Pascal Molenat of OTJ Architects Talks Architecture Design & Photography

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.

I had a chance meeting with Unispace’s Global Design Director, Simon Pole, in Melbourne who introduced me to his counterparts in Chicago and New York. A week prior to flying out to New York, my meeting with Unispace’s head of New York office fell through but they arranged for me to meet their Marketing & Communications Director, Pascal Molenat in Boston.

Finally meeting Pascal in Boston, he answered a lot of my questions about architectural photography even had a very in-depth conversation about why there are such huge differences in the interior architecture styles between North America and Australia. What baffled me, even more, was how disparate the style was between the east coast, midwest and west coast.

When I came across this interview of Pascal by architectural photographer, Trent Bell, I was very excited. The interview is long but Pascal touches on a myriad of topics which emerging and experienced photographers alike will appreciate. In my opinion, one of the most important things was what architectural photography means to an architectural firm and what they want to get out of commissioning a photographer. The interview resonated with me because it reminded me of the various tangents of my own conversation with Pascal years ago.