No matter what city you call home or visit, it will always look different when you take the time to see it, for me my home is in the city streets of Seattle photography. It’s what helps me get perspective, a reminder to breathe, a reminder to look at things differently. I can’t tell you what was running through my mind as I stood at the base of a towering glass high-rise, all I can say though is standing in the early morning light just as the sun graced the tops of skyscrapers of Seattle, I could finally breathe as I looked to the peaks above.

I had left my tiny dorm room with a simple goal—capture the reflections, the angles, and the quiet stillness of steel and glass before the city magically came to life. However, I also left to escape… To escape the world, to see things differently, to gain perspective. A long time ago I realized that for me photography wasn’t just a hobby but a way to get perspective and see things in a new, refreshing way. In the same way that photographing city lights and the skyscraper above wasn’t just about documenting architecture rather it was about seeing the world through an everchanging, distorted, and sometimes surreal lens.

The City in Reflection

One of the first things that caught my eye was a reflection. Not just a normal reflection like a murky pond, but one so perfect it made me pause. The sun and sky, shades of blue streaked with the last embers of dawn, was caught in the panels of glass and steel almost as perfect as a mirror staring back at you. It’s funny how I take photos to get perspective but somehow end up staring right back at myself. So I took my camera, framed the shot, and snap.

The composition was near perfect—The lines and crystal clear reflections were mixed with chaotic city streets. However it wasn’t chaotic, but rather so still it felt like time had stopped. As I looked around, not a single person was in sight. This is usually how Seattle photography goes. It gave me a surreal feeling that’s hard to describe. I always found it easier to reflect alone, in the stillness much like the reflection of the city often becomes clear when nothing is moving.

Looking Up

Walking farther into the city center, I tilted my eyes and my lens skyward. This was the part that always captivated me—how skyscrapers seemed to lean inward when looking up almost as if everything is better at the top as they look down upon the streets below. The perspective was one of intrigue, one of inspiration, and at the same one of doubt and how to ever reach that high, but that’s what made it so interesting.

I fell in love with the city in its stillness for that reason. I love how Seattle photography always gives me a reminder to always look up to new heights. A place to not get perspective and create new ideas but a place to inspire and overcome all the doubts in the world about how I could ever reach that high. 

At last, I found a perfect intersection where the tops of skyscrapers met in harmony creating an alleyway toward the sky. The light cascaded between their glass facades, creating a mirror of itself and the colors of a city that was about to rise. I got down really low and had my camera and eyes aiming upward, waiting for just the right moment before I took the shot. Just like this sometimes in life, we have to keep walking to find the right time and moment however we can never stop looking upwards. 

Unexpected Beauty

Just like us, not all glass walls are perfect, also much like Seattle photography. Some are cracked, scratched, and dirtied by time and weather. Glass buildings are mixed with steel where you can peer in and sometimes find nothingness or you can find lights on within. I found one such wall on the side of an office building, its reflective surface warped and weathered through time. Parts of it were all dark to the point that it seemed as if it starred right back while other parts were lit up as the morning started to arise. 

At first, I didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t the perfect city reflection I had set out to capture. But the longer I stood there, the more I realized something else entirely — It was almost as if it was an abstract way of how society is today. Many of us, myself included, are so worried in our little world, much like the glass offices without a light, no way to see in just a reflection. In contrast, others have a light shining for the whole world to see, a way to let people in, a way to light up the world.

The Final Shot

By the time I got back to my car, the city had started to come to life again. People were starting to crowd up the sidewalks, while the sounds of cars honked in the distance, and the once-empty glass reflections were now reflecting a life of momentum rather than stillness —windows lit up and filled with silhouettes, streets bustling in their mirror of concrete giants. It helped me understand that we all need to go and sit in the stillness and reflect but we can’t forget life is full of movement and momentum. Seattle photography definitely won’t let you forget this.

I realized that photographing city streets wasn’t just about capturing buildings and street signs. It was about capturing the way the city lives and breathes—through light, through reflections, through the shifting perspectives of steel and sky.

Thank you for reading! If you want to learn more about me or the camera I use to shoot on you can go check out the “About me” page!