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MATTHEW LAMBERTBA3 ARCHITECTURE
ARC220: DISSERTATION STUDIES
PHOTOGRAPHY:THE VISION OF ARCHITECTURE
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PHOTOGRAPHY-THE VISION OF ARCHITECTUREContents:
01. Introductiona. Realising The Vision
b. A History Of Architectural Photography
02. A Part Of The Visual Language Of Architecture:a. Documenting Architecture – The Informative Style
b. The Development of Contrasting Approaches – Art Vs. Information
c. A New Photography of Art and Information
d. The Visual Language Of Modernism
e. Art And Information
03. The Architectural Photograph As A Tool Of The Promotera. The Distribution Of Images
b. The Relationship Of Architect and Photographe
c. Social Awareness Of Cosumerist Idealism
d. Architectural Photography Today
04. Visualising Architecturea. Architectural Photography Today
b. Architectural Photography As Art
c. The Vision Of Architecture
References
Bibliography
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01 – Introduction
Fig. 1 Photographer: Eric De Mare Self Portrait
a. Realising The Vision
Architecture and architectural photography have shared a close
relationship from the beginning of the 20th Century. Photography has
provided an insight into past architecture, affected design movements and
allowed us to draw conclusions about the way in which Architecture is
perceived.
I have looked at styles in architectural photography by considering two
ends of the spectrum with pictorialism on the one hand and
representationalism on the other. Inevitably though, just as architectural
language takes account of both the detail and the wider context of the
building the most successful examples fall somewhere in between the
artistic and the merely documentary.
I have investigated a theme which seems to run throughout the story of
architectural photograph: the extent to which architectural photography is
art or information. Photographers are both in the business of providing
information and interpreting to provide artistic insight, conveying the
language of architecture and making stylistic choices to dictate its
representation.
- 4 -I wanted to look at the use of Architectural photography as a promotional
tool for the architect, This study also considers whether the camera
truthfully depicts buildings and how in striving to promote the
building/architect the photographer sometimes neglects the buildings
users. I have looked at how pictures have been used to encourage an
awareness of architecture in a social context. The study also considers the
emergence of architectural photography as art in its own right.
b. Overview: A History Of Architectural Photography
In 1839 the Daguerrotype was revealed and became the first viable
photographic process, it was invented by a painter who’s mission to depict
architecture had led to its invention, and was a direct positive image
formed on a silver-coated copper plate. The photograph became a
powerful tool with which to record architecture, as up until its invention
there was a reliance on precise illustration and engravings 1.
Photography’s new method of representation boasted a number of
advantages over traditional methods: it could record accurate detail; was a
lot quicker than drawing; and it was an precise and accurate way of
recording that appeared to expel human error prevalent in traditional
documenting. Photographs were also used as a method of recording
architectural precedents from around the world and allowed architects to
see buildings and styles that without photography wouldn’t have had such
an influence on their stylistic sensibilities. During this period architectural
thought and inspiration was directed to the past and photography was
used as a method of recording historic monuments the quality of which
was dictated by the technological limits of the medium 2. People featured
little in early photographs due to the long exposure times needed for early
emulsion’s low sensitivity and sky’s were dull white patches due to the
emulsion being oversensitive to the colour blue. Early photographic
equipment wasn’t easy to use on site, it was bulky and produced small
mirror images 2.
The daguerrotype process was by no means perfect, and most held the
view that earlier modes of representation - plan section and elevation were
far superior.
- 5 -The 1860’s saw a style emerge due to a more entrepreneurial outlook that
many photographers adopted during this period. It was also at this time
when the first architects were seeing potential in photographs as
conveyors of information, they documented not only their work in progress
but past completed projects with which to impress possible future clients 2.
The photography of this period was greatly affected by the spread of
urbanization, and many buildings were photographed as a record for
future development of the area. Large sweeping views of cities and
panorama’s of the urban environment looked to promote a message of
civilization and progress 2. Figure 2 shows an example of a photo used to
record architecture that was soon to be demolished.
