Lee Thatcher, Pebble Road (PLACES 2026)

A wet mosaic of hand-laid pebbles fills the frame, each stone lifted from its neighbours by a glistening sheen of rain. Photographed underfoot at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park — a place built for reflection — this intimate study finds meaning in the ordinary ground beneath our feet. In monochrome the scene resolves to pure form: wet against dry, rough against smooth, countless individual stones worn smooth by time and gathered into something enduring.

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