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35 Examples Of Beautiful City Photography
More people across the world are living in cities than ever before. Cities are both places of historical significance and the engines of the world’s economy. They’re also home to some of the greatest treasures and buildings that mankind has created. Cities are wonderful subjects for photography. They offer a variety of subjects suitable for both straight and HDR photography, including architectural, street and night photography. The structure, angles and texture you get with architectural photography make it unique and very engaging.
From the energy of Cairo to the canals of Venice, Smashing Magazine celebrates the diversity of the world’s cities by presenting you 35 beautiful city photos. Be sure to check out the portfolios of the talented photographers whose work you see here. We’ve also included some useful links at the bottom of the article.
You may be interested in the following related posts:
35 Beautiful City Photos
Cairo, Egypt
Rapanui, Chile
Paris, France
Singapore
Rome, Italy
Machu Picchu, Peru
Lisbon, Portugal
Badalin, China
Bastide du Village de Monpazier, Périgord, Dordogne, France
Saint Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow, Russia
Valencia, Spain
Reykjavik, Iceland
Oia, Greece
Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem
Paris, France
Berlin, Germany
Barcelona, Spain
Carrbridge, UK
London, UK
Pisa, Italy
Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
Marrakech, Morocco
Zugspitze, Germany / Austria
New York City, US
Hamburg, Germany
Barcelona, Spain
Moscow, Russia
Madrid, Spain
Tokyo, Japan
The Great Mosque, Makkah, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Newcastle, UK
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt
Pisa, Italy
Pura Luhur Uluwatu Temple, Bali
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
New York City, United States
Last Click
Lilla Torget (Little Square) Malmo, Sweden
Sources and Resources
- Wired.com Photo Contest: Cities
See the entrants to Wired.com’s city photo contest. - ePhotoZine – Architecture, a beginner’s guide
A beginner’s guide to architectural photography. - Universe Today
Photos of cities from space. - What Are Architectural Landscape Photos?
A guide to the history of architectural landscape photography. - Metro Arts and Architecture
A guide to the 50 most beautiful subway systems in the world. - Flickr Favorite City and Street Photographers
- Architectural Photography Inspiration
About the authors
Steven Snell is a Web designer and freelance blogger who can be found on his own blogs: Vandelay Website Design and DesignM.ag.
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Andrew Gibson is a photographer and writer. He runs Magical Places Fine Art, an online photography magazine and another great photography resource.
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Loading ...- 121 Comments
- 1
- 2February 1st, 2009 8:15 pm
This is awesome!!!
- 3February 1st, 2009 8:19 pm
An Amazing set of pics luved them all
- 4February 1st, 2009 8:21 pm
Nice Collection Andrew…… Some of them are really stunning. Thanks for sharing.
DKumar M.
- 5February 1st, 2009 8:29 pm
breath taking pictures. I like them a lot. :D
- 6February 1st, 2009 8:29 pm
Those are certainly beautiful photos. I wish I could take photos like that! I have a nice camera, but I have the feeling it’s not the camera, its the photographer!
- 7February 1st, 2009 8:30 pm
These are amazing. Smashing magazine makes me want to quit my job because it’s so bland! I’ve been to a lot of these sites in Europe however I couldn’t capture them anywhere as beautiful as this.
- 8February 1st, 2009 9:15 pm
wau! thanks–Nice collection…
- 9February 1st, 2009 9:38 pm
Superb. My wish list this year to have a Digital SLR. And take up photographing courses.
- 10February 1st, 2009 9:50 pm
Nice pictures, but about seven of them are landscape shots, not city shots.
- 11February 1st, 2009 10:12 pm
I feel Greece & Russia are two most beautiful countries under the sun, all there city images i have seen so far looks amazing!
Great collection!
- 12February 1st, 2009 10:12 pm
some great photographs in there, I wish some people could leave HDR pictures alone though
- 13February 1st, 2009 11:04 pm
so nice… All cities.. makes me wanna travel more.. hahhaa
- 14February 1st, 2009 11:08 pm
Great Collection Andrew…… all of them are really stunning, specially The Great Mosque, Makkah . Thanks for sharing.
