Architecture photography isn’t just about buildings anymore—it’s about feeling. And the 2025 Chromatic Awards Architecture winners prove exactly that. This year’s selected images go beyond clean lines and iconic structures. They dive into mood, memory, weather, human presence, and the strange poetry that happens when light hits concrete just right.
Taking 1st Place, Deryk Baumgärtner delivers pure cinematic drama with Petit Lighthouse. Shot at blue hour at Phare du Petit Minou in Brittany, the image feels like a scene from a mystery film. Fog rolls in, rain thickens the air, and the lighthouse beam slices through the gloom like a quiet guardian. The decision to briefly send a drone into uncertain weather paid off—what we get is eerie, magical, and unforgettable.
In 2nd Place, Gary Ng captures a fleeting, almost meditative moment in Concrete Memento. Inside Uji Station in Kyoto, brutalist architecture becomes a stage where sunlight performs. A single passerby ascends the stairs, briefly spotlighted by light pouring through raw concrete openings. It’s travel, transit, and humanity distilled into one quiet frame.
3rd Place goes to Chaussee for Monument Valley, a medium-format film photograph that bends time. Reflected in a gift shop window, the ancient landscape collides with modern commerce. The glass becomes both mirror and boundary—a metaphor for photography itself, revealing while distancing.
Together, these 23 award-winning images show why the Chromatic Awards matter. Open to professionals and amateurs alike, the competition celebrates color, vision, and storytelling—while helping photographers around the world turn passion into possibility.
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#1. 1st Place Winner: "Petit Lighthouse" by Deryk Baumgärtner, Germany
"Phare du Petit Minou is the name of a lighthouse built in 1848 west of the city of Brest in the Finistère department in Brittany. The picture was taken at blue hour, when suddenly the fog and the onset of rain dramatically intensified the mood. The light from the lighthouse reflected in the fog bank, creating a magical and eerie lighting situation. Despite concerns about the rain, that was reason enough to let the drone fly up briefly and capture the mood on sensor."
#2. 2nd Place Winner: "Concrete Memento" by Gary Ng, Hong Kong
"This image shows moments in the concrete station of Uji in Kyoto, Japan, where sunlight funnels through the brutalist openings and casts a momentary spotlight on to the solitary passerby ascending on the staircase. Through this image, the audience bring home visual souvenirs of the fleeting interplay between light, humans from all walks of life and a space for travel and commute."
#3. 3rd Place Winner: "Monument Valley" by l. chaussee, United States
"Taken on a medium format film camera, this photograph captures the fleeting reflection of Monument Valley in the window of a gift shop, where the ancient landscape and modern façade converge within a single frame that unites time and place. The interplay of reflection and transparency transforms the window into both boundary and mirror, mediating the relationship between commerce and sacred land. The window becomes a metaphor for photography itself, a surface that both reveals and distances, framing the enduring presence of place within the passing moment of seeing."
Honorable Mentions
#4. "Beach Houses" by Weber Guenther, Germany
"I photographed this image in Italy. I was interested in the simple structures and geometry of the beach houses. So I enhanced the abstraction and accented the colored surfaces. This emphasizes the harmony and contrast of the colors, and reveals the character of the houses. I am a german photographer, living and working in munich."
#5. "Blue, White and Red" by Zili Zhang, United States
"Before traveling to Greece, I sought out Blue and White, the national colors. In Santorini, I found them in abundance. The Cycladic tradition of white forms endures in its architecture, blending with the vast blue. Embracing minimalism, I explored how shapes connect. Each photo reflects the joy of discovery. I waited another 15 minutes after this photo was taken, for the clouds to come back for a second shot. They didn’t."
#6. "Chroma Abyss" by Jiyau Xuan, China
"Standing on a subway platform, I was mesmerized. The station lights reflected on the wet tracks, creating a river of glowing red. It wasn’t just a railway; it was a ‘Chroma Abyss,’ a hypnotic, man-made canyon of light, pulling my gaze involuntarily into its infinite, cybernetic heart."
#7. "Ensemble Chauderon" by Paulo dos Santos Sousa, Portugal
"The façade of the Ensemble Chauderon in Lausanne stands as a striking example of 1970s urban architecture. As the sun sets over the city, the reflections seem to animate the façade, highlighting the modular grid of windows. The Ensemble Chauderon becomes both a mirror and a monument—capturing the atmosphere of Lausanne while asserting its modern identity within the cityscape."
#8. "Forest of Impermanence" by Gary Ng, Hong Kong
"The image captures the changing light patterns covering the vertical wooden columns of The Grand Ring of World Expo Osaka 2025 and the fleeting strangers from all walks of life under the gigantic forest-like architecture. It demonstrates the beauty of impermanence and life from Japanese culture through the interplay of light and shadow, geometric composition and interactions between humans and architecture of enormous scale."
