While natural landscapes bring peace and tranquility to our home environment, urban photography shows us the real struggle life can bring – but not in a negative way.
New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There’s nothin’ you can’t do
Now you’re in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
The lights will inspire you
Let’s hear it for New York, New York,
New York
– Jay-Z
Big cities bring us hope. There’s so much success there. So much life. So much love. In fact, there’s so much of everything. More people, more traffic, more buildings. But there’s a spirit and a sense of togetherness that transcends the struggle.
Big cities fascinate all those who visit. Here are 24 photographs that depict the enthralling life that’s found in urban spaces. It’s time to get edgy. It’s time to bring hope home.
Colour makes its mark
Urban does not necessarily mean concrete jungle. You can find a variety of colour palettes in big cities. Old cities offer up rustic rainbows while the stairwell below called ‘Blue’ and the yellow taxi print from New York City are both feasts for the eyes.
1. Rustic colour
Venetian Street, Italy by Wall Art Prints
2. Stripes
By Adam Circle
3. Bustling yellow
Melting Pot Of New York City by Wall Art Prints
4. Blue
Beauty shines through
While it’s easy to find natural life to photograph in the country and by the sea, it’s often a bit trickier to find life in a big city. Beauty is often found in the strangest of places, like the flower peeping through the rubble, below, and the moss growing on the abandoned stables, providing a natural shade of green to complement the urban graffiti.
The manmade world has its own beauty shining through, as highlighted in the photo of the ballerina under the bridge and the peephole to the Golden Gate Bridge in ‘Window To My World’.
5. Hope lives
The Last Survivor by Wall Art Prints
6. Abandoned stables
7. Ballerina under a bridge
Urban Ballet By Wall Art Prints
8. Window to my world
Let there be light
Artificial light sounds like such a harsh concept when considered out of context, but the real appeal of a big city is its splendour by night. While the artistic ‘Light-Tunnel’ creates an abstract masterpiece, even an overpass looks good, as seen in ‘Shanghai Overpass’.
Natural light is invited into an underground train tunnel using skylights. The photographer in ‘In Transit’ has captured a moment of peace and stillness in what would be an otherwise busy platform.
9. Skylights underground
In Transit by Wall Art Prints
10. Light-Tunnel
By Boro LR
11. Highway night lights
Shanghai Overpass by Wall Art Prints
Monochrome beauties
Whether real or abstract, black and white gives urban life an authentic feel, with urban photography creating worlds we delight in, so much so that we want to bring it into our homes.
12. Black and white bicycles
Bicycle On The Bridge by Wall Art Prints
13. Morbido
14. Cobblestone pathways
Charles Bridge At Dawn, Prague by Wall Art Prints
15. Vibrant NYC 2
By Kalevi Tamm
16. Caged In
By David Smith
Big city appeal
The overwhelming enormity of the world’s truly big cities are less about the buildings and more about the people. Every single one of those lights, every single one of those windows represents someone working or living together.
Big cities are a celebration of the desire to find belonging and friendship. This Hong Kong City and Moscow City prints below are designed to inspire to make you realise ‘there’s nothin’ you can’t do’.
17. The lights will inspire you
Hong Kong City by Wall Art Prints
18. Inner-city reflections
Offices In Paris by Wall Art Prints
19. Contemporary textures
Moscow City by Wall Art Prints
Vintage reflections
For a classic touch, these urban retro pictures capture a moment in time worth treasuring. We welcome that nostalgia into our homes as it makes us feel safe. It brings us peace.
20. Sepia Streetscape
Cuban Classic by Wall Art Prints
21. Urban fragments
Harsh realities
Finally, urban life is often about living on the edge. These photos below show a harsher side to life in the city where beauty is in the eye of the beholder. These talented photographers have transformed potentially ugly subjects and given each of them a magical feel. The composition of ‘Abandoned forge in Austria’ alone has resulted in a work of art using a place where art is absent.
22. Hell
By assed
23. Look through me
By Gabor Nagy
24. Abandoned forge in Austria
When selecting an urban photographic print for your collection, the key is to think outside of the city square. Go underground. Peak around corners. Put a print on your wall that shows how enthralling cities can be. Browse through our photography collection to discover more.
