Marcus Stork Juggles Making Gorgeous Photos and A Film of Villa Box Just Outside of Stockholm

by Lexi Taciak June 28, 2024June 27, 2024 1 Project of the Week

“[Villa Box is] a top-notch designed house in an amazing location on top of the rocks over the bay of Skuru, just outside Stockholm. It was a pleasure to work in and around the property,” explains architectural photographer Marcus Stork about this week’s featured project. Marcus’s photographs of Villa Box by Mattisson Arkitektur, with styling by Real Living STHLM, are lovely, natural, and a joy to view. This project was the winner of “Best Photography” at Architecture Masterprize 2023, and rightfully so!

He goes on, “While standing on the roof I could see for miles away with the great scenery of the bay and the inner archipelago of Stockholm. This was also captured in the house with the big window walls, like huge artworks.”

Marcus’s work boasts lovely shadows, natural colorations, and great compositions that make such good use of the lines present throughout the property.

Marcus shares, “There were a few things that made this shoot challenging. First of all the shoot was for two different clients – the architect, who built and was living in the house, and a high-end real estate company that was selling the property. I was also making a film and stills for them both, with a bit of difference in the production and lengths for the film. For the stills, I was keeping it pretty much the same except for some extra details for the architect.”

“The house was big for Swedish standards (about 600 sqm) and the shoot was planned as a whole day,” he says. “During the day with the sun changing the light in the space I had to plan my shooting after that, and I where also changing between stills and film many times during the day, sometimes from room to room.

I went back to shoot a few rooms 2-3 times in different lights, like the kitchen dining area that was located on the southeast side of the house. The weather was pretty good but some mixed clouds were also changing things for me. In the end, I went back to the property two more times during the spell of a few weeks as the architect client wanted some extra things for both the film and stills. The last time was just as the Fall was beginning to make its mark on the trees around, which you can see in some of the shots.”

“For the post-processing of these images, I would say I haven’t done that much except for the regular settings, a little bit of extra punch, and cleaning up a few details. The light was so pleasant and what I was looking for. I had to plan when to shoot these images to get the light I wanted. I mostly work very naturally, this is also the style of photography preferred here,” he explains.

I love the shadows and highlights here. They create even more lines in the scene, adding to the movement and rhythm we find throughout the frame.

All throughout this project, Marcus makes use of beautiful directional light that adds plenty of dimensionality to each scene.

There is tons of visual interest and a lovely warmth in each photograph.

More crisp shadows and punchy highlights communicate the rectilinear shapes and hard angles that make up this villa.

Marcus also uses soft light to create a calming mood in spaces like this bedroom – keeping things tranquil.

“I love the drone shot from straight above the house – with the warm summer evening light hitting the house giving those long shadows, and the Swedish flag waving the wind above the pool area,” says Marcus.

What a beautiful scene! We get such a good sense of time and place here, as well as loads of context about how the villa sits in relation to its environment.

A massive thank you to Marcus for sharing this project with us. Not only was he able to juggle making beautiful photographs for multiple clients, but he also made this awesome video of Villa Box as well!