/ 2026 / Architecture / Historic

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

In the first quiet hours of morning at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, before visitors entered the vast marble court, a lone custodian crossed beneath the rhythm of arches, domes, gold capitals and reflected stone. The absence of crowds allows the architecture to breathe, revealing its geometry, repetition and calm authority, while the small human figure becomes the silent center of the image — a reminder that historic sacred spaces are not only admired, but also cared for every day by unseen hands.

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