office. Guided by artistic, creative, scientific and narrative criteria, the jury selected the three best photographs from each laboratory, plus one additional image to complete the list of ten.

“Images are often capable of conveying complex subjects such as physics with a depth and immediacy that words cannot match”, commented Barbara Bernardini. “It was truly remarkable to see how places so far removed from everyday life became sources of genuine artistic inspiration for so many photographers; proof that science exerts a transversal and profound fascination on the human mind, and the Photowalk captures its spirit perfectly”.

The ten selected photographs narrate INFN’s research, its community and its environments. They take us inside the COLD (CryOgenic Laboratory for Detectors) laboratory at LNF, let us peek into the steel sphere of Borexino, the solar neutrino experiment active at LNGS from 2007 to 2021, and show us the progress of ANTHEM (AdvaNced Technology for Human centrEd Medicine), the accelerator under construction at LNL.

Now, the three best shots from each laboratory will move on to the next stage, the global competition, where they will be judged by an international panel of experts and by the public vote (details will be announced here shortly). The winning photographs will then be published in the CERN Courier and the international magazine Symmetry.

Below is the gallery of the ten winning photographs from the Italian edition, which will also be featured on Le Scienze website and on INFN’s social media channels.

First place winner in the Italian edition of the Physics Photowalk 2025 First place winner in the Italian edition of the Physics Photowalk 2025

AGATA (Advanced GAmma Tracking Array) photon detector coupled with PRISMA magnetic spectrometer. These instruments, used in low and medium energy nuclear physics experiments, are installed in an experimental room of the TANDEM-ALPI-PIAVE accelerator complex at the INFN National Laboratories of Legnaro.
Photographer: Matteo Monzali

A young researcher at work at the CryOgenic Laboratory for Detectors (COLD) at the INFN National Laboratories of Frascati. The laboratory’s cryostat (in the foreground) can reach -273.14 °C, just a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, allowing scientists to detect extremely weak and rare signals, such as those possibly caused by dark matter in our galaxy.
Photographer: Marco Donghia

Tanks containing technical gases used in the construction of the DarkSide-20k experiment at the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratories: helium is used to perform leak tests on the cryogenic system, while argon is used for the welding required to build the system itself.
Photographer: Antonella Di Paolo

Radiofrequency cavity of the ANTHEM (AdvaNced Technology for Human centrEd Medicine) linear accelerator under construction at the INFN National Laboratories of Legnaro.
Photographer: Antonio Giannicola Colangiulo

Detailed view of the cryostat of the CryOgenic Laboratory for Detectors (COLD) at the INFN National Laboratories of Frascati. It can reach -273.14 °C, just a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, allowing scientists to detect extremely weak and rare signals, such as those possibly caused by dark matter in our galaxy.
Photographer: Alessandro Patrignanelli

Detail of directional light guides consisting of polycarbonate tubes powered by 50W lamps and installed at the INFN Gran Sasso underground Laboratories, used to indicate escape routes in case of emergency. A very useful safety system in an underground environment dedicated to scientific research.
Photographer: Antonio Pigliacelli

ANTHEM (AdvaNced Technology for Human centrEd Medicine) radiofrequency cavity linear accelerator under construction at the INFN National Laboratories of Legnaro.
Photographer: Giuseppe Coccato

External view of the steel sphere, one of the main components of the Borexino experiment, designed to detect neutrinos coming from the Sun. The experiment was active at the INFN Gran Sasso underground Laboratories from 2007 to 2021.
Photographer: Alberto Maiaron

Silicon strip detector from the NA50 experiment at CERN (2004), displayed for years at the INFN National Laboratories of Frascati.
Photographer: Andrea Giuliani

A researcher installs the sample holder in the reaction chamber of the AGATA (Advanced Gamma Tracking Array) photon detector, installed in an experimental room at the TANDEM–ALPI–PIAVE accelerator complex at the INFN National Laboratories of Legnaro.
Photographer: Matteo Monzali

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