Fig. 2 Photographer: Marshall WaynePhoto Of House, Edinborough
A major leap forward in terms of distribution of architectural photography
occurred in the 1880’s, the half-tone block allowed the reproduction of
both image and text onto the printed page. Soon a number of magazines
such as the Architectural review (1891) were created beginning the
spread architectural discourse to the masses that would have a great
influence not just on Architectural photography but on the way in which the
whole of Architecture was perceived.
- 6 -In the early 1900’s architects began to recognise photography’s potential
as a promotional tool, with their buildings becoming known through
images in journals, architects realised that to embrace the medium would
mean a direct control over both their own image and the image of the
buildings they created. The modernist movement in architecture radically
changed the styles adopted by architectural photographers and prompted
a new consideration of machines and and industry. For the next decade
architectural photography embraced modernism and was crucial in the
distribution of its image to the masses, two prime providers of modernist
imagery were Hedrich Blessing and Dell & Wainwright.2
Architectural photography looked to provide the imagery that would
compliment the literature and design ethos of the modernist movement
with journals now allowing a combination of words and images that could
be used to influence the way architecture was perceived.
The second world war prompted an evaluation of national monuments and
buildings to be recorded by photographic means as a method of
preservation in case they were bombed. In England The National
Buildings Record was founded in 1941 capturing images of national pride
to be used as propaganda. Fig. 3 Photographer : Herbert Mason
Saint Paul’s, London, in the Blitz, 29 December 1940
2
- 7 -This photo appeared in the Daily Mail in 1940 and was used as
propaganda to strengthen the nations resolve. 3
There were no large changes to the photographic style prevalent in the
1930’s after the war, photographers instead refined and perfected
previous ideas about composition and light. Post-war photographers
found an interest in re-evaluating their heritage and investigating what had
been protected during the war. Architectural photographers of the next two
decades were split between those photographers who concentrated on
contemporary buildings and photographers with a revived interest in
vernacular architecture, such as Eric de Mare. Eric de Mare’s photo’s of
the British vernacular formulated his theory of the ‘functionalist tradition’,
and looked to finding a direct link between past industrial architectural
heritage and modern functionalist theories.
The post-war architectural photography in the United States was
dominated by three main photographers, Julius Shulman, Ezra Stoller and
the distinctive style of Hedrich Blessing.
Stoller rejected the style prevalent in the 1930’s of distorting ‘forced
perspective’ and ‘queer angles’ using a much more restrained classical
approach of elevational images capturing accurate portraits of the
architects idea 2. Shulman’s perspective was one of relating a lifestyle to
architecture. His photo’s of the case study houses 1945-67 are utopian
images of a consumerist dream.4
John Donat was a reactionary against this kind of ‘perfectionist’
photography, looking to portray architecture in a more messy realistic way.
The last thirty years have seen the emergence of colour effecting post-
modern architecture, and digital technology posing questions as to the
future of the medium.
3
2
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02 - A Part Of The Visual Language Of Architecture
a. Documenting Architecture - The Informative Style
The 1840s-1860s saw many expeditions across the world documenting
famous architectural sites of cultural significance.
The architect has always looked for ways of recording precedents to aid
him in analysis and photography had an immeasurable effect on the ease
and accuracy with which ancient architecture could be documented,
allowing a more detailed and thorough investigation of precedents and
architectural styles.The photograph proved an invaluable means of
recording architecture as up until its invention there was a reliance on
precise illustration and engravings to document buildings 5.
