Cover photo: Sous les jupes des filles by Julia Wimmerlin

Some of the simplest elements of design—line, color, shape—can create the basis for powerful and bold photography. With our Design Quest, we wanted to see how 500px members would get creative with these elements to compose unique and stunning images.

The winning photo, “Sous les jupes des filles,” was taken by Julia Wimmerlin.

The judge of this Quest loved the unusual angle of the photo and the use of colors in both the subject’s wardrobe and the location—an “unexpected and playful take on a portrait”!

Sous les jupes des filles by Julia Wimmerlin on 500px.com

Get to know Julia, who took the winning photo: “I am a Ukrainian-born Swiss-based commercial photographer. After I left my native Kiev, I lived in France, Switzerland, Great Britain, Japan, and the Philippines. I have degrees in Economics and Marketing that helped me to have a successful international marketing career for 15 years, which I changed for photography in 2014. I wanted a new professional challenge that would build on my past experience and allow me to work anywhere in the world in the future. Being nearly totally self-taught, I rely a lot on my advertising and marketing experience when constructing an image.”

She also gave us some background on the photo and what she was trying to achieve: “This is the opening photo of my series “Primary colors” that was inspired by the blooming fields of yellow rapeseed. Yellow is a very strong and imposing color; you feel like nothing can overpower it. I wanted to try and create a balance of colors by using the primary trio—yellow, red, and blue. I also wanted to push it from pastoral to arty and abstract. When you look at a photo with the blue flowy skirt what do you see—a butterfly, a flower, a statue? Colors are simultaneously natural and surreal; shapes are perfect but unrecognizable.”

Congrats to Julia, who received a lovely prize of $2000 for her winning image!

We also wanted to highlight some fantastic submissions from our runners up:

Kiyomizu-dera by Lisheng Chang on 500px.com

DJI_0235.DNG by Shannon Faulk on 500px.com

Twenty by bruno Gueroult on 500px.com

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque by Simone Gramegna on 500px.com

The Selfridges building by Carol Henson on 500px.com

This photo was taken in Istanbul while they were rebuilding a part of Blue mosque. by Sabina Mišmaš on 500px.com

Paper Lanterns by Restie Teano on 500px.com

Design by Monika Ananicz-Klajbor on 500px.com

Strangers by Austin Scherbarth on 500px.com

Train station Liege-Guillemins by Andi Line on 500px.com

Pattern #1 - Seats At An Empty Stadium by Nirav Raval on 500px.com

Sunrise on the “Nomade”, Antibes, France by Domi Art Photography on 500px.com

Colorful Roof by Steffen Ebert on 500px.com

Don’t worry if you missed this Quest—we have new ones coming up all the time. Check them out here!