My Architectural Photography…
January 10, 2020As I promised in the previous post, I will do my best to fill this space with text frequently. From now on you can expect new articles every weekend. To do that this blog will turn into a form of a diary from time to time. I will continue to write about my photographic projects, tests and experiments related to analogue photography but will also write about my day to day work, architectural photography, and how it differs from for example real estate photography. Both are often mistakenly referred to as the same. Both are related to photographing buildings and interiors but with a completely different purpose, meaning, approach and outcome. Lots of differences, right? That’s true. There were many articles already written about this topic but I will throw in my two cents.
The purpose of real estate photography is to photograph space in the best possible way to allow the client (owner, real estate agency, developer and so on) to sell it or rent it out successfully using photographs. This often involves (but not always) the use of ultra-wide-angle lenses (for me it’s anything below 20mm) and flashlights (or studio lamp setup) which gives not a natural but attractive look for a potential client (buyer). Such images have a relatively short life span. They are focused on a different aspect and they serve very well a specific purpose - quick sale.
Architectural Photography, on the other hand, is a representation of a designer’s ideas and is focused on architectural solutions and context rather than space itself. Such photography is a long term investment and usually, it’s the only way architect can present his/her work in professional magazines, books or websites. It’s an inseparable part of a designer’s portfolio. I have probably put that better in a statement on my website …
Each session requires extended working time and specific approach to every single project. I can easily translate each concept into photograph due to my architectural past and understanding principles from inside out. That’s why I enjoy my work a lot. Each assignment brings huge excitement and will to make the best out of it. This applies equally to me and my client.
Getting for a while into the purely technical aspect… 24mm tilt-shift lens is in 95% cases attached to my camera. Prefer not to go wider due to usually unnatural look of space photographed with wider lenses. Also available light is my kind of illumination to translate photographed space into an image in as much natural way as possible without so-called bells and whistles.
I am truly lucky to work with very talented architects and designers who understand perfectly the meaning of visual representation of their work. Most of them are my returning clients. That’s why creating a relationship with architects is another very important part of the architectural photographer work. This helps to maintain the architect’s visual portfolio at the highest level, and at the same time, helps the photographer work on each subsequent project as if he were reading the architect’s minds or supplementing them. Mutual understanding is a key element.
Getting back to past, I can refer to such famous names as Julius Shulman, Balthazar Korab or Ezra Stoller (for example) and iconic architects with whom they have collaborated throughout their careers - Eero Saarinen, Frank Loyd Right or Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Beautiful times…
Coming back to earth… My main clients are architects and designers but I also work with real estate agents, developers, contractors and builders or furniture makers and I really enjoy it. It’s always a pleasure and a fantastic experience. I always work however on such projects with design in mind.
Architecture somehow is driving my visual ideas when working with images from the very beginning and it will remain as such. This is the case with both commercial and personal portfolio.