- 15February 1st, 2009 11:13 pm
Great list as always. :)
- 16February 1st, 2009 11:23 pm
Amzing
- 17February 1st, 2009 11:30 pm
amazing
- 18February 1st, 2009 11:36 pm
Fantastic photos. One small note, the country name is missing in the Jerusalem shot.
- 19February 2nd, 2009 12:27 am
The photo’s are Ok. A lot of them are spectacular a few are beautiful and too many are just buildings and too few are city’s. Thus I think your title is misleading and not correct. They are spectacular photo’s of buildings.
- 20February 2nd, 2009 12:31 am
Great photos,
thank you - 21February 2nd, 2009 1:01 am
Awesome. Thanks for sharing.
- 22February 2nd, 2009 1:29 am
Absolutely amazing set of photos here. The one of the leaning tower of Pisa was stunning capture with amazing color and perspective.
- 23February 2nd, 2009 2:57 am
this is amazing photography
i like it
- 24February 2nd, 2009 3:19 am
Whooh, great collection. I am inspired to get out in my own city some more. Thanks for the inspiration.
- 25February 2nd, 2009 3:54 am
Yikes!! I am the first photo :)
- 26February 2nd, 2009 4:38 am
If you’re a fan of HDR images and mega colour corrections in post-processing, then some of these shots are nice. I wouldn’t say they’re impressive shots, since its very easy to HDR and colour correct any picture to make them look good.
But this is coming from a person who doesn’t like the whole fake looking thing. I think this set is a good example of skill being determined by the equipment, and not by the photographer, which I think photography is really about.
However the Pisa, New York, Morocco and China entries deserve special mention. Really like those shots.
- 27February 2nd, 2009 4:53 am
@Arri Kafoor: my photo isn’t HDRed, BTW
- 28February 2nd, 2009 5:21 am
Very Nice collection
Here is one of New Orleans I really like
http://www.zooomr.com/photos/alexoz/6686052/ - 29February 2nd, 2009 6:06 am
realy nice!
- 30February 2nd, 2009 6:22 am
I am the photographer of the ‘Tour Eiffel”
I am proud and honored to be on your site which is for me one of the best dedicated to creativity.
Thanks a lot
Gaston Batistini - 31February 2nd, 2009 6:25 am
stunning !
- 32February 2nd, 2009 6:37 am
Didn’t know that Zugspitze was a city, always thought it was a mountain…..
- 33February 2nd, 2009 9:43 am
Under every photo you wrote the city name then comma then the country name.
For example: “New York City, United States”
So, what reason you have to not write “Jerusalem, Israel”? but just “Jerusalem”..?
It’s start with this little antisemitism issues and ends with 6,000,000 Jews murders by Nazis in holocaust. - 34February 2nd, 2009 9:45 am
Mosques are beautiful places. Nice collection.
- 35February 2nd, 2009 9:49 am
@Spongebob : they probably left it out as not to offend anyone, those pro-Palestine, or pro-Israel. The problem is that you are apparently offended by anything that isn’t pro-Israel.
Extra kudos to Smashing Magazine for being politically correct.
- 36February 2nd, 2009 9:50 am
Makes me want to travel. Some really beautiful photos/places–china, greece, sweden, peru and japan.
- 37February 2nd, 2009 9:55 am
@Spongebob: yup, thanks for the correction. The title should’ve been “Jerusalem, Palestine”.
- 38February 2nd, 2009 9:56 am
some of these are really stunning… but… some of them are altered to the point where the super-saturated colors and highlights are more distracting than actually adding to the image. i am all for editing photos, and i do like some hdr photography, but when it starts to look too “fakey” i feel it sometimes is more about showing off the photographer than it is about showing off the actual place.
