Architectural Photography Almanac
A resource for working professional photographers and design industry professionals featuring news, commentary, equipment resources, and original articles
Last month Louis Vuitton’s creative director, Nicolas Ghesquière, unveiled his 2023 Cruise Collection at one of America’s most iconic architectural locations, the Salk Institute designed by the legendary architect, Louis Kahn. The first event of its kind to be hosted at the Salk Institute, the building’s travertine courtyard was converted into a temporary runway for the event.
This edition of Story of an Image takes us to central China to photograph a large-scale mixed-use development designed by global architects, Woods Bagot. We ended up staying on site for four and a half days to capture this skyline-defining project. Here’s the story of one of our favorite images from what became one of our most enjoyable shoots of 2021.
While much of the world is learning to live with the virus, China is continuing to pursue its zero-COVID policy which has seen varying levels of lockdowns across the vast country. None more severe than the one taking place in Shanghai right now, where nearly all of its 26 million residents remain stuck at home in a lockdown that has made headlines across the globe.
It is the escape scene at the end of Shawshank Redemption. Andy Dufresne stands in the rain, his arms outstretched, looking up into the night sky with the camera rising up above him as the music crescendos. Do you see it? It is cinematic moments like these that can become indelibly imprinted in our minds and both consciously and subconsciously influence and inspire our artistic choices and our communication of visual ideas.
Last year I wrote an article entitled, Architecture Versus Photography as a Profession: 5 Takeaways a Year After the Transition that summarized some of my initial observations between working as an architect and then a photographer. Since then, several of my architect friends and former colleagues have told me that they felt the article leaned a bit towards photography as my preferred profession.
This edition of Story of an Image keeps us here in Shanghai and takes a look at a building that people seem to either love or hate: Tian An 1000 Trees designed by London-based Heatherwick Studio. This is the story of an image that was actually taken while on assignment to film the project.
As architectural photographers, we are not wanting for options to get our work recognized. Awards for architectural photography are abundant, with new contests seemingly popping up each year.
Last year was the first year that I decided to submit some of my work to these competitions. I found the process of looking for and reviewing all the information and criteria for the various contests a bit onerous and time-consuming.
Behind-the-scenes content is some of the most enjoyable and informative to consume in my opinion. I love seeing how other photographers go about their business and find this is a great way to quickly pick up new ways of working that I may be able to incorporate into my own work.
Along those lines, everyone’s favorite modern furniture distributor, Design Within Reach, created a short time-lapse film showcasing how they go about creating their product imagery from the ground up.
I absolutely love cruise vacations! For me, it’s the type of trip where I can mentally check out and worry about little to nothing at all. You have the ability to do as much or as little as you’d like, and on most cruise lines, the guests are treated like royalty. As for the design of the ships themselves, for most of the industry’s existence, it was hard to tell them apart.
Like all of you, I am constantly trying to push myself to improve as a photographer. Honing our craft is paramount to our continued success and part of the fun of our profession. With that in mind, this year I am looking forward to sharing ideas and techniques that have aided me in my ongoing pursuit of perfection.
Images play a major role in defining how we come to know architecture and interior
spaces. Because photography is pivotal in understanding the built environment, choosing a professional to photograph your project is a most important consideration.
If you’re an architectural photographer looking to have an excellent new year of jobs with good client experiences, communication, and expectations, we have an awesome tool for you!
Just writing about my first book – Budapest Architecture – here makes my heart beat fast.
Before I jump into sharing the how behind this project, I think it is important to tell you the why. Since you’re reading this post on Mike Kelley’s APALMANAC, I assume you’ve already come across his book New Architecture Los Angeles.
Tasked with photographing and documenting spaces and structures mostly for commercial purposes, a lot of what is produced in our genre of photography will be hard pushed to be considered a work of art, especially considering its technical and sometimes rigid nature.
Select individuals however seem to have something extra that allows them to push their work into something greater, something more than simple information about the subject at hand.
Melbourne’s Southbank by Beulah Tower is poised to become the tallest building in the southern hemisphere once completed. The two-tower megadevelopment will eventually rise to 366 meters (1,200 feet) and transform Australia’s ‘garden city.’
The project was born out of an international competition held back in 2018 which was eventually won by a co-authored design by UN Studio and Cox Architecture.
Visualizers and renderers get such bad rap within our industry. Whether that stems from a concern of photographers becoming obsolete or simply ignorance on how much talent and skill some of these creatives possess – I really don’t know. For me personally, I continue to be inspired by how the best visualizers in the game keep pushing the envelope, exploring new ways to showcase their clients’ yet-to-be-built projects.
This latest edition of Story of an Image brings us back to Shanghai as we take a look at an image from a commissioned shoot of Foxconn’s Headquarters building designed by KRIS YAO | ARTECH. The spotlighted image ended up being the final piece of a puzzle to placing the building in its context for the viewer.
There a several famous sports-related quotes related to basics and fundamentals, but to paraphrase many of them…to become a highly skilled master of your craft, you have to master the basics. Several years ago when I photographed my first architecture-related job (it was a modest property for a real estate listing), I honestly had no idea what I was doing.
As we approach the twentieth anniversary of the attacks carried out on September 11th, 2001, I continue to be affected by the ability of architecture to encourage the public’s memory to endure and, in the best examples, help them heal as well. The National September 11 Memorial in New York City is one such example.
It’s (finally) Olympics time again, and you know what that means – it’s time to talk Olympics venue architecture – a topic fraught with divergent opinions on whether or not it makes sense to hold the games (and thus house said games) in a different city every couple of years. The economic and environmental impacts of the games aside, the Olympic Games have given rise to some of the most iconic architecture this planet has ever seen.
This edition of Story of an Image is not necessarily a showcase of how you should go about creating a beautiful image, but rather an exercise in being resourceful if you ever find yourself unprepared and without the proper tools. This is the story of a somewhat random outing in Shanghai which led to the creation of one of my favorite images I have ever taken.
Justin Szeremeta
Shawn Talbot
Matthew Anderson
Lexi Taciak
György Palkó
Ramon Portelli