Megan Lorenz Shapes Gorgeous Light In A St. Louis Apartment

On this fine episode of Project of the Week, we’re headed to St. Louis with the lovely architectural photographer Megan Lorenz. Megan’s entire body of work has a clean yet tactile feeling about it, and every image is sublimely lit. This particular project — Park East for interior designer Jacob Laws — is no exception!

Jumping right on in, a nice camera height allows us to see over the couch and into the dining space. It feels as if we are walking through the room as we note how the two spaces connect. Careful attention to little details like the pendant lights hanging perfectly in the center of the space between the frames on the wall creates a clean and tidy feeling in these rooms.

From the other side of the room, Megan further reveals the layout of the space, showing the connection between the living area, island, and master bedroom. Gorgeous light rakes across the room, heightening the texture and shape of each piece of furniture present. There is good spacing between all of the objects in the room, and despite being relatively “full,” our eyes are able to navigate around the scene.

I love the way Megan composes her shots to imply the flow of the home’s floorplan. In both of these images, the subject is obviously the kitchen, but small slices of other rooms and details peeking in help flesh out this project as a whole. I also appreciate her restraint in her exposures, letting there be enough shadow and highlight detail to give the space some mood and depth.

In the first bathroom, nice clean side light washes over the fixtures and vanity. The white marble keeps the room fairly bright, but Megan leaves some shadows from the directional light which keeps the image from falling flat.

The master bedroom seems to be a bit tight, but Megan angles herself in a way to make the photograph be all about the room, and minimize the attention to the bed. Note the way the coat casually thrown over the chaise pulls our attention into the center of the frame, away from the bed and towards the window treatments and other design features. This allows us to pick up the cozy notion of the room without making the shot all about the bed.

A tighter squared up vignette pulls our attention to the repetition of rectangular shapes in the room’s decor. A beautiful gradient of light pulls out the shadows and shapeliness of each design element and gives the simple photograph a great deal of depth and character.

We’ll wrap up this project of the week in the master bath, where we are greeted by beautiful dark tile and strong bold shapes. Megan harnesses a great quality of light, especially in the shot of the tub, which highlights the detail in this very dim room. This allows us to see the outline of the shower glass as well as the black faucet that may have otherwise faded off into the inky tile.

A big thanks to Megan Lorenz who you can follow on Instagram @meganlorenzphoto or check out her work on her site meganlorenz.com.

As always if you have a project you’d like to be considered for Project of the Week, you can submit it here.