- 39February 2nd, 2009 9:59 am
@Asrar : The country called “Israel”, not “Palestine”. I live in Argentina and don’t have any opinion in this issues of middle east, but the fact is that this place is in Israel, no doubt…
So I can’t see how writing “Israel” can offend anyone, all pro-Palestine will agree it still Israel, nobody thinks that there is anywhere country called “Palestine”…
So not writing “Israel” is the thing that can make peoples offend. If it’s good enough for the UN and most of the world mark Jerusalem as part of Israel, it shall be enough for this post. - 40February 2nd, 2009 10:37 am
istanbul?
- 41February 2nd, 2009 10:49 am
Fantastic photoshopping. Personally, I like more realistic photos.
- 42February 2nd, 2009 11:09 am
These are amazing. Very nice!
- 43February 2nd, 2009 11:26 am
Thanks for posting my New York and Rotterdam photo’s.
- 44February 2nd, 2009 11:42 am
beautiful pictures!
- 45February 2nd, 2009 11:56 am
@Spongebob : I see your point. But to mention Nazis and the holocaust was unnecessary.
- 46February 2nd, 2009 1:02 pm
Chile!
- 47February 2nd, 2009 2:07 pm
Morocco :)
- 48February 2nd, 2009 2:17 pm
Nice shots but more city shots and not landmark shots was what I was hoping to see.
- 49February 2nd, 2009 3:45 pm
amazing collection! my favourite from budapest: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25690941@N03/3244461940/in/set-72157613194343139/
- 50February 2nd, 2009 5:05 pm
You need some photos of dubai! Some insane architecture there… i thought i saw some here http://flickr.com/photos/pallian
- 51February 2nd, 2009 5:06 pm
oops.. wrong link… here’s the right one: http://flickr.com/photos/danielcheong/2888296660/
- 52February 2nd, 2009 6:48 pm
Thanks for the great collection and the Haram al-Sharif Mosque in Palestine.
- 53February 2nd, 2009 8:25 pm
ridiculously awesome!
i can’t wait until my photography gets there.
- 54February 3rd, 2009 12:43 am
Great Selection and truly fab shots!! My favs in flickr just got a big update!!!! Sad my Rome shot still didn’t make there, but who knows… …maybe in City Photography 2.0 I’ll do it!!?? ^_^
- 55February 3rd, 2009 5:32 am
excelente galeria.
- 56February 3rd, 2009 6:07 am
wonderful !!!!!
loved the Marrakech alley pic !! but it still need some extra effects !!!!!
coool - 57February 3rd, 2009 6:18 am
@Spongebob : you shouldn’t have started the Antisemitisme issue here @ Smashing Mag !! there is CNN.com ; BBC.com …..soo mlany forums where you can start this discusssion ; BUT NOT @ SM !!
as a loyal visitor i felt very offenced by your comment ! and the 6 mill “BURNED” jewish by NAZIS , is not a joy in your hands , so you can use it whenever you want ! and to take someone else’s land , and TO BURN 1305 VICITM WITH A BRAND NEW WEAPON CALLED THE WHITE PHOSPHORUS BOMBS , its a new technology of makin’ easy and fast HOLOCUSTS !!anyways.. the title should’ve been “Al Qu’uds – Palestine” ( because Jerusalem is an intruding word)
- 58February 3rd, 2009 7:17 am
pourquoi ne pas avoir indiqué ISRAËL a coté de JÉRUSALEM ???
la capitale d’Israël est Jérusalem et Jérusalem est situe en Israël…. comme tout le monde le sait.
en oubliant de mettre Israël a cote de Jérusalem et en montrant uniquement une mosquée pour représenter Jérusalem, on joue le jeu des musulmans, qui souhaitent prendre la terre des juifs pour en faire une terre musulmane. c’est le souhait des turcs, des iraniens, des pakistanais, des algériens… des peuples qui n’ont rien en commun si ce n’est une foi commune, l’islam, et le souhait de détruire les juifs et ISRAËL. - 59February 3rd, 2009 7:22 am
les musulmans sont des voleurs, c’est bien connus. ils ont construits leur mosquée a l’emplacement du lieu le plus saint des juifs, Le Temple de Jérusalem détruit par les romains. il faudrait déplacer (détruire ?) cette mosquée et reconstruire le Temple juif dont il ne reste que le mur occidental (mur des lamentations). Bientôt avec l’aide de Dieu.
a bon entendeur…… - 60February 3rd, 2009 8:30 am
I have been to Egypt. Its really beautiful city. Overall a masterpiece post.