Architects were influenced by these photographs of architecture from
different cultures and many architects used them as direct visual
inspiration for reapplying in designs of their own. In the 1870’s Antoni
Gaudi studied heliotype reproductions of photographs of architecture
acquired by the Escuela de Arquitectura de Barcelona of many varied
styles from Spanish to Egyptian. 2
In 1880 T.R Smith remarked in ‘The Practice of An Architect’
“foreign travel, photography and the multiplication of all kinds of pictorial
illustrations, have made all the art of the past property of the present …
our very wealth of knowledge is always likely to prevent our universal
adherence to any one style or manner in art” 6
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Fig. 4 James Hay
Unexecuted Design for the Anglican Cathedral
Liverpool
Figure 4 highlights the possible danger of photography as an informant,
spreading multi-cultural information that could be misinterpreted and is a
sentiment that resonated in the twentieth century with the spread of the
international style. Many architects in the twentieth century only saw the
international style in architecture through photographs, and photographs
of the day were black and white. This led to architects misguidedly design
in a monochromatic International style. 7
b. The Development of Contrasting Styles
When photography was invented to many it was seen as a way of
imitating art. The advancement in technology allowing more accurate
representations of architecture prompted a step away from photography
as art towards photography as information.
As early architectural photographers experimented more with the medium
they developed an artistic style that looked to capture the atmosphere of
the architecture. In a major photographic expedition in the 1850s five
architectural photographers were assigned specific regions of France
where they recorded several cultural buildings. 8 The results of the
’Voyages picturesque et romantiques dans l’ancienne France’ showed that
Photographers could impress their own style upon the photo, the
- 10 -photograph was being used as part of the language of architecture. Two
stylistically contrasting architectural photographers of the expedition were
Jean-Louis-Henri Le Secq Des Tournelles and Edouard Baldus
Fig. 5 Fig. 6
Photographer: Jean-Louis Henri Photographer: Edouard Baldus Le Secq Des Tournelles Temple of Augustus and Livia, Vienne, 1851 West Door, Church of Saint-Loup, Salt Print
1851
Salt Print
It is clear that the photographers have addressed their subject in different
ways. Baldus looking to record as much detail as possible of the whole
building and Le Secq taking a small fragment to show the building’s
emotive characteristics. Figure 1. shows Le secq’s use of light and
shadow to emphasise architectural detail of the building fragment,
whereas in Figure 2. Baldus takes account of the whole building and uses
sharp contrasts to render fine detail. These contrasting ways of looking at
architecture were to resonate throughout the history of its photography.
The pictorialist style was a reaction against more precise methods of
photography, immitating painting rather than striving for accurate detail.
Advancements in technology allowing photographers to record buildings
with ever more refined detail strengthened the divide between the
pictorialist and architectural photographers.
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Fig 7. Fig 8.Photographer: Alfred Stieglitz Photographer: Bedford lemere and co Flatiron building, New York, 1903 Charles Jenner & Co., Edinburgh, 1895Gravure on vellum Gelatine silver print
Architect: Daniel H Burnham Architect: George Beattie & Son
Figures 7. and 9. show how this contrast in styles in architectural
photography developed into the late 1800’s early 1900’s. Alfred Stieglitz
was a proponent of the Pictorialist style and Figure 9 shows pictorialisms
power in capturing an ethereal atmosphere, the building rising up behind
the trees as a statement of the power of architecture in dominating the
landscape. Figure 4 shows Bedford Lemere and Co.s predilection with the
strict informative style and translates the grandiose architectural beauty
with sharp contrasting shadows.
The separation in architectural photography between art and information
continued into the twentieth century, but the way in which each approach
developed began to blur the boundaries as architectural photographers
started investigating exactly what a photograph can reveal.
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c. A New Photography of Art And Information
The modern movement in architecture brought about a change in the
responsibilities of the architectural photograph with architects now using it
not only as a tool with which to spread the message of modernism to the
media but with which to inspire a new way of thinking about design.
Moholy-Nagy, a prominent member of the Bauhaus from 1921
encouraged greater experimentation in different types of photographic
images and was inspired by cubism and constructivism. 8
The ‘New Objectivity’ movement had a profound effect on the style of
architectural photography and in Germany photographers developed the
‘New Photography’, a precise style the ethos of which was to portray the
materiality and raw elements of the architecture using abstract geometry 9.
