Tiananmen Square, also known as the Square of Heavenly Peace, is located in the heart of Beijing. Covering an area of approximately 440,000 square metres, it is one of the largest public squares in the world and one of China’s most important historical and political landmarks.

Access to the square is controlled through designated entrances, and visitors may be required to go through security checks and have their bags inspected.

From a photography point of view, Tiananmen Square offers plenty of opportunities, although creating a strong composition in such a vast and busy space can be challenging. A wide-angle lens is particularly useful for conveying the monumental scale of the square. At the same time, the large number of visitors and tourists provides many opportunities for street photography and candid photographs. A longer or portrait lens can also be useful for isolating people and details from the busy surroundings.

Photographing the square without people in the frame can be difficult, as it attracts large numbers of visitors every day. I found that including people in some of my compositions actually helped to show the enormous scale of the place.

I took most of the photographs in this gallery using 24mm and 50–250mm lenses, which gave me the flexibility to capture both wide views of the square and more distant details.