"An old woman pours herself tea - but it's so much more than just that. The expression on her crevassed face is beautiful, it moved me to tears" – founder of world's biggest food photography awards on top prize-winning photo

A woman in a headscarf pouring tea at a table with bread, grapes, and a pitcher in a sunlit dining room with red chairs and a fruit painting.

The World Food Photography Awards sponsored by Tenderstem® Bimi® Broccolini has revealed the competition's overall winner – a prestigious honor going to British video journalist/photographer Jo Kearney for an image showing a quiet moment of a woman eating in the canteen of the Soviet-era Sanatorium – and it speaks volumes.

The scene was shot at the Kjoka Obi Garm Sanatorium in the mountains of Tajikistan. It's a colossal concrete complex built on radon-rich hot springs and is one of the few places that is still in operation.