Architectural Photography Almanac
A resource for working professional photographers and design industry professionals featuring news, commentary, equipment resources, and original articles
I had come across Nikolas Strugar by way of Andy Macpherson talking about Nikolas on his BAAM podcast when discussing architectural filmmaking. Nikolas is based in Brisbane (Australia) and looking at his LinkedIn page, and I was intrigued by how varied his career was and the diversity of skills he has picked up along the way, especially how he manages to fuse his various skills on projects.
Scandinavian brands like MENU have played a huge part in influencing my interior photography especially from styling and compositional perspectives. MENU has been one of my favourite brands not only because of their products but how cohesively they communicate their brand value visually.
Representation of architecture in social media is becoming more and more prevalent, as there is a trend where an architect or interior designer will design a space that will be more Instagrammble in the pursuit of getting likes. In this episode of Archimarathon, hosts Kevin Hui and Andrew Maynard both discuss how projects are now represented solely through the hero image rather than through architectural drawings in social media.
In April, there was the ZoomedIn Festival in which a number of architectural photographers from around the world appeared as guest speakers. Many of them I had not heard of, and one in particular — UK based photographer/film-maker Jim Stephenson — immediately caught my attention. Jim was a former architectural technologist turned architectural photographer and now film-maker.
Nicole England is a Melbourne (Australia) based Architectural & Interiors Photographer who, like many New Zealanders including myself, came to Australia in the early 2000s. Nicole is one of the most sought after photographers in Australia, you can always find her shooting across the country on some of the most high profile projects.
Back in 2016, I had this dream of wanting to photograph projects in the US and I had very little knowledge of how American architects commissioned photographers moreover what their style/requirements were. What I had observed was that there was a distinct difference in interior architecture between styles between New York and Australia which often dictated how projects were photographed.
Architecturally, speaking Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW) is a name that resonates with most people and perhaps it is due to his one of his many notable projects the iconic Guggenheim Museum in New York. He had started his architectural practice in the suburb of Oak Park in Chicago, specialising in the design of prairie styled homes.
Back in 2016, I remember the opening scene to Marvel’s Dr Strange trailer which showed a snippet of the Manhattan skyline and as an architecture buff, I couldn’t help myself grin when I noticed Bjarke Ingles’ W57 project firmly asserting itself in the scene. I have always been fascinated by the work of Bjarke Ingles because his architecture transcends the traditional notion of architecture we have become accustomed to.
Last month, the Architecture & Design Film Festival (ADFF) launched its first online program as a response to the COVID-19 breakout and due to the success of their April programme they have announced another four film in May. Each film is screened daily starting on 17th and running until the 20th with two broadcasts starting at 8pm ET and 8pm PT, and each film ticket costing US$0.99.
Since I have started writing for APAlmanac, discovering how other photographers and film-makers using are motion to create a narrative about architecture has been fascinating. Even the recent ZoomedIn Festival heavily touched on this subject matter as part of their talks.
One of the things I love about good architecture is the design narrative of a project. The narrative allows one to appreciate how the architect uses the surroundings and history to inform their architectural intent. Over the last couple of years, one of the best ways to learn these are through architectural talks hosted in Melbourne.
The Architecture & Design Film Festival (ADFF) is a US-based organization that curates and shows architectural themed films across various events in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have announced a new program, ADFF: Online, which is the live screening of four architectural films across four days (16th to 19th April) with two broadcasts starting at 8pm ET and 8pm PT.
During my recent interview with Jeffrey Totaro, he had mentioned that Capture One Pro is a huge part of his post-production workflow. He has partnered up with Digital Transitions to run a Capture One webinar on April 17th. More specifically looking at how Capture One Pro integrates into his workflow and giving an in-depth look at how he uses the application both in the field and back in the studio.
Recently, I discovered a short film called Private View: Santiago Calatrava by New York-based filmmaker Alexandra Liveris, which affords a rare glimpse into the mind behind some of the world’s most famous pieces of architecture.
Earlier this year when I had interviewed Art Sanchez, part of the conversation was focused around the second half of his business: videography.
Le Corbusier is one of my favourite 20th century architects not only for his brutalist architecture and how he integrated surrealism into his work as well. Even to this day his work continues to be revered by many Le Corb fans the world over. One of his most ambitious yet important project was the Chandigarh Capitol Complex project which came to fruition at the request of then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Years ago when I first started exploring architectural photography as a career option, I had come across the work of Jeffrey Totaro on Arch Daily and was immediately fascinated with his gorgeous compositions and technical expertise. Hailing from Pennsylvania, his name is synonymous with the American architecture scene; he’s been photographing iconic architecture longer than most of us have been able to discern light from dark.
One of the best things about living in Australia is the plethora of opportunities available to truly pursue what you want and Martin Siegner is no exception. Martin came to Australia a few years ago as an architectural visualization artist and felt unfulfilled. With no plan B in place, he gave up his visualization career and started photographing architectural projects around Sydney for his own portfolio which quickly saw him working with some of the most prominent architectural firms in Australia.
Instagram seems like an endless pool of finding exceptional photographers and when by chance I came across Peter Molick’s profile, I was immediately enamoured by his very clean and crisp interiors photography and by his architectural art photography which has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale.
I absolutely love cycling, so when I think of Mallorca off the coast of Spain, the first thing pops into my mind is the winter training camps for all the professional racing teams. To be honest with you, I’ve never really made much of a connection between architecture and Mallorca — an island that is only 1,405 square miles.
Initially only known by his Instagram pseudonym CB or CityBoy, Eric Petschek is a New York-based interiors & architectural photographer. Trained as an Interior Designer, Eric got on the Instagram game early and used the platform to chronicle his views on the spaces he had visited during his travels as an interior designer, which laid the foundation for Eric to transition into full time interior photographer.
Veeral Patel