Albert Renger-Patzsch was a prominent architectural photographer of the
New photography. His philosophy concentrated on the clear depiction of
surfaces and expressing isolated details in buildings to prompt an abstract
consideration of form.
- 13 -
Fig. 9 Fig. 10 Photographer: Laszlo Moholy Nagy Photographer: Albert Renger Patzsch Bauhuas Balconies, Dessau, 1926 Blast Furnaces, Herrenwick 1927 Gelatine silver print Gelatine silver print.
Architect: Walter Gropius
d. The Visual Language Of Modernism
In figure 6 we can see how Patzsch brings together light and dark
elements to express a specific geometric relationship of masses. Two
divisions of new photography existed in the 1920s, one of which was
Patzsch was a proponent the other Mohohly Nagy headed with Alexander
Rodchenko to investigative a more expressive style. They focused on the
use of ‘birds-eye’ and ‘worms-eye’ views to present ‘new experiences of
space’ 10. Their investigations prompted a new way of thinking in
photography towards portraying space and volume. In figure 5 the tilted
view and extreme perspective give a tremendous sense of height and
space.
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Fig. 11 Fig. 12Photographer: Dell & Wainwright Photographer: Francis Rowland Yerbury Gull Rock, Carlyon Bay, Cornwall 1936 Sprinkenhof, Hamburg, 1929
Gelatine silver print Gelatine silver print
Architect: Marshall Sisson Architect: Fritz Hoger with Hans &
Oskar Gerson
The effect of the New Photography was profound and photography was
now seen as a key conveyor of the language of modernism. From the
1930’s photography started to be the driving force behind its promotion,
Dell & Wainwright, and Francis Yerbury exemplifying the stylistic approach
of architectural photographers of this period. 8
Yerbury’s style was not extreme in its compositional emphasis but the
subject matter of his images were innovative, taking the role of stylistic
informant and allowing British architects insight into modernist architecture
abroad. In Figure 12 the photograph’s almost Patzsch-like geometry and
concentration on the buildings façade surface depicting the array of
windows in an enticing yet unstifling composition.
Dell and Wainwright first appeared in the Architectural Review in 1929
with ground-breaking photographs entirely encapsulating the modernist
spirit(ref bwl). The images of Dell and Wainwright use the camera’s
- 15 -abilities to powerful effect expressing the dramatics of architecture using
many key devices of new photography, bold cast shadows, tipped views
with strong diagonals. Figure 11. uses a one point perspective to
effectively expand and exagerate space.
Fig. 13 Fig. 14Photographer: Lucien Herve Photographer: Ezra Stoller
1 ‘Daguerre and Niépce - The invention of photography’
from About Photography - http://photography.about.com
2 Robert Elwall, Building With Light – An International History Of Architectural Photography, Merrel, 20042
23 Daily Mail 11th December 29 1940 pg 13.
2
4 Julius Shulman, Architecture And Its Photography, Cologne and London (Taschen), 1998
5 Kenneth Frampton, Modern Architecture – A Critical History, Thames & Hudson, Third Edition 19922
6 T.R.Smith, ‘The Practice Of The Architect’, British Quarterly, 1880 p.426
7 The Architects Journal August 1979 ‘The Craven Image’
8 Robert Elwall - Building With Light – An International History Of Architectural Photography, Merrel, 20048
9 Kenneth Frampton, Modern Architecture – A Critical History, Thames & Hudson, Third Edition, 1992
10 Lazlo Moholy Nagy ‘A New Instrument Of Vision’ Telehor Vol 1February 1936 p.368
- 16 -Villa Shodan, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Ahmedabad, 1955 New York, 1963
Architect: Le Corbusier Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Figure 13 and 14 contrast in terms of texture but share a commonality of
purpose, they both strive to depict form and space. Figure 13 shows
Herve’s style of photography with its striking use of shadows and
composition which complimented Le Corbusiers personal view of
architecture as the ‘shrewd, rigorous and magnificent play of volumes
assembled in light’.11 Much of Herve’s inspiration stems from his interest in
New photography’s abstract views and concentration on expressing the
materials. The photograph shows his use of light and shadow to sculpt the
‘Beton brut’ creation Villa Shodan by Le Corbusier, expressing both the
solidity and seeming plasticity of concrete. In Figure 10 Ezra Stoller uses a
similar upward looking perspective looking to convey a spatial relationship
and give an amazing sense of depth trying to emulate the experience of
being inside the Guggenheim. Stoller took a classical approach to
photography and the use of elevational shots were common in his work
much like Baldus a century earlier. The subtly of his style looked to
capture a bold and simplified image which translated the architecture
directly without over dramatising. The crisp precise style of Stoller allows
the architecture to speak without distorting or mistranslating the visual
language.
