August 2026 Photo Contest Theme: Religious Buildings

Photo 1 The lovely little mosque near my place, in the Kannur area of Kerala.

Photo 2 A Hindu temple partly built into an old banyan tree. In a tribal area near Silent Valley in Kerala.

Photo 3 The Chennakeshava Temple, Hoysala-style, in Belur, Karnataka. I wanted to pick a third modest building when I came across this photo—I just loved the quiet devotion of the young Brahmin entering the temple.

Good evening everyone,

Photo 1: São Jorge, Azores

Photo 2: Kłodzko, Poland

Photo 3: Poznań, Poland

Hi, I’m rushing to vote because I’ll have limited connectivity during the voting days.

3 points for Una Milanese photo3: the Kalon Mosque in Bukhara.

2 points for Muriel18 photo1: one of the many Orthodox churches in Mystras.

1 point for Envallis photo3: Hanoi Cathedral by night.

Envallis’s photo for third place was up against 4ecofuel photo1: the Lausikala Chapel in Wallis.

Hello,

Here’s my vote:

Pagaljavab Photo 2: Mosque in Ankara – 3 points

Kate Photo 1: Sainte-Anne Chapel – 2 points

Muriel18 Photo 2: The Duomo of Matera – 1 point

Philippe

Hello,

My votes for August:

3 points: UnaMilanese no.2 (Greece)

2 points: Muriel18 no.2 (Italy)

1 point: UnaMilanese no.1 (Greece)

hgb

I’m pretty indifferent to religious architecture in photos... It’s quite academic.

Ragamuffin 1 🙂🙂🙂 Kate 2: 🙂🙂 Biboun51 3 (Great Mosque of Tirana): 🙂

Hi,

3 points for Attila’s photo #2, for the beautiful monochrome look reminiscent of infrared, giving it an end-of-the-world vibe.

2 points for Philippebrg’s photo #3, for its unusual-colored nagas and contrasts.

1 point for Attila’s photo #1 and its calming atmosphere despite the threatening storm.

Here’s my vote.

Envallis photo 3 – 3 points Ragamuffin photo 2 – 2 points Kate photo 3 – 1 point

Here’s my vote: Kate photo #1 (Mont Saint-Michel Bay) 🙂🙂🙂 Pagaljavab photo #2 (Ankara) 🙂🙂 Kate photo #3 (Notre-Dame de Bayeux) 🙂

Hello,

3 points: Ragamufin - photo 1 - Lucknow 2 points: Attila - photo 1 - El Hierro 1 point: Xcrtn - photo 3 - Samarkand

Here’s my vote:

Muriel 18, photo 1, Greece: A really beautiful low-angle perspective and great effort to capture the entire building! The photo of this monumental structure is also very well done. 🙂🙂🙂

Marien33, photo 2, India: Such an original and surprising little temple in that banyan tree, and I love the luminosity that brings a sense of tranquility and strangeness. 🙂🙂

Attila, photo 2, Spain: A shot and visual rendering that really sets this photo apart from all the other entries. 🙂

The theme was (too) broad and didn’t make voting easy—mea culpa. Here are my picks: Pagaljavab photo 2 Mosque in Ankara 3 points Valmichel86 photo 3 for their intriguing take on Notre-Dame-du-Haut in Ronchamp 2 points Kate photo 1 Breton chapel—love that Breton sky too 1 point

Hello, Here’s my vote: 3 points for Envallis-3 (Vietnam), more elegance than daylight. 2 points for Ragamuffin-2 (China), the cross is the only clue. 1 point for 4ecofuel-1 (Wallis), a chapel with cathedral-like grandeur. Cheers, X

Hello

Great contest—tough to choose! For me, it’ll be:

🙂🙂🙂 Ragamuffin 1 Pura Besakih, Bali. Hard to explain, but this photo really moved me with its raw, authentic feel—the family climbing the steps, the beauty of the site, and the memories it brought back. 🙂🙂 Xrctn 3 Samarkand for the stunning reflection. 🙂 Philippebrg 3 Chiang Mai for its colorful dragons.

