BANNER IMAGE: ALAIN SCHROEDER

This fluid composition features a vantage point that provides movement and a sense of depth. At the same time, the warm light provides comfort and calmness, an atmosphere that suits the subject matter. Through technique and light design, the photographer speaks about inclusivity and acceptance, two values we so much need at the core of our urban lifestyle. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – 4.30 pm, afternoon siesta in the narrow streets of the old holy city of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Day and night, alone or in groups, people sleeping are an integral part of the Indian landscape. In what we would consider rather unusual places, they find it perfectly normal to curl up in the middle of an intersection, on a stone by a temple, or on a cart in front of a snack shop at the train station.

KIAN GRAY

Featuring beautiful lighting and an intense composition, this street shot reminds us that the splendor of our urban lifestyle comes at a cost. Whilst some enjoy the benefits of technology, others struggle to survive. The photograph is impactful and touching, bringing to us untold stories and raising awareness of the ones we leave behind. The message is amplified by color contrast and lighting, which highlights the photographer’s engagement with the subject matter. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – In the city of Ratnapura, Sri Lanka, a stray dog with mange scavenges through piles of garbage under the glow of tuk-tuk headlights. This image captures the stark contrasts of city life — the resilience of animals surviving at the edges of human spaces, the chaos of traffic and neon, and the realities often overlooked amid urban growth. It’s a portrait of survival and neglect, framed within the rhythms of a city that is both vibrant and unforgiving.

ALEXANDRA ANTHÉA GODEFROY

Surrealist, graphical, and artful, this black and white city shot invites curiosity and wanderlust. Where is this city? What is the life of the man with the briefcase? How does one get to the ocean? Caught between natural and industrial, reality and fantasy, past and future, the image is mesmerizing. The viewer can’t help but wander from one visual element to another, from one story to another. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Barcelona, Spain.

ELSA BUCHANAN

A powerful composition that highlights our smallness in the face of faith, this picture emphasizes the less idyllic role of our cities as a playground for war. Still, we love them, endure whatever is thrown our way, and return to our homes when possible, searching the ruins for the life we once had. Framing is to be commended as it cleverly constructs the image around the notion of proportion and reveals the scale of the tragedy. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – From the series Between Ruin and Routine. Cities are meant to move forward, to grow, and to forget. But in Yemen, the city learns instead to endure. ‘Between Ruin and Routine’ looks at how daily life continues amid damage, delay, and decay: a boy perched on a ledge in Taiz, a restaurant glowing beside the frontline, students returning to classrooms marked by war. These are stories of persistence: of people who find rhythm in instability and beauty in the unfinished. In pockmarked walls and improvised courtyards, the city breathes again, quietly insisting on its right to exist.

Returning Home. A woman and her children walk toward the shell of a building, stepping over rubble and broken tiles. Their shadows fall into the hollow doorway as though entering memory itself. This neighbourhood, on the outskirts of Aden, was once a busy residential block. Years of airstrikes, shelling, and neglect have reduced it to fragments, yet families return to search for belongings or to reclaim what little remains and make it home again. In a city that has endured siege, flooding, and displacement, each step homeward is an assertion that life still belongs here, even among the ruins. July 2023.

JEF VAN DEN BOSSCHE

A city has many faces, but most of the time we choose to see the rich, polished, picture-perfect one. It’s not the case with this photograph, where the artist turned the lens to the unseen people of the city, the ones that live outside the pretty buildings, in shelters or on the street. This environmental portrait brings clarity, dignity, and a voice to those who can’t share the city lifestyle even though they are its citizens, too. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – In Luxembourg City, the glass towers gleam, and the streets are swept clean. It is a place that embodies prosperity, home to bankers, diplomats, and one of the highest GDPs per capita in the world. Yet, just beyond the polished facades, another city exists.

Here, rising rents and a housing crisis have pushed more people to the margins. Homeless shelters overflow, while new laws restrict begging and drive the poor out of sight. The contrast is striking: a capital built on wealth, now struggling to make room for its most vulnerable residents.

This series looks beyond the postcard image of Luxembourg, capturing the quiet struggle of those left behind in one of Europe’s richest nations.

DANIEL LUEBKE

If you find the right spot, the city reveals to you both past and future. This cinematic shot seems taken from a fantasy movie, and one can almost feel the rising of the futuristic buildings in the background. By playing with highlights and shadows and carefully curating the frame, the photographer builds up a strong plot, an interesting narrative, and an appealing composition, all in one take. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – A Glimpse of Coruscant. In the streets of Macau, there is a place where you could think you were in the year 2500.

IAN TORR

Talking about catching the decisive moment, this street shot is impressive through its high level of serendipity. However, the photographer’s skill is what transformed it into an artwork. Shooting in black and white to enhance the focal point and the texture of the crossing, framing the shot at a skewed angle to create a very appealing imbalance, and editing the image to enhance contrast and clarity are all very good choices. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Two umbrellas and a crossing. A black and a white umbrella are juxtaposed against a pedestrian road crossing in Osaka, Japan. It was taken in the summer of 2025.

CHANSIK PARK

When turning the lens towards the inhabitants of the city, one can’t help but notice the diversity, the mix of various faces and stories. The city draws people in and forces them to live in proximity and share their everything. The shooting angle places the viewer right in the middle of the action, transforming them into observers and revealing what it feels like to live in the city, share its crowded spaces, and be so close to so many people. It’s a multisensorial experience, a rare achievement for a two-dimensional photograph. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Faces. Strangers who do not know each other brush past within this confined space, and the scene unfolds like an ensemble play where actors happen to share the stage at the same moment. Light and shadow draw the boundaries of the stage, while each face tells its own story. The city constantly gathers countless unfamiliar faces into a single frame, presenting fleeting performances of its own. Here, I have captured one such moment among the many the city offers.

BENIZI SANTAMARIA

There is no city without people, no pavement without stories. This environmental portrait shows the city through the eyes of its young inhabitants, reminding us that, whatever amazing the economic and technological benefits of the city may be, its main purpose is to be a home to our children. The straightforward composition, the warm light illuminating the girl’s face, and all the shadows and objects that appear in the background are testimony to the photographer’s deep love and understanding of this scenery. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – I love my Bicycle. Caloocan, Manila, Philippines. I live and work in the City. My images represent my view of what makes our urban centres thrive. Our people are its beating heart. Without our people, our buildings would just be the covers of books with empty pages. We would have no stories to tell.

FREDERIC PASQUINI

Here is a story the viewer will talk about for a very long time. The protest, the energy of the strikers, and the tension are one face of the story. The fantastic contrast between the yellow flags and the blue sky is another. But the way the flag acts as a magnifying lens on the statue is the most memorable one. To find such an impressive shooting angle amidst a turbulent moment is to be really immersed in one’s art. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Gilet Jaune protest, Nice, France, 2019.

ANDREA FINOCCHI

Is it possible to tell the story of a city with a single citizen? Yes, it is. You choose your character carefully, mix in some reflections, add a blurry, busy background, and throw in a red bus for a catchy effect, and you have a 90-minute film developing in front of the viewer. Of course, everything disappears in a second, so you’d better be an intentional, skilled photographer with an eye for stories and taking candid street shots as a second nature. Well done! – LIFE FRAMER

JEREMY SKIRROW

Again and again, we are reminded that cities are a twisted, well-disguised part of nature. By putting old and new together, the image shows that everything relies on natural resources. It also shows that nature has a way of coming back, reclaiming territory, and completing the cycle of life. With such a powerful message to convey, the photograph needs no more than a minimalist composition and a few elements to reinstall visual harmony. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Green city. Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 2025.