e. Art And Information
11 Domus 2002 Mar n846 p.20
- 17 -As photographers commanded a more sophisticated approach to the
medium an interdependence between the objects photographed and the
two dimensional images of them developed. This interdependence
developed to the point where architectural photography became an
integral part of design communication. The philosophy of architectural
photographers vary but two key traits that can be traced through the
above figures (5-14) is that of Art and Information. The style chosen by the
photographer reflects their philosophy towards architectural
representation. The first style is of an architectural photography that looks
to purvey information:
Informative Style -Taking an informative and subjective viewpoint, looking
to document and simply ‘show’ the architecture to the viewer.
For example the photo’s of Baldus, Renger-Patzsch and Stoller show
similar philosophies with a view to accurately represent the architecture
with an emphasis of showing a particular architectural quality the
photographer thought prevailed, this style can be seen in Fig. 2,4,6,8 and
10.
Artistic Style - Using the camera creatively to convey the language of the
architecture it depicts.
Photographers who exemplify this style are Alfred Stieglitz, Mohohly Nagy
and Lucien Herve and can be seen by the photographs in Fig 1,3,5,7,9
illuminating a view of architecture as art, of the photograph as interpreter
and as an inspiration to the viewing of Architecture in unusual ways. This
style can also be used to influence and persuade, utilised to useful effect
by photographers involved in promotion.
03 - Architectural Photography: A Tool For Promotion The photograph provides a way of conveying an image and a message of
architecture, and with the invention of magazines and journals its pictorial
representation became widespread. Architects at the start of the twentieth
century started to realise the visual impact of photograph could have on its
viewer and they began to consider their value in promoting their work.
- 18 -
a.The Distribution Of Images
The rise of the architectural photograph coincided with the rise of popular
magazines and journals. Although at first photography was unable to
contribute due to its incompatibility with type, with the invention of the half-
tone block in the late 1880’s photographs and typed words were able to be
printed onto the same page.12 This meant that architectural photography
could make a valid contribution to architectural debate.
Magazines such as the Architectural Record, Architectural Review and
Country Life. began to be published. This opened up an avenue of
promotion for the architect in which buildings could be shown via the
medium of Architectural Photography.
The realisation that to embrace the medium would mean a direct control
over both their own image and the buildings they created led to several
architects to taking up photography, Frank Lloyd Wright used cleaned up
versions of photo’s and Le Corbusier practiced photography for a time. 12
12 Robert Elwall - Building With Light – An International History Of Architectural Photography, Merrel, 2004
1
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Fig. 17 Architectural Review Vol. 85 march 1939
From the start of the twentieth century Architectural photography provided
the imagery to compliment the literature and design ethos of the modernist
movement with journals now allowing a combination of words and images
that could be used to influence the way architecture was perceived (Figure
17). In the early 1900s as images of architecture became more
widespread architects began to realise that photographs weren’t just
mirror images of the architecture they depicted, that in fact the
photographer has several editorial choices effecting the photograph’s
composition and in turn the perception of the architecture.
b. The Relationship Between Architect And Photographer
As architects realised the potential of Photography as a tool of promotion
relationships developed between architects and photographers
sympathetic to their particular design style, with many photographers
becoming lifelong documenters of one particular Architect. An important
example of such a relationship is Richard Neutra and the photographer
Julius Shulman, their meeting in 1939 effectively starting Shulman’s
career13.
