/ 2025 / Architecture / Cityscape

• Prize
  Honorable Mention
• Photographer
  Yuanfeng Mao, United States
• Date of Photograph
  2025 July
• Instagram
  https://www.instagram.com/myf123asd/

Once in a year, at the exact moment of sunset, the sun, viewing angle, and One World Trade Center aligned perfectly in a straight line. This rare alignment produced a symmetrical vertical flare — with three distinct bursts of light stacked from top to base: a small glint above, a powerful central blaze, and a soft glow below.

I am Yuanfeng, a photographer based in New York and New Jersey. Since 2023, I have been exploring architecture and cityscapes through my lens, focusing on geometry, light, and the rhythm of urban forms. I often explore the color and emotion of the cityscape during golden hour and blue hour, and I also chase moon alignments that bring a poetic dimension to the urban skyline. My work seeks to capture the dialogue between structure, atmosphere, and celestial moments.

Awards 2025 · International Photography Awards (IPA) · 1st Place, Cityscape — City Reborn at Golden Hour

2025 · European Photography Awards (EPA) · Architecture Category Winner of the Year — Once on the Edge

2025 · Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3) · 3rd Place, Cityscape — Empire in the Last Light

2025 · Budapest International Photo Awards (BIFA) · 1rd Place, Historical Architecture — Sanctuary in Stone

2025 · Tokyo International Photo Awards (TIFA) · 1rd Place, Cityscape — Empire in the Last Light