January 2015 Photo Contest: A Monumental World

Many of us longtime members surely remember the little frieze of monuments that used to decorate the top of VF pages.

Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Taj Mahal...

The famous must-see icons of architectural heritage!

Today, I’m inviting you to dig through your archives and share 3 photos of these international stars made of stone, marble, concrete, or steel.

I can already hear some of you protesting that this theme isn’t very original.

Well, it’s up to you to think outside the box...

So the monument doesn’t have to be the original. It could be its twin in Las Vegas, a matchstick replica made by Uncle Bob, a piece of jewelry, a gorgeous snow globe made in China, and so on.

The monument can be photographed from above, below, in the rain, as a reflection...

Deserted or swarming with visitors...

Montages are also allowed! 😉

In short, a classic topic that’ll become original thanks to your creative take.

Now, there are still 3 rules:

- No selfies (But a photo showing people taking selfies in front of a monument is allowed...🤪)

- Once a monument has been posted by someone, no one else can post it again. I don’t want to see the same thing 10 times...😊

- The theme isn’t about the monument’s originality. Please don’t post a photo of a monument known only to you or almost no one...😏

You can post your photos (one per message) until January 21, 2015, at 11:55 PM

Voting will take place from January 22, 2015, at 12:05 AM to January 29, 2015, at 11:55 PM.

During the vote, you’ll choose your 3 favorite photos, awarding 3 points to your top pick, 2 to your second, and 1 to your third.

Please clearly indicate the photographer’s name and the number of the winning photo!

For the rest, I’m using Cocottte’s rules:

The winner is the one with the most points. In case of a tie, the winner will be the one with the most first-place votes, or, if still tied, the most second-place votes. If there’s a perfect tie, the winner will be the one who reached their score first. The winner will then choose a theme for February’s contest and organize it. Ties for any place other than first won’t be broken.

You can vote without participating, participate without voting, or do neither. Slideshow

Finally, here’s the little off-topic link where all your comments and other expressions of good humor are welcome!

Hi Attila, Photo #1:

The Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations is a national museum located in Marseille, France.

photo 1 Petra.

Hello,

Photo #1: Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, the 3rd largest mosque in the world (United Arab Emirates)



🙂

Good evening,

Keflavík (Iceland) – Paris Roundabout (Parísartorg)

First off, congrats on your win! 🙂

photo 1: metal, glass, concrete—familiar to many of us—CDG2E, while waiting for my flight to depart.



(Photo removed at the author’s request.)

Hi there,

Congrats on your win! :)

Photo 1: Empire State Building, NY

Wallace Monument Stirling photo 3

photo 2: entrance to the Capitolio in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a magnificent restored (and still active) site. The articles of the constitution are protected under glass, with beautiful pink marble columns. Visitors to Puerto Rico generally tour the Capitolio.



(Photo removed at the author's request.)

Hi there, Photo No. 2: Pont Alexandre III was inaugurated for the 1900 Paris World’s Fair. It’s a 40-meter-wide metal bridge made up of a single 107-meter arch with three articulation points. It spans the Seine without any intermediate supports and connects the 7th and 8th arrondissements.

Your mountainous photo is off-topic. It’s a natural wonder. You can submit another photo.

Good evening, 🙂

#1. The Statue of Liberty. NY.

Photo number 1 Angkor Wat Temple, Cambodia.

Angkor, powerful yet fragile...

Good evening, Congratulations on this win!

Photo #1: Notre-Dame de Paris

Photo 2: Alcatraz Prison

Congrats on your well-deserved first place! If we're not allowed to submit two photos of the same monument, we'd better hurry...

photo 1: the colorful onion domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow:

Photo 2: Florence’s Duomo under the moonlight

Photo 1

Oops, quick... at Borobudur

photo no. 1: Sunrise at Machu Picchu

photo 3: in New York, St. Patrick's Cathedral reflected in the building next door

yes attila I read too quickly I already deleted it

photo 2 interior of the Fourvière cathedral in Lyon

Sorry alienor, but there’s already an Eiffel Tower photo.

You can submit a different one. 😉

Hello Attila, hello everyone,

Photo No. 1: Amber Fort, Jaipur (Rajasthan) Ganesh Pol

Photo No. 1



One of the Pyramids of Cairo under heavy surveillance.

Photo (scanned) taken in November 2002.

Photo #2 - Montreal, Sainte-Hélène Island: Biosphere

Hi there,

Phew, this month’s rules are really restrictive... and we’ve got to hurry!

So here’s my photo #1 – BELÉM (Lisbon) Monument to the Discoveries + Vasco da Gama Bridge

Photo No. 2 - Guggenheim Museum in BILBAO (just a piece of this contemporary architecture landmark)

Photo 1: Royal Palace Pavilion in PHNOM PENH

Sorry alienor, but there's already an Eiffel Tower.

You can submit another photo. 😉

Too bad! But it was more of a view of the place with the Eiffel Tower in the background; I really wanted the whole scene here! 🙂

Photo 1: The plain of Bagan in Myanmar. Between 2,000 and 3,000 pagodas and stupas, depending on the source. They’re impossible to separate—they form such a unique landscape. A UNESCO World Heritage site. Philippe

Photo 2: In the village of Nyaung-oo in Myanmar, the Shwezigon Pagoda, one of the country's most famous, is said to house a tooth of the Buddha.

Philippe

Happy holidays to everyone.....

Here's a first photo, the beautiful cathedral of Cuenca in Ecuador.

Photo 1:

Photo 3: Second view of the Empire State Building through the Manhattan Bridge

Hello,

Photo No. 1: The bell tower of the small church in Matua, Russia.

photo 1: entrance to the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon:

Photo 2: Palacio Salvo in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Photo 3: The Géode in Paris, Cité des Sciences.

Philippe

ok for photo 3:

Taken from the 9th floor of the Hotel Sevilla in Havana, the top of the monumental Edificio Bacardí, early in the morning.

Photo 3: Interior of Las Lajas Cathedral in Colombia.

Hello, Photo no. 2: the Mori Tower in Tokyo

Photo #1: Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

Photo number 1 (🤪) Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

Every day, they work on the restoration, consolidation, and preservation of the temples. A painstaking task...

Good evening everyone,

Congrats to Attila on his well-deserved win—at least seven or eight photos were really high quality.

Here’s my photo #1: George Washington in profile. This is Mount Rushmore, the famous monument carved between 1925 and 1941 in the Black Hills near Rapid City. If you look closely, you might even spot Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint climbing down the rocks.

Good luck to everyone in the contest.

Hello, Angkor Thom Bayon Photo 1

Bayon Temple Photo 2

Photo 3 South India Madurai Meenakshi Temple One of the gopurams

Hello, Photo #1: Koutoubia Minaret in Marrakech

Photo 1

Miyajima 2012

Photo 2

Marina Bay Sands - Singapore 2014