Futuristic beams of light tear through downtown towers to spotlight the new home of the Oilers, the downtown arena.
The sun sets on the Muttart Conservatory pyramids as the city landscape looms behind.
These are two of the top six photos in the landscape category for the City of Edmonton’s inaugural photo of the year contest.
Downtown Edmonton aerial view by Andrew Locke is one of the top photos in the 2017 photo contest. (Andrew Locke)
The contest had nearly 4,000 submissions on social media. The mayor had asked people to submit images with the hashtag #yeg2017pics.
“There is a new confidence among Edmontonians shaped in part by the stunning images citizens capture and share every day,” Mayor Don Iveson said in a release Monday.
The mayor chose his favourite two photos from three categories: landscape, weather and unique perspectives, after two Instagram groups — UrbanYEG and YEGGERS — sifted through the submissions.
Brittany Punter, founder of the Instagram group YEGGERS, thinks the photos reflect the uplifting side of Edmonton.
Brittany Punter, the creator of YEGGERS, was asked to go through the photos and choose her top 10 for the mayor’s final nod.
Punter told CBC News that she hopes the contest spurs imagination and inspiration.
“There’s a lot of diversity in the city as far as creators and artists, and there’s so many different perspectives taken just in these six photos,” she said.
“Anything that’s uplifting and positive is something I really want to get behind,” she said.
“It’s incredible that some of these images were captured with just an iPhone,” Iveson said.
#yeg2017pics Edmonton’s beautiful downtown & new bridge pic.twitter.com/SpP7cSYp2c
The winning photographers will have coffee with the mayor and have their pictures hang in the mayor’s office reception area.
“I’m thrilled to showcase this work online and in my office,” Iveson said.
The photos can be found under the Twitter hashtag #yeg2017pics.