As photographers, we spend a great deal of time thinking about how we can make money. In her latest journal article, photographer Marnie Hawson challenges us to think about how we can use our money.
Marnie Hawson is an environmental scientist turned architectural and interiors photographer.
A year ago, I hesitated to answer this difficult question with a fairly obvious answer for a long time.Is there any place for such a business in a country where all the processes of peaceful life have slowed down or stopped normal activities of a peaceful life?
Once upon a time, whenever I’d watch a movie, I was focused on who the characters were and what the plot was about.
Now, I also look a lot at the cinematography, because if beautiful cinematography isn’t a complementary course in filmmaking and learning about light that’s going to help me with my interiors and architectural photography, I don’t know what is.
In the summer of 2022, a lot of buzz and hype was created around AI visual generator tools that would allow enthusiasts to create images simply by describing them with keywords. Artificial intelligence research firm OpenAI conducted a wide-scale beta test of DALL-E, a cutting-edge software that creates images from textual descriptions (APA writer Kyrre Sundal shows a great example of its functionality here).
Introduction
In my previous article on beginning your journey into architectural filmmaking, we weighed the pros and cons of delving into offering video services to your clients. If you’ve decided that pursuing motion work is indeed the direction that you want to follow, let’s now identify and explore the initial steps you need to take in order to execute your first architectural video.
You might know Oahu-based Architectural photographer Adam Taylor from his “License Your Photos” course, marketing email templates, or other educational bits. Adam shared his newest video with us – “11 Unconventional Tips to Becoming a Better Photographer,” and it is definitely worth checking out.
Youtube can be a great learning source for photographers, however, I find that the algorithm constantly recommends click-bait videos with yelling presenters that might not be for everyone. Last week I stumbled upon a video worth sharing by Landscape Photographer Christian Möhrle in which he compiles Lightroom tips and tricks in a comprehensive way.
Last year my fellow writer, Veeral, put together a fantastic article entitled, ‘Getting Started in Architectural Filmmaking’ which focused on the new opportunities the medium provides and showcases some beautiful examples of videos that take a more sophisticated and minimalist approach to capturing architectural space.
As an architectural photographer, you also have a great interest in architecture itself. If you are not a trained architect, it’s a good idea to further your knowledge and understanding of architectural theory and ideas, to better understand architects and what they find important in their building design.
I was recently introduced to a very interesting and eerie photo book project that is a collaboration between architectural photographer Adam Reynolds and fine art photographer Jeanine Michna-Bales – aptly named COUNTDOWN.
Adam – who in addition to his client-commissioned architectural photography work – has photographed past projects like documenting Isreal’s bomb shelters.
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.
Joe Fletcher is arguably one of the most admired architectural photographers, and – rightfully so – his work is held in high regard. His photographs are mesmerizing – infused with a sense of place and time, thoughtfully composed, and beautifully lit.
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.
As I sit here about to enter the fourth week of mandatory stay-at-home lockdown in Shanghai, I have had a lot of time to think about where I am in my career as a photographer and inevitably, scroll through social media to compare where my perceived competitors are as well.
Dubbed one of the most important chairs of the 20th century, the Cesca chair quickly became a design icon, showcased in museum collections and movie sets across the globe.
Born out of the German art school, the Bauhaus, Marcel Breuer conceived of the chair (then called the B-32) in the late 1920s.
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.
My career began some 20 years ago as a staff photographer for an advertising agency. I was a part of countless brand discoveries where we started from scratch and developed a company’s brand strategy. The style of photography was selected to match the brand that had been devised based on market research, customer analytics, demographics, unique selling propositions and what would resonate on an emotional level to inspire a consumer to buy.
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.
