/ 2025 / Architecture / Historic

• Prize
  Honorable Mention
• Photographer
  Yvonne Denman, United States
• Date of Photograph
  April 13, 2024
• Studio
  Yvonne Denman Photography
• Website
  https://www.yvonnedenmanphotoart.com/
• Instagram
  https://instagram.com/yvonnedenmanphotoart

I photographed this landscape at the centuries-old Kannon-Ji Temple during the spring Cherry Blossom season. Walking the temple grounds was a profoundly peaceful experience for me - I felt a stillness and serenity I hadn't felt in quite some time. Kannon, also known as Quan Yin, is the Bodhisattva of Compassion and Mercy. Hundreds of statues of Kannon are scattered among the beautiful Sakura trees and walkways; the peacefulness of the place is visceral. Whenever I have a difficult day, I return to this image, my connection to Kannon, to bring me back to when I walked along this peaceful path.

My work explores the landscape and environment as a sensory experience rather than as documentation. I am interested in how color and atmosphere shape perception, allowing a place to be felt, remembered, and internalized. Beauty is not treated as an endpoint, but as a language; one capable of carrying meaning, restraint, and emotional depth. Through color, atmosphere, and softened form, I translate the felt experience of place.

Awards Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3), 2025

Bronze Award, Nature – Domestic Animals
Honorable Mention, Fine Art – Landscape
Honorable Mention, Fine Art – Abstract
Honorable Mention, Nature – Landscape

reFocus Color Awards, 2025 — Bronze Award
Abstract
Honorable Mention, Architecture
Finalist, Minimalism
Finalist, Nature

International Photography Awards (IPA), 2025
Honorable Mention, Travel
Official Selection, Architecture

Berlin Photo Awards, 2025, Finalist, Nature