Have a great start to the school year, everyone! 😉

Good evening,

Pagaljawab 2: 3 points Ragamuffin 1: 2 points Envallis3: 1 point

LAST DAY TO VOTE until midnight, Paris time

My vote for this month: 3 points: Attila – Photo 1 – Bell tower of Jopira in El Hierro I love the atmosphere, the clouds converging toward the chapel just the way I like. The fact that it’s on a hill really highlights it. I would’ve just tried to frame it more centered for a more symmetrical effect—the clouds and the hill would then draw the eye even more toward the chapel. 2 points: Poste42 – Photo 1 – Podgorica Cathedral I really like this photo—the foreground leading the eye toward the cathedral, and a beautiful sky. Personally, I would’ve improved the framing by centering the path and the pattern in front with a slight low-angle shot. The sky has potential; I’d darken it to make the building stand out more. 1 point: Pagaljavab – Photo 2 – Haci Bayram Mosque in Ankara Great atmosphere—the mosque lights with a sky still nicely colored in matching tones create a beautiful effect. However, it’s a shame the trees in the foreground hide so much of the building. Framing is never easy; you work with what you have on-site. Personally, I would’ve chosen a square or portrait format and centered the mosque. Even with the trees in front, it would’ve been more prominent.

My vote: Pagaljavab, photo 2, the mosque in Ankara at sunset: 3 points, even though for my taste the sky takes up too much space. I’d have preferred a 16/9 ratio.

I’m abstaining on the others. Many don’t appeal to me at all, and I won’t comment on them. Among the ones that do, I can’t decide how to break the tie—no comment on that either.

Impossible, as usual, to edit my message. 😞 😞 😞 I have to post a new message to add to my review of my Pagal choice. I would’ve also removed the big bushy leaves at the top left—they’re too distracting—but otherwise, I think the idea of the mosque slightly hidden in the vegetation is excellent because what makes this photo beautiful are the minarets, so light and graceful, rising into the fiery sky.

Here’s my vote: 3 points: photo 3 by Envallis – Hanoi Cathedral by night

2 points: photo 3 by Marien33 – Chennakeshava Temple in Karnataka

1 point: photo 1 by Kate – Sainte-Anne Chapel

Thanks to everyone for all the shots of religious buildings... a real trip around the world!

Carassou

Hi there

Here’s my vote, but I don’t have time to add comments.

Muriel, photo 1, 3 points Attila, photo 1, 2 points Pagal, photo 2, 1 point

@Tylassin I’m wondering if your megaliths represent a religious building. It’s a genuine question :)

Hi there

3 points for xrctn’s photo No. 2, modernist cathedral in Rio

2 points for Valmichel86’s photo No. 3, Le Corbusier’s Ronchamp chapel

1 point for Marien’s photo 1, small mosque in ... Keralam

Honorable mention for Attila’s photo No. 1, chapel with an ocean view “America” 🏴‍☠️ on El Hierro (Canary Islands) and for Envalis’s photo No. 3, Hanoi Cathedral (Vietnam)

Hello, Where’s the slideshow link, please? julie

Sorry, no slideshow—I don’t know how to make one and didn’t think to ask for help. 🤪

Here’s my last-minute vote,

🙂🙂🙂 Attila photo 1, El Hierro 🙂🙂 Pagaljavab photo 2, Ankara 🙂 Kate photo 1, Mont Saint-Michel Bay

Thanks to everyone for the beautiful photos.

Results Announcement The winner is Pagaljavab, who scored 18 points with their photo of a mosque at sunset in Ankara (photo2). In second place with 14 points is Attila and his church in El Hierro (photo1). And third place goes to Envallis with the nighttime photo of Hanoi Cathedral, which earned 11 points (photo3). I hope I didn’t mess up the calculations—I noticed that Envallis gave 3 points to Ragamuffin’s photo 1, describing Pura Besakih in Bali, which is actually Ragamuffin’s photo 3. So I fixed it... because I know Besakih well. But if there are mistakes with places I’m not familiar with, I might’ve missed them. The votes were spread across 25 photos. The theme was probably too broad, but it still took us on a journey. Thanks to all the participants, and I’m happy to pass the baton to Pagaljavab for September’s contest.

Hi Gaura, and thanks for organizing this contest on religious buildings—it’s a broad topic, but always inspiring for travelers. And thanks to everyone for your beautiful and varied photos.

