Architectural Photography Almanac
A resource for working professional photographers and design industry professionals featuring news, commentary, equipment resources, and original articles
Helsinki, Finland. A place riddled with funky architecture and rich design. Heck, there’s even a great band named — well — Architecture in Helsinki. This week we dive into a great piece of modern Nordic design by ALA Architects’. Enter, the Oodi Library. This relatively new yet iconic building has been the star of many photographs, but one architectural photographer, in particular, made me really fall in love with it.
It’s finally feeling like autumn on America’s East Coast, which means an ushering in of all things dark, autumnal colors palates, and a craving for cozy. The embodiment of all those feelings is this series of interior design photographs by Haris Kenjar. Haris is the king of impossibly cool vignettes, and this series shows us why.
There is a special place in Californian architecture marked by the renowned work of architect John Lautner. Kicking off his career as Frank Lloyd Wright’s apprentice, Lautner fell into his own iconic style and took over the West Coast mid-century scene. Spanning from mod Palm Springs residences in Bond films to Coachella hotels (before it was cool, might I add), then passing through the hands of endless celebrities and L.A.
A headliner on CNN, Curbed, Dezeen, and Architectural Digest, this week’s featured project has been widely talked about in the press and has made waves across the architecture community. A truly incredible undertaking, Zaha Hadid Architects‘ Bejing Daxing International Airport is a 12.9 billion dollar, 700,000 square meter masterpiece.
Alert! Alert! Great architecture inbound. This week’s featured project is Matthew Millman’s photographs of AIA CC Merit awarded House of Earth & Sky by Aidlin Darling. And where there is beautiful architecture, there is beautiful photography.
This series is steeped in strong geometric shapes and the golden light that early evening brings.
It’s official. I want to be Chase Daniel when I grow up. I could go on and on about his work forever, but it’s probably just easier to show you how beautiful, clean, and well thought out each of his compositions are. I drooled over Chase’s website for an absurd amount of time — scrolling through Japanese/Texas fusion restaurants, smokey bars, cowboy boot peddlers, cabins, and ranches.
Sharyn Cairns is the Wonder Woman of Australian architectural photography. Her portfolio sports a healthy mix of work – from commercial projects, cuisine, and travel – but the crown jewels are certainly her interiors. She conjures up rich images with interesting light. Her photographs are texture heavy, yet honest and delicate feeling.
Here on Architectural Photography Almanac, we tend to focus on — well — architecture. Not to be overlooked though, is photography with an emphasis on the design of a space. This Project of the Week by Melbourne based Jack Lovel is great study on clean edits, simplicity, and the “less is more” aspect that shines when working with interior designers.
Ahh New Zealand; the magical land where perfect scenery and perfect architecture collide. This week’s shining example is a residential home by Cheshire Architects, with interior design by Terry Hunziker, photographed by Seattle based Aaron Leitz.
Aaron’s architectural photographs cast a strange magic over me this week, and I found myself coming back to his website time and time again.
When you’re hired to photograph a resort, your end goal is to sell the experience. If there’s one guy who can pull this off, it’s architectural photographer Joe Fletcher. Three photographs into his collection on Amangiri Resort, and I was trying to justify spending my F-You Fund on a vacation.
What do you get when you mix an incredible photographer from Russia with a premier design school in Italy? Nope, this isn’t the start of a joke. It’s this week’s featured project!
The Scuola Politecnica di Design (affectionately known as SPD) is a postgrad design school in Milan, Italy.
After captivating our staff and readers, Project of the Week veteran James Florio is back on APALMANAC this week for a full-length interview. The Colorado architectural photographer – who formerly resided in Chile – is truly a voyager of the trade. James’ body of work spans the far-reaching points of the globe from Montana to Shanghai and Patagonia to Portugal.
Let’s talk renderings.
In the vapid comments section of some blog somewhere, I read an interesting, yet disheartening question: “Are you afraid that renderings will replace the need for architectural photography?”
See? Lame. But also that little part of me that is convinced Skynet is coming for us, gets it.
Large bold shapes, vibrant colors, perfectly captured repetition, contrast through lighting and color, and a whole lot of texture; This week’s featured project is a shining example of visual hierarchy at work.
In the small Moroccan town of Laayoune lies the Universite Ibn Zohr.
Just nine miles south of the razzle and dazzle of Las Vegas lies Henderson, Nevada. This sweeping desert town houses fossils, state parks, and an architectural gem: Ascaya. Although it broke ground in 2004, Ascaya – a luxurious custom home community – screeched to a halt during the recession.
Australian architecture is such an interesting mix of modern and tropical design. Built to contend with the harsh temperatures and elements, these homes are never boring and almost always beautiful. Enter Murray Fredericks and his series on Bondi House by the architects at CplusC.
While a seemingly small and technical niche, there is so much more than meets the eye included under the umbrella of “architectural photography.” This is proven by today’s esteemed guest, Brazilian photographer Ana Mello. Ana’s beautiful work is full of reflections, symmetry, movement, and color.
Simon Devitt is a fantastic architectural photographer based in Auckland, New Zealand. Bivvy House is a one-of-a-kind project on New Zealand’s incredible South Island. Here we have what I’d call a match made in architectural photography heaven.
Originally I had set out to feature one of Simon’s other beautiful projects – Scrubby Bay.
Project of the Week has been a staple of Architectural Photography Almanac since the beginning, so we thought it was time to let you in on the process. How do we choose the projects to share with you? Where do we find them? Why does any of this even matter?
In short; the internet is overflowing with content.
Lexi Taciak