Matthew Tuffield, Abbey Church of St. Mary and St. Louis (PLACES 2025)

While visiting family in St. Louis last year, I took the opportunity to explore the city’s striking architecture through my lens. This image captures the Abbey Church of St. Mary and St. Louis — a modernist masterpiece designed by Gyo Obata and completed in 1962. Its sweeping curves and raw concrete surfaces created a strong visual foundation, but it was the play of light and shadow that truly stood out. I chose to work in black and white to emphasise these contrasts, using tonal edits to draw out the deep textures and sculptural lines of the structure. The result is an image that highlights the church’s bold geometry and quiet drama in a timeless monochrome palette.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.