Photo Contest 2025
Aug 1, 2025
EW’s 13th annual photography competition showcases innovations, locations, history and passion for the VT industry.
From a Jimmy Choo shoe store in Beverly Hills, California, to a beach on the private island of Mustique in the Caribbean archipelago nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines — known for attracting British royalty (Prince William and Princess Kate) and rock stars (Mick Jagger), this year’s photo contest is not short on glamorous locales. It is the Inclined Lifts category that features these locations — first place for Hill Hiker, Inc., and third place for Garaventa Lift, respectively. Orono, Minnesota-based Hill Hiker also snagged second place in this category for a lift in St. Lucia, where the company’s product provides access to a beach. These tropical paradises are a long way from the shores of Minnesota’s Lake Minnetonka, where Hill Hiker is based. But the nearly 30-year-old company is no stranger to traveling far and wide to install its custom lifts, which can be found in locations from Alaska to Australia and Dubai to Hawaii.
Hill Hiker can usually be counted on to submit impressive entries to both our annual Project of the Year and Photo contests, and this year was no exception. Joining the company on the winner list are independent elevator companies, consultancies, individuals with a passion for photography, accessibility specialists, component manufacturers and even a transit authority in a major North American city: The Elevator Escalator division (ELES) of Washington, D.C.’s Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). WMATA’s “Gallery Place Glow” took first place in the Escalators and Moving Walks category for a golden-hued image showing two units at a 1970s-era station serving the Chinatown and downtown Penn Quarter neighborhoods. Other WMATA photographs recognized show the longest escalator in the U.S. in Wheaton, Maryland, and units serving historic Dupont Circle and the Pentagon. Thanks, WMATA ELES, for sharing these amazing images.
Winning photographs were submitted by companies or individuals based in places such as Chicago; St. Louis, Missouri; New Jersey; North Carolina; NYC; Florida; Dubai; London; Toronto and Vancouver, Canada; and Germany. Vertical-transportation equipment, components and professionals were photographed in Australia, California, Florida, Germany, Nevada, New Jersey and NYC. As always, looking at the winning photos takes viewers on a fantastic voyage around the world, and has something for everyone, from fans of serene beaches to the hustle-and-bustle of the big city. Architecture, history and art fans also will be pleased. This year’s Illustrations category garnered particularly colorful and imaginative images thanks in part to — love it or hate it — AI. Also, for the first time, we’ve extended the contest to include videos. Screenshots of the winning videos are included here, and the videos themselves can be found on EW’s YouTube page at youtube.com/@elevatorworldincmobile. We hope you enjoy this year’s winning photographs (and video screenshots) as much as we do!
City Skylines & Tall Buildings
“Frankfurt;” The Frankfurt, Germany, city skyline at night captured in a long exposure; submitted by Sabine Bunse
“Vancouver’s High-Rise Spring;” Downtown Vancouver; submitted by Julia Merzlikina, Garaventa Lift
“Looking Up;” The Oculus in NYC; submitted by Rozlin Terieve, Precision ElevatorElevators, Commercial
“Venetian Cab Interior;” Las Vegas, Nevada; submitted by Cabworks
“Don’t Look Down — A Beautiful Scenic Lift;” from the middle of London; submitted by Alice Black, Black Productions
“Glass Elevator at TELUS Garden in Vancouver, B.C.;” submitted by Dirk Laterwasser, SchaeferElevators, Private Residence
“Look at Me;” A work of art inside an Ontario, Canada’s home elevator hoistway; submitted by Liliana Ortiz, Savaria
“Luxury 3-Stop Residential Elevator;” in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; submitted by Lisa Basil, Southeast Elevator
Outlook Outdoor Elevator, Toms River, NJ, submitted by Staying Home Corp./Abby Lifts NJEscalators and Moving Walks
“Gallery Place Glow;” Two units at the Gallery Place West Entrance station serving the Chinatown and downtown Penn Quarter neighborhoods in Washington, D.C.; submitted by WMATA ELES
“The Dupont Circle Escalators” in Washington, D.C.; submitted by WMATA
“Burjuman Station;” The Dubai station is filled with multiple escalators on a single level to serve a large crowd of passengers interchanging the metro lines; submitted by Nurlan Tahirli, Tahirli ArtInclined Lifts
“Tropical Destinations;” A Hill Hiker inclined elevator system provides access to a pool and private beach on Mustique; submitted by Duncan MacLachlan, Hill Hiker, Orono, Minnesota.
