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20 Awesome Architecture Photos to Inspire You

Expert Photography Writer
Last updated: March 13, 2024 - 5 min read
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Looking at beautiful architecture photos is a great way to get inspired for your own architectural projects. Here are twenty stunning photos that will leave you awestruck and itching to start planning your next project.

Composition Tips
iPhone Photography School’s Capture it All
Capture It All
Looking for inspiration for your architecture photos? Take your iPhone photography to the next level with our Video Course and capture it all, from stunning stills to loop videos.

Architecture Photos of Alleyways

Alleyways are the perfect place to capture great architecture. Not only do they show the era in which they were built, they are also great hotspots for leading line compositions.
An architecture photo of cobblestones streets and brick buildings taken through an alleyway

Castles

Castles are remnants of a former time that offer settings for some of the best books and films known to men. And for amazing architecture photography!
A photo of the exterior of a stone castle against a cloudy blue sky

Churches

Churches are some of the most beautiful buildings in the world. From Sagrada Família to Notre-Dame, they offer many details, all of which make for stunning images.
A photo of the interior of an awe-inspiring church

Doors

Doors are the gateway to the hidden elements in this world. Stepping through a door can lead you into the past, future or someone else’s life. The connotations are endless.
A photo of the interior courtyard of an apartment block where each of the doors are brightly colored

Filling the Frame

By filling the frame with an architectural subject, you make it seem much bigger than it actually is. Great for enlarging a scene to fit a certain photographic concept.
The exterior of a run down industrial building or apartment block

Grandeur

Grandeur buildings range from parliaments, old banks to many other styles and types of buildings. These offer you a whole range of photographic opportunities, from details to wide angle shots.
The exterior of an impressive church or government building

Indoor Lighting

The most interesting architecture isn’t always on the outside. You can find great scenes inside, where architects use light, patterns and forms to brighten up a scene and make it more interesting.
The interior of an impressive orange lit building

Industrial

Industrial complexes are a great place to start, especially if you aren’t particularly interested in brick and mortar.
Shapes, forms, textures and lines are all present, making these areas rich for photographic essays.
Steel structure taken from beneath at evening

Lighthouses

Some of the most beautiful and interesting buildings on our little planet are lighthouses. The best thing is they are always located next to water.
This makes them great objects to show juxtaposition between nature and man-made structures.
Landscape shot of a stone bridge leading to a lighthouse in low light

Lightpath

Photography is all about painting with light. So why not use the light within your architectural areas to emphasise the details, form and textures.
They can help to make the most alluring areas spectacular.
A photo of the interior of an awe-inspiring church

Palaces

Palaces are stunning architectural marvels where the rulers of the world would sit and talk politics over tea and biscuits. Now, they are some of the most visited areas around the world.
Capturing these will ensure instant success and interest in your images.
Stunning architecture photography shot of the outside of a luxurious white walled palace

Railways

Railways represent travel, industry and work. They also offer some of the best leading lines you can imagine.
A top-down aerial perspective can give you some amazing results of these architectural phenomena.
An overhead shot of crossed railway lines

Reflections

Reflections are a perfect way to show architecture in an urban environment. Not only do they offer you shape, form and texture, but they reflect another world inside itself.
Great for juxtapositions of new and old.
A photo of the exterior of a multi windowed glass building

Roof

A roof symbolises safety and protection. they can be some of the most interesting architectural delights you have ever seen.
Here, shape, form and texture are kings, so try and capture them at their best.
A photo of the orange roof of a warehouse or shed against a teal sky

Ruins

If you love buildings and architecture, the chances are that you will also love them as ruins. Urban exploration offers some of the most interesting architectural scenes.
All you need to do is find them, and photograph them.
A photo of the interior of a ruined building

Skyscraper

The tops of skyscrapers offer a unique architectural image, predominantly because we on the ground rarely seem them.
Some of the tallest buildings in the world showcase beautiful details that we rarely see.
A photo of the exterior steeple of a church

Skyscrapers

Instead of just showing us the tops of the skyscrapers, why photograph them in their entirety. Shooting from the ground up shows leading lines, drawing our eyes to the sky.
If you get the chance, move around and capture them from an angle that makes them look as if they are pointing downwards, not up.
photo looking up at a cloudy blue sky between large skyscrapers

Stairs

Stairs and stairwells are one of the most photographed subjects in the world. This is down to them being absolutely stunning architectural marvels. Some spiral, some even quad-spiral, which is a form of leading lines.
These can be captured from top-down, or bottom-up. Use a monopod if you suffer from vertigo.
A photo looking down an elaborate spiral staircase

Underground

If the underground stations of metros and subways are connotations at all, they symbolise darkness, and even the underworld.
Visiting these across the world will give you hints to other former design and style periods.
A photo of the interior facade of a dark room with many red columns

Windows

The eyes are windows to the soul. Here, they let us see the soul of the building and the contents hidden inside.
Some architectural structures offer you amazing shapes and forms of windows, others reflect other worlds for you to snap up.
A photo of the exterior facade of a multi windowed building

Composition Tips
iPhone Photography School’s Capture it All
Capture It All
Looking for inspiration for your architecture photos? Take your iPhone photography to the next level with our Video Course and capture it all, from stunning stills to loop videos.