#9. "House on the Hill" by André Vroon, New Zealand
"A simple, rectangular house catches the sun on an elevated site set in native coastal scrub or "fynbos" near Betty’s Bay, South Africa as the foothills of the Kogelberg range looms steeply behind it. It is easy to identify with the romantic notion of a private little house surrounded by the grandeur of nature. A reminder of how we all once lived in our distant past, even though our dwellings have a lot more creature comforts now of course. We yearn to be in nature, to live surrounded by it, albeit with Wi-fi! Architecture doesn’t have to be grand to be emotionally impactful in a landscape like this, quite the opposite, if in fact we want to immerse ourselves in the natural world."
#10. "Just Relax" by Yevhen Kostiuk, Ukraine
"My name is Yevhen Kostiuk, and I am a Ukrainian award-winning photographer from Kharkiv. My passion for photography began a long time ago, but I seriously started pursuing it only in the last few years. A significant part of my work is devoted to aerial photography as a way to see our world from a different perspective. Each drone takeoff is like a step into a parallel world where familiar objects look completely different."
#11. "Monte Rosa Hut" by Paulo dos Santos Sousa, Portugal
"An aerial view of the Monte Rosa Hut reveals its futuristic, angular structure perched on a rocky outcrop high in the Alps. Bathed in the soft sunset light, the hut gleams like a metallic beacon against the rugged terrain. To the right, the vast expanse of the Gorner Glacier stretches out in shimmering, icy folds. The scene is both serene and dramatic—a perfect harmony of architecture and alpine wilderness."
#12. "Music Pop Center" by Didi Hsu, Taiwan
"The Pop Music Center is the only multifunctional complex park in northern Taiwan that focuses on pop music. It has cross-era significance and importance and will be an important development strategy for Taiwan’s pop music and cultural industries."
#13. "No Lifeguard" by Seth Mayer, United States
"Such a small building, yet so easily identifiable and powerful in its meaning as it sits on the California coast."
#14. "Pale Composition" by Haruka Suzuki, Japan
"In the midst of the city’s noise, there are moments when I suddenly feel a quietness. In those moments, I sense myself becoming part of that still world—and I quietly capture its presence through the lens."
#15. "Punch a hole in the sky" by Yuan Ji, China
"The "Shine Hat," an EXPO event hall for the Osaka Kansai World Expo, was designed by the renowned Japanese architect Toyo Ito. This building serves as a large performance hall for hosting events such as the opening and closing ceremonies of the World Expo. Through precise calculations of the light reflection effect on the roof, the golden circular metal panels are arranged at a specific angle, creating the illusion of a "hole in the sky" from the human perspective."
#16. "Rainbow" by Ru Fang Dong, Taiwan
"The colorful building walls bring a bright visual picture, as if covered with a rainbow coat, full of vitality."
#17. "Serres Royale" by Bernhard Hartmann, Germany
"The Royal Gardens in Bruxelles offer only one nocturne visit per year."
#18. "Space-time travel" by Ann Banasiak, Poland
"This is the moment when you sit in the cockpit of your spaceship taking off from a space station high in orbit. Your runaway lies before you. Your ship begins to fly and accelerate. You see the fabric of spacetime warp before your eyes. It bends and twists more as your engine generates enough power to make you fly through intergalactic spacetime faster than the speed of light."
#19. "Sunny Side-Up" by Gary Ng, Hong Kong
"This image captures a stranger stride-by against the dynamic white facade of Paradise City in Seoul, Korea at sunset hours when the building interiors are lit up in a bright yolk-yellow. The sunny side-up egg colour combinations could only be seen in a short time interval before the skies go dark with the facade, and the lifting-up of the grid-covered veil together with radiating lines towards the left adds energy and fun to the lively composition."
#20. "The Timmelsjoch Experience" by Bernhard Hartmann, Germany
"The Timmelsjoch Experience between Italy and Austria consists of some remarkable modern architectual monuments containing infos and fascinating vistas."
#21. "The Timmelsjoch Experience Passmuseum" by Bernhard Hartmann, Germany
"The Timmelsjoch Passmuseum is a spectacular modern piece aof architecture between the border from Italy and Austria."
#22. "Vertigo towers" by Floriana Avellino, Italy
"There are some views in modern metropolises that, when enveloped in fog and shot from below, heighten the feeling of being at the threshold of another dimension. We are thus captivated by the lines and unusual perspectives, feeling ourselves drawn into the fog’s ethereal embrace."
#23. "Wat Arunratchawararam" by Didi Hsu, Taiwan
"Wat Arun is a mysterious and historical temple."
In Summary
What are the Chromatic Awards?
- The Chromatic Awards are an international competition celebrating excellence in color photography across multiple genres.
Who won Architecture Photographer awards in 2025?
- Top winners include Deryk Baumgärtner (1st), Gary Ng (2nd), and Chaussee (3rd).
What makes these architecture photos special?
- They focus on mood, light, and storytelling—not just buildings.
Are the Chromatic Awards open to amateurs?
- Yes, the competition welcomes both professional and amateur photographers worldwide.
Why are these awards important?
- They promote global talent, reward creativity, and help photographers grow their careers.
