“Instead of Seeing Obstacles, Recognize Opportunities to Make Something Truly Memorable”

by Lexi Taciak September 13, 2024September 5, 2024 1 Project of the Week

When was the last time you had to pick your jaw up off the floor? Mine was after seeing doublespace photography’s photographs of Cabot Cliffs by FBM Design. This shoot brings the drama – striking clouds, wild weather, painterly light, and a village nestled into the landscape that feels so idyllic, it actually hurts my heart that I don’t live there!

Younes Bounhar of doublespace was kind enough to speak about this incredible shoot, so I’ll hand him the figurative mic here:

“This shoot was a commission for the architect firm FBM out of Halifax. Cabot Cliffs is located in Cape Breton, NS on one of the most beautiful golf courses you’ll ever see, perched right above the ocean,” Younes explains. “The scenery is truly magical. As a landscape photographer at heart, there is nothing sweeter for me than when architecture and landscape meet. So in many ways, this was a dream assignment.”

He continues, “However, dreams can often go awry. To say that the shoot was challenging is an epic understatement. We did all we could to schedule our flights at the last minute to ensure some decent weather, but by the time we showed up, all we got was rain – and a lot of it.

It rained when we landed, it rained during the four hour drive and then it poured for the 3 days we were on site. As you may know, we sort of made a career of shooting in what many consider shit weather. So, what you might think is a curse turned out to be an absolute blessing.

The dark, foreboding skies, combined with the wet conditions really brought out the best out of this project. The images we produced ended up being some of my absolute favourite that year. The project just won a Governor General Medal in architecture, Canada’s most prestigious architecture prize.”

The “foreboding clouds” are the secret sauce that sets this wonderful project apart – and as Younes said – doublespace’s work as a whole.

In an endless stream of photographs of bright white boxes shot under blue skies, Younes and Amanda’s shingle siding, coastal cottages blanketed between black clouds, and (usually) icy angry seas are always a welcome site.

The fragile light, the layered compositions, the tonality – there is so much to love here. What I always admire about doublespace’s work is the outpouring of attention to the things that matter and the disregard for the things that don’t.

Do you understand the village-style setup of Cabot Cliffs? Do you see the materiality and the interplay of light? The careful arrangement of the homes and how they sit in relation to each other and the landscape? Yes. Do you care about the patches in the grass or the occasional errant stalk? Absolutely not.

“I think we often get tied in knots over things we have no control over. The weather being one of the most glaring examples,” Younes says. “This shoot is a reminder that you just have to go with the flow and embrace the conditions you are given. Instead of seeing obstacles, recognize opportunities to make something truly memorable.”

I asked Younes to delve into the making of his favorite photographs from this shoot. They are as follows:

He starts, “[The photo below] is without a doubt my favourite of the entire shoot. The site is in fact quite challenging.

The villas are fairly tightly bunched (as you can see from the aerials). On top of that, while the hilly nature of the terrain creates interesting opportunities, it also makes lines of sight and compositions a bit complicated. I really wanted to create an image that conveyed 1) the “village” aspect of the project, 2) the rolling hills of the landscape and 3) the feeling of peace and serenity that you get in this incredible setting.

It took quite a bit of walking around and wrangling with compositions until I landed on this one. In the end, as is often the case, less is more. By just showing glimpses of a select few buildings and of the landscape, I feel like I hit all 3 of my objectives. From a technical perspective, it is a very simple image. A polarizer was key in bringing out the saturation in the grass. I applied a bit of burning to emphasize the dark clouds in the sky.”

He goes on, “If the previous image was about planning and premeditation, these two are all about reading and reacting. The last sunrise of the shoot treated us to the darkest clouds we’d had. However, we could see some clearing in the distance. So with a bit of patience and a lot of praying to the Gods of Light, we waited and hoped.

We were treated to my favourite kind of light: golden rays of sun and dark black clouds! Having spent almost 3 days on site meant that I was very familiar with potential angles and compositions. As soon as the sun broke through I just raced through the field to catch as much of it as I could. Post-processing here is essentially non-existent.“

As evening falls, we are met with the same moody broody dark clouds above, but now our subjects and the foreground are awash with that early twilight blue tonality. Younes captures one of the villa’s lights on, adding a lovely contrast and glowing beacon for our eyes to land on.

What an absolutely stunning project. Thank you so much for sharing this with us Younes, and congratulations on the well deserved accolades for this series!