- 20 -
Fig 18 – Photographer: Julius Shulman
Case Study House #22
Los Angeles, 1960
Architect: Pierre Koenig
Shulman’s images were regularly featured in popular magazines of the
day such House and Garden, Good housekeeping and Life using people
in his pictures with which to show architecture as a fashionable accessory
to living. Figure 18 shows Shulmans iconic image of the Case Study
House #22 and is a prime example of Shulmans ability to create images of
the modernist American dream, looked at with a critical eye the images
were nothing but staged reproductions of real life situations for which the
building was to function.
In ‘Architecture and Its Photography’ Shulman recounts a story which
highlights the danger of the architect closely associating with the
photographer –
‘…while I was photographing the business education building by architect
Richard Neutra and focusing my camera a blurred object suddenly
13 Julius Shulman, Architecture And Its Photography, Cologne and London (Taschen), 1998
- 21 -appeared on the ground glass of the camera. Lifting my head I observed
Neutra holding a small branch within inches of my camera lens “Richard,”
I exclaimed, “what are you doing?” He said, that he wanted to “cover the
area where the building met the concrete walk, the contractor didn’t do it
right!”’14
The danger of an over sympathetic Architectural photographer it seems
was to present an unrealistic image of architecture. The growing imagery
of the modernist movement of seemingly ‘perfect’ imagery was criticised
for simply engaging on a fashionable or stylistic level and not getting in
touch with the actual architectural qualities present. Images were being
produced by the architect’s personal photographers and being sold to
magazines rather than the magazines employing critical photo-journalists.
This meant the type of imagery contained in journals of the day were clean
images of a modernism that appeared to ‘work’ as apposed to addressing
the often harsh and aesthetically less pleasing realities present in the
building.
Many buildings which Dell and Wainwright photographed suffered from
structural faults and staining of materials15 Dell and Wainwright’s ‘artistic
license’ transcends the physicality of architecture to promote conceptual
idea’s and in doing so neglects the people who use the building. This led
to a reaction against this sort of imagery, and asked if Architectural
photography could benefit from being more socially aware.
d. Social Awareness or Consumerist Idealism
In 1979 an article in the Architects Journal ‘The Craven Image’, Tom
Picton raises an important question:
14 Julius Shulman, Architecture And Its Photography, Cologne and London (Taschen), 1998 pg. 137
15 Robert Elwall - Building With Light – An International History Of Architectural Photography, Merrel, 2004
- 22 -‘To whom is the Architectural Photographer responsible? To the architect
or to the people who are actually going to use the building?’
It is a question posed to John Donat who responds ‘to both-you must’. 16
Donat was a photographer who spoke out against past promotionalist
propaganda photography like that of Dell and Wainwright, remarking that
this kind of photography ‘ignores life’17 and that architectural photography
is a subsitute for real experience’18. In his talk at the RIBA entitled ‘The
Camera Always Lies’ Donat speaks out against many traditional methods
in Architectural Photography such as the Camera with rising front,
claiming it lends itself to stale photography.
‘By the time the porters have unpacked all the gear and set it all up – the
picture has walked away’ 19
Donat instead preferring a quicker more convenient method using smaller
camera’s to capture an ‘experience’ rather than looking for a picture.
Donat’s images look to capture the architecture in use as apposed to
photography in which he felt ‘reality and experience disappear - ART
prevails’.20 Donats aim is to try to give the viewer an experience of the
building as if they have been there.
When we compare Donats image (Figure 19) with that of Shulman we can
see that both Photographers looked to express the architecture using
people. Shulman uses people like actors on a stage set rather than using
them in a more realistic manner such as in Donat’s image.