A quick correction on the title: it’s actually the Melike Hatun Mosque, not the Hacı Bayram Mosque. The confusion comes from the fact that Melike Hatun is located in the Hacı Bayram district... which is also the name of a nearby mosque. 😊

A little more context on this winning photo to clarify some comments made during the voting. It was taken in October 2025 as I was walking down from the Ankara Citadel toward Gençlik Park at sunset. Around a small street corner, the large mosque first revealed itself behind the buildings.

As I continued walking downhill, on a staircase, it reappeared with tree branches in front. From this angle, I couldn’t avoid the trees, so I used them as part of the scene and immediately thought the photo was stunning. Beyond the lucky spontaneous shot, it almost looks like a mosque in the middle of exotic vegetation, even though it’s right in the city center.

Then I took more photos near the mosque.

And finally, from the hill and the park.

With all humility, and knowing I’m not a great photographer, I really love this series because the sunset colors were gorgeous, and the dome and minarets stood out perfectly. It’s also worth mentioning that the lighting really highlights this mosque at night. When the theme was announced, I thought of this series, and upon reviewing them, the one with the branches seemed the most beautiful to me.

Now it’s my turn to come up with a new theme today, which is quite a challenge since it feels like everything has already been covered in the historical list Kate provided. But I promise I’ll manage to launch the new September theme before midnight—something I never thought I’d be able to do!

Well done to you and see you soon on the new topic’s thread! 🙂

Good evening

The winner is Pagaljavab, who scored 18 points with their photo of a mosque at sunset in Ankara (photo2)



In second place with 14 points is Attila and his church in El Hierro (photo1)



And third place goes to Envallis with the nighttime photo of Hanoi Cathedral, which earned 11 points (photo3).

The new theme for September 2026 is here.

Hi Pagal, congratulations on your well-deserved first place! 😊 A photo only captures a single moment, a place—it doesn’t show the approach, like in the case of this mosque, nor the wait, like during a sunrise or sunset. It’s always interesting to see, as you just did, the reasoning behind the choice and why that particular shot. Thanks to you.

Thanks so much, Isabelle! 🙂

I haven’t contributed much to the discussion this month, but I did take the time to look at the photos that came up during the vote. I’ll share my impressions and feelings about some of them here. This is just my opinion, but I find this exercise quite educational.

Attila – Photo 2 – Royal Monastery of Santes Creus I really love this black and white shot—the people add something special. Too bad the tree on the left side partially blocks the building. The ones on the right don’t bother me, though.

Kate – Photo 1 – Chapel of Sainte Anne – Mont Saint Michel Bay Gorgeous sky with soft pink and blue tones, and the framing around the chapel really highlights it. The 16:9 format works perfectly here. I think the deep blue section is still a bit too dominant—I would’ve cropped it in just a little tighter.

Tylassin – Photo 2 – The Grand Mosque of Astana I really like this photo—a beautiful building with great clouds. That said, I’d center the mosque and, most importantly, straighten the perspective. I’d move back a bit to get those two paths symmetrical on either side of the mosque.

Envallis – Photo 3 – Hanoi Cathedral Lovely shot with great lighting. It’s not an easy angle, but it lacks some distance—too bad. I would’ve tried moving slightly to create symmetry and straighten the perspective.

Ragamuffin – Photo 1 – Asafi Mosque The framing with the door gives a nice effect and really highlights the subject. I think this would’ve looked great in black and white. Too bad there are too many people—a single person on the path would’ve been perfect.

Biboun51 – Photo 3 – Grand Mosque of Tirana, Albania The complementary blue and yellow tones, the ground reflecting the mosque’s roofs, and the framing to get the dome inside one of the arches—all the right ingredients are there. However, the horizon is definitely not straight, and we’re missing a person walking through the scene.

Philippebrg – Photo 3 – Wat Ban Den in Chiang Mai Nice photo with the monk walking by—it would’ve been better to wait just a fraction of a second longer so he wasn’t overlapping the base on the right. I would’ve tried framing it a little wider so the dragon on the right isn’t so close to the edge.

Marien33 – Photo 3 – Chennakeshava Temple A fleeting moment captured perfectly as the young Brahmin steps through the doorway—great timing! I would’ve just straightened the photo to make the temple level and create symmetry.