“Beach Access;” A Hill Hiker project in St. Lucia providing access to the beach; submitted by Duncan MacLachlan, Hill Hiker, Orono, Minnesota
“Accessibility in the Jimmy Choo Shoe Store;” This Xpress II lift was installed in the Jimmy Choo shoe store in Beverly Hills, California; submitted by Julia Merzlinkina, Garaventa LiftWho Reads Elevator World
Machines and Components
“Wooden Handrail Fixtures;” Handrail fixtures for improved accessibility in elevator cabins with a special design by Schaefer featuring wood with tactile XXL buttons; submitted by Juergen Bruch, Sigmaringen, Germany
“Going Up? Let Me Give You a Hand;” My first time seeing a tiller rope. It operates a 1934, 10,000-lb capacity car at Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, Missouri, and is still in use today; submitted by Tonya Yates, ATIS Elevator Inspections, St. Louis
Depth and Perspective;” Working on the longest escalator in the U.S.; submitted by Rolando Grimaldi, WMATA, Wheaton, MarylandElevator Facilities and Factories
“Montanari Test Tower;” This unique facility at Montanari headquarters in Modena, Italy, is a 50-m-tall tower with three elevator shafts to test traction machines and products at maximum operating parameters and real installation conditions; submitted by Montanari Group
“Dumbwaiter at Your Service;” A section of the Brampton, Canada, Savaria factory dedicated to building Matot dumbwaiters, where components are carefully assembled in the production area; submitted by Liliana Ortiz, Savaria
“Moving the Elevator Down the Line;” A fully installed elevator inside the hoistway moving down the line before being loaded on a truck and sent to Greensboro, North Carolina, for placement; submitted by Rachelle Jackquot, Resolute Elevator, Burlington, North CarolinaProjects in Action
“Focus;” A Brampton, Canada, Savaria employee stays focused on the task at hand; submitted by Liliana Ortiz, Savaria
“The Art of Artina;” This photo, taken in the Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, Garaventa Lift factory, showcases the internal mechanism of the Artira platform lift; submitted by Julia Merzlikina, Garaventa Lift
“Judiciary Square;” Installation of the new Judiciary Square escalator in Washington, D.C.; submitted by WMATA ELESHistorical/Legacy Equipment
“The Great Ups and Downs of Yesterday; Still Works Today;” Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis; submitted by Tonya Yates, ATIS
“Reverence of the Rise;” Old Otis controller at Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis; submitted by Tonya Yates, ATIS
“Private-Residence Passenger Carrying Hand-Powered Lift;” This rare hand-powered passenger carrying lift in Yorkshire, England U.K., was fully repaired and put back into service by myself in 2024; submitted by Richard Debenham, Level Elevators, Hampshire, U.K.Hoistways
“Glass Shaft & Piston;” A Liberty Elevator glass elevator shaft with hydraulic shaft and LED lighting located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, installed by Liberty Elevator; submitted by Dru Brooks, Liberty Elevator, Paterson, New Jersey
“Pentagon Wellway Passage in Washington, D.C.;”submitted by WMATA ELES
“It’s a Long Way to the Top;” Photo taken from the pit of an elevator in the CN Tower in Toronto looking up the hoistway; by Chris Munro, KJA Consultants, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaIllustrations
“Abstract Elevator Illustration;” An AI-generated abstract elevator illustration; submitted by Dirk Lauterwasser, Schaefer
“NAEC-OPOLY: 2024 NAEC United Convention in Atlantic City!” This game board was hand-drawn on an iPad as a playful illustrated giveaway for the 2024 United Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The design teases the then-upcoming partnership between FIELDBOSS and CEDES strategically positioned to replace the coveted Park Place and Boardwalk spots; submitted by Jacque Armijo, FIELDBOSS, Toronto
“Conceptual Drawing of a Space Elevator;” AI-generated abstract space elevator illustration; submitted by Dirk Lauterwasser, SchaeferVideo Contest
“Element Elevators’ Project in Action;” We flew a drone through a modernization project we did at 21 Hillcrest Ave., Toronto, Canada; submitted in the Projects in Action category by d.visionaerials, Element Elevators Inc.
“Elevated Acoustics – The Sounds of the Lift Industry;” submitted in the Machines & Components category by Alice Black, London, Black Productions
“Gallery Place Escalator Replacement Timelapse;” An escalator replacement in Washington, D.C.; submitted in the Escalators and Moving Walks category by Rolando Giuseppe Grimaldi, WMATA
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