- 61February 3rd, 2009 9:01 am
Amazing photos!!!
But where is something from Prague, Czech Republic?!
- 62February 3rd, 2009 11:37 am
great and kool photo’s
- 63February 3rd, 2009 11:39 am
Its Smashing!!
- 64February 3rd, 2009 11:56 am
Great pics, but I cretainly don’t think labelling them as “City” pictures is very accurate.
And by the way, Jerusalem is in Israel, as everyone knows.
- 65February 3rd, 2009 12:21 pm
Beautyful photos!
- 66February 4th, 2009 1:32 am
Wish Tajmahal was one of it
- 67February 4th, 2009 1:48 am
how could we introduce beautiful IRAN?
- 68February 4th, 2009 3:57 am
The photo of Pisa is fantastic !!!!!
- 69February 4th, 2009 4:53 am
Jerusalem is in Israel, why didn’t you write it down? All other photos have the country near the city name….
- 70
- 71
- 72February 4th, 2009 3:30 pm
I think every photographer should spend some time shooting black and white exclusively. Then they might learn the importance of drawing the eye to the subject (assuming there is one) rather than distracting them with supersaturated colors.
I know this is the style-de-jure but come on, CSI Miami snaps get really old really fast. A few were quite good though.
- 73February 4th, 2009 5:37 pm
what about Japan pictures!!?
:( - 74February 4th, 2009 8:33 pm
Moscow rules, thanks Andrey
- 75February 5th, 2009 1:52 am
beautiful photos
- 76February 5th, 2009 1:56 am
nice pictures
- 77February 5th, 2009 3:06 am
Some beautiful photos here, thanks!
- 78February 5th, 2009 11:45 am
I live in Rio. Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, the best!
- 79February 5th, 2009 11:08 pm
I specially like the Bali and Sweden shot….. this is a good one SM, as always !
- 80February 6th, 2009 12:05 am
I like Istanbul shots, but can’t find it here:P
by the way: all of them are great!
- 81February 6th, 2009 3:36 am
I think the photos are of a great quality, however that are not very original and just send us back to the touristic pattern! I have lived in almost all of those cities, I cant send you some pictures of me and my friends where you can really appreciatte the life of each city! I am a really city citizen addict!! By the way the Lisbon pic is wonderful, it was the most passionate and intense city I have ever lived, it brought me wonderful toughts!
- 82February 7th, 2009 5:24 am
where is istanbul?
- 83February 8th, 2009 7:16 pm
Very Beautiful!!!
- 84February 9th, 2009 9:49 am
Uluwati, Bali is one part of beautiful Indonesia. Find more there…Thanks..
- 85February 10th, 2009 7:58 pm
its greate
- 86February 10th, 2009 10:12 pm
Here one of my pictures from Mexico City:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/social_commentary/3036758225/
:)
- 87February 11th, 2009 9:02 am
The pictures are amazing and the scenery is breathtaking. I love Cairo, Egypt, it is beautiful. Good job!
- 88February 11th, 2009 7:44 pm
Beautyful machupicchu ¡¡
- 89February 11th, 2009 10:33 pm
Simply Awesome!!!
- 90February 12th, 2009 6:48 am
Awesome post!
City photography is great…I maintain this website just with cool photos from my city, Salvador (Brazil´s first capital city)
http://www.soteropoli.com - 91February 13th, 2009 7:03 am
wonderful , outstanding and mind blowing collection.
- 92February 14th, 2009 3:21 pm
brazil
- 93February 15th, 2009 8:41 pm
very nice and amazing photography-thanks for web
- 94February 17th, 2009 12:25 am
Great pictures. Especially love the Egypt one the best.
