23rd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Travel
Apollo’s Vesper: Versailles

Captured in the gardens of Versailles at the edge of sunset, this photograph reveals the palace grounds in a rare moment of calm. The statues stand in silhouette against the fading light, watching over a pool that mirrors the warm glow of dusk. As the sky turns to embers, the grand geometry and royal grandeur of the gardens soften into something almost mythic. It is a fleeting hour where light and shadow meet, where history brushes against the present—an instant that feels as if Apollo himself is stepping away from the day, leaving his final trace of radiance over the former domain of the Sun King.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 11.2025
Date Uploaded: 11.2025
Photo Location: Versailles, France
Copyright: © Jason Yen