First Sight

FIRST SIGHT

MONREALE CATHEDRAL, SICILY

By Nick Graham, Italy specialist

”The first time I saw the ceiling in Palermo’s Monreale Cathedral, all I could do was stare in awe for several long minutes. The Byzantine-style mosaics seem to come alive in the sunlight, which comes in through the windows, and gets reflected and refracted by the glass tiles and gold leaf to create a shimmering, almost glowing, scene. Once I was done being awestruck, I couldn’t help but contemplate the enormous time, effort, and resources that it took the medieval craftsmen to create such a glorious monument, especially when Palermo already had one impressive cathedral.”

FIRST SIGHT

THE GREAT WALL AT JINSHANLING, CHINA

By Becky Sanders, China team

”I fell head over heels with the Great Wall at Jinshanling. I’ve seen a few world wonders, but I was unprepared for everything about this immense structure – its age, its complex history, its engineering, the way it chicaned off into the hazy distance, every bit the ‘dragon’s backbone’ of my imagination. Perhaps most thrilling, I had it all to myself. This shot was taken from one of the watchtowers that dot the wall, I liked the way the arch framed the view of the wall, and the mountainsides of apricot and maple trees gradually coming into leaf.”