On the whole Jerusalem being in Israel fiasco, kudos to Smashing Magazine for not only being politically correct but also historically accurate. Jerusalem does not belong to either state, Palestine or Israel, but is an international city. Israel has been trying to claim it entirely for itself, also the reason that they have shifted their capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and expelled a number of Arabs from regions of Jerusalem. I don’t want to start a political debate here but what I said has been thoroughly documented. In any case the name should be left there as it is without giving into either side on terms of neutrality.
- 95February 17th, 2009 5:31 am
Yes no any dout A very beautiful n stunning photography. Egypt one is best,
- 96February 18th, 2009 5:55 am
amazing. Specialy Barcelona, Spain and Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
- 97February 18th, 2009 11:47 pm
i am from Pakistan from the city of love Jhang
- 98February 19th, 2009 2:28 am
AWESOME SPECIALLY THE MAKAH SHARIF PICS GR8 PICS THANX FOR SHARING.
- 99February 19th, 2009 5:39 am
Great efferts. and i want to visit these counteries and see these places with my own eyes
- 100February 20th, 2009 5:37 am
Rio de Janeiro inspires me. But the other cities are also beautiful and these pictures are awesome!
- 101February 22nd, 2009 9:44 pm
It’s so cool pictures specially The Great Mosque in Makkah
thanks a lot - 102February 28th, 2009 5:27 am
nice pics i have ever seen.
- 103March 15th, 2009 11:25 pm
Nice shoots
- 104April 6th, 2009 11:49 pm
Exilant Picture. espacialy Haram e Makkah & Haram e Aqdas. From Noor Badshah Yusafzai of Khunda, Swabi, Pakistan
- 105April 13th, 2009 8:20 pm
“Haram Al Sharif”? Why don’t you call the site by its real (and original) name – Temple Mount?
- 106April 14th, 2009 4:56 am
Very nice pictures! What I would also like to see is pictures of standard city houses made in some sort of special way.
- 107April 15th, 2009 10:24 pm
The oldest city of the world is Damascus, but we did not find a single photo.
- 108April 25th, 2009 7:23 am
all pics are excellent, EXCEPT a few with HDR. Those idiotic pictures with artificial colors, artificial skies and clouds look not real with a really bad bad bad taste and esthetics.
This is not photography, but digital manipulation, has nothing to do with photography – all photoshopping.
Enough of this crap!.. Arc of Triumph with million of stupid clouds….????…come on, be real. - 109April 25th, 2009 7:35 am
yes Mark, #109, agree, people are fed with lies from our own regular media. You know the saying…repeat a lie 100 times and it becomes truth.
About the oldest city, Damascus is one. But Jericho and Hebron also.
Also Damascus wasn’t a city until 3000bc - 110May 17th, 2009 6:17 am
Simply amazing pictures. Most i love is “Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia”, because I like the blue.
- 111June 17th, 2009 2:07 pm
Wow, these were awesome and inspiring!
- 112July 17th, 2009 5:19 am
execellent selection.
- 113July 17th, 2009 5:23 am
Execellent selection but all of u are missing the most beautiful place on earth, MADINA UL MUNAWARA, KSA.
- 114August 10th, 2009 4:20 am
Oh my God. These photos are wonderful. I’m sure there are plenty of cities that have been missed but those that are there make one wonder. The world is beautiful
- 115August 17th, 2009 9:48 pm
I love Rio de Janeiro, Brazil………anyone inviting me for a visit to Rio?
- 116August 23rd, 2009 4:13 am
Unas fotos fantásticas, da gusto verlas, además los retoques les han quedado geniales….. ¡que envidia!, en fin a seguir aprendiendo.
Felicidades por la colección.
- 117August 31st, 2009 8:42 pm
GREAAAAAAAAAAAT!! LOVE THEM!
- 118September 9th, 2009 3:23 pm
A great, great, great, photos
- 119September 15th, 2009 6:53 am
I wolud like to watch the original RAW’s files
- 120October 10th, 2009 7:37 am
good photo
- 121October 12th, 2009 2:33 pm
impresionante, me encantan vuestras fotos… espectacular.
- 00
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A very beautiful n stunning photography. Egypt one is best,