Been there photo competition, April 2010

On our first trip to Venice last year we couldn't afford to drink in the cafes of San Marco, but enjoyed the music for free, took many photos and had a wonderful Saturday evening. Photograph: Susan Locke An iconic example of London's great and varied architecture - with a twist. Photograph: Sophie Atkinson Taken earlier this year at the Amber Fort, Jaipur, India. Photograph: Chloe Boulton A giant reclining buddha at Wat Pho, Bangkok, Thailand. How incredible that a buddha this enormous was ever built. Photograph: Emily Gionis This is a photo of the Grote Markt, or Grand Place, in Brussels. I was in the city over Easter and was blown away by the architecture in the square. Photograph: Ashleigh Haskins Buildings at London Bridge Photograph: Chris Mole Much photographed, to the annoyance of some of the locals who rightly point out there is more to Valencia than this building. As I discovered it is surprisingly difficult to find a good angle to capture this from (maybe I need a wider angle lens!). Calatrava's futuristic masterpiece. Photograph: Dave Roberts Forbidden City, Beijing, China Photograph: Andrew Bayles Shopping inside the glamorous Galeries Lafayette department store in Paris is more than just a fashion treat. The building's stained glass dome in particular captivates all visitors. Photograph: Lebawit Girma Gloucester Cathedral, UK Photograph: David Meredith Haneda Airport, Tokyo, Japan: looking towards the roof of Terminal 2, while waiting for a domestic flight to Okinawa. An architectural achievement given Japan's seismic vulnerability. Photograph: Matt Wilson A combination of late-afternoon light and heat shimmer produces these reflections among office towers in Barcelona. Photograph: Bryan Brooks Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumper: I was trying to photograph lightening behind the towers and was playing with the camera functions. In black and white, it just made it look like the light from the heavens was shining down on them. Photograph: Mufeedha The photo is of the interior of Pier Luigi Nervi's Palazzetto dello Sport in Rome on a sunny day in June 2008. Photograph: Nicholas Worley Plaza de Espana, Seville, Andalucia, Spain Photograph: Peter Norris The Fredrikstad Bridge in Ostfold, southeastern Norway. The impressive silhouette of the bow-shaped bridge, which opened in 1957, has become a landmark for the town. The bridge spans the River Glomma and links the old town with the new one and is an impressive 824m long and 40m tall. Recognised as part of the technical heritage of Norway, it was listed by the Riksantikvaren (Directorate for Cultural Heritage in Norway) in 2008. Photograph: Marie Peyre I recently visited Bilbao and went to the fantastic Guggenheim museum there. The light was reflecting perfectly off the shiny titanium exteriors, adding emphasis to the building's swooping curves. Photograph: James Ng This traditional Turkish wooden house is just round the corner from my boyfriend's (infinitely more modern) flat in Sultanahmet, Istanbul. Despite the windows looking like they were going to fall out at any minute, there was smoke coming out of a very haphazard looking chimney stuck on the side, so I assumed the building was occupied. Photograph: Lindsey McWhinnie Designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, Turning Torso has become a major tourist attraction for the city of Malmö in Sweden. Busloads of tourists, especially in the summer, stop and take pictures. I live in Västra hamnen (Western Harbor) and this photo was taken from quite a distance, so that the surrounding apartments of the development don't show. Just a lovely, cloudy sky that frames this unique building. Photograph: Peter Leyden Untitled Photograph: Sabine Kalke Wheal Betsy is found on Dartmoor and is a famous old blowing house from the days of tin mining. It is also known for its leaning chimney, caused by the harsh winds over the years. Photograph: Ian Watson Sandwiched between Vancouver's historic district of Gastown and the city's railway lines, the windows in this heritage building reflect the snow topped mountains to the north. Photograph: Daniel Cooper Sean Randall: Grande Arche in La Defense Paris. Such a perfect, massive building everything seems to be on a miniature scale once you're beneath it. Judge Natalie Mayer: A fantastically simple image with effective cropping. I'd liked to have seen it with the man photographed in the gap to the right (slightly further down the hill) so that the join of the tile didn't dissect his head. Photograph: Sean Randall Photograph: guardian.co.uk Catherine Sherwin: Photo taken in northern Scotland. Judge Natalie Mayer: This photograph has stunning light, and nicely contrasts the different structures. Sometimes the most dramatic light can occur when the sky is mostly cloudy, but the sun bursts its rays through a gap. This gives a wonderful variation of shadow and light that can produce a richness in the colour, and is well worth looking out for. Photograph: Catherine Sherwin Photograph: guardian.co.uk Slawek Kozdras: My goal was to capture the beauty and elegance of the Shell Centre, which is, quite literally, overshadowed by the equally impressive London Eye. A missing capsule in the Eye added another point of interest. Judge Natalie Mayer: This image is stunning, a clear winner from this month's entries. Fantastic composition, beautiful light, good choice of black and white. The shadow of the wheel on the building just makes the image for me. It's small elements like this that lift a photo from being just a snap shot to something really pleasing to look at. Through carefully eliminating all unimportant elements, the viewer is forced to see the same magic in the mundane that the photographer did, and that is what makes this image so special. Photograph: Slawek Kozdras Photograph: guardian.co.uk