While vacationing in Mexico, my family and I rented an apartment in Mexico City. The building was eight stories tall and featured this striking spiral staircase. The moment I saw it, I knew I had to capture it.

I didn’t have my DSLR with me, so I took the photo using my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. The original colors of the staircase and surrounding walls were a soft ivory, giving the photo a clean, almost all-white appearance. During post-processing in ACDSee, I decided to experiment with the levels and eventually landed on a black-and-white version. I really liked how it brought out a modern, minimal, and abstract feel. My other dilemma was either, add some grain and grudge feel, or smooth everything, but I like the grudge look, it brings back a little bit of the concrete texture of the stairs and walls.

I know there are probably thousands of staircase photos out there, but what caught my eye here were the unique shapes, clean lines, and that specific moment of inspiration.