16 The Architects Journal 1st August 1979 ‘The Craven Image’ pg. 232
17 Ibid.
18 The Architects Journal, 17th January 1998 pg. 198
19 RIBA Journal 1968 Vol 75 ‘The Camera Always Lies’ Feb p.63
20 Ibid.
- 23 -
Fig. 19. Fig. 20
Photographer: John Donat Photographer: Julius Shulman Physics Library At Queen Mary University Case Study #21, 1958
Library London, 1962
Figure 19 and 20 also show a difference in the philosophies of the two
photographers. Shulman’s image is a picture for the consumer, an advert
for living, whereas Donat’s image looks to experience the more messy
realistic side of buildings as they are experienced in reality.
If we ask the question which of which photograph Figure 19 or 20 would
sell the architecture more successfully? A popular answer would be 20.
The biggest provider of architectural imagery is the journal. The Journals
aim is for the promotion of architecture, this means that the majority of
images produced are that of Figure 20, i.e a style with which to sell
architecture to a wider audience.
04 - Visualising ArchitectureArchitectural Photographers have always addressed the either or both of
two key elements, Art and Information. These elements are observations
- 24 -by photographers striving to depict what is ‘Architecture’. Architecture is
complex in representing, therefore photographers have a challenge to
depict Architecture completely accurately.
a. Architectural Photography Today
Architectural photography currently is widespread, although its major
outlet is in Architectural Journals. There is a rising criticism that
architectural photography of the media i.e. in journals, is becoming ever
more fashion conscious and instead of using the camera to show structure
and a spatial planning for which it is a valuable tool, the camera is used as
a simple tool to convey style. On the other hand it could be argued that
improvements in detail and technical drawing in journals has led to
photography becoming slightly redundant. It is obvious however that
photography remains a very important element in the promotion and
representation of architecture, an image can still sell a building.
b. Architectural Photography As Art
Architectural photography in recent years has seen artists embracing the
medium and benefitting from museums and galleries increased interest in
Architectural Photography. Architectural photography is starting to cross
the boundary between artistic interpretation of architecture into an artistic
transformation with computer manipulation opening new avenues, asking
how architectural photography should be depicted in this new digital
medium.
Hiroshi Sugimoto prompts us to look at architecture in a way that allows us
to ponder the inherent fragility of buildings. His photographs of
contemporary Architecture render buildings as blurred images that remove
all the detail and as a result slow down the initial impact of the image, and
allow it to form in our percieved subconscious (Fig. 15)21.
21 Hiroshi Sugimoto: Architecture - Marco De Michelis, Francesco Bonami 2003
- 25 -
Fig 15. Photographer: Hiroshi Sugimoto,
Chrysler Building, New York, 1997
Architect: William Van Alen,
Fig 16. Photographer: Thomas Ruff
The Barcelona Pavilion, Barcelona (from the Exhibition ‘l.m.v.d.r.’ 2000)
Architect: Mies Van Der Rohe
- 26 -The work of Thomas Ruff exemplifies a current digitised outlook toward
photography and art. His photographs look to explore the realm of
perception and what we can interpret from an image. Ruff’s photographs
use computer manipulation and looks at the way in which we percieve the
image, his view being ‘perception has less to do with what we see that
with what our brain does with the information’ 22. In 2000 he undertook a
project taking photo’s of Mies Van Der Rohes buildings, the exhibition
entitled ‘l.m.v.d.r’ looks at computer manipulation as a way of addressing
the representation of architecture investigating how the medium can
express how it architecture is percieved.
Ruff’s work also poses questions as to in what way will architectural
photographers respond to computers allowing a new way of manipulating
imagery, and could mean a shift in what is acceptable as a representation
of a building. Such Artistic ventures give us a separate standpoint with
which to view architecture and indeed architectural photography with new
eyes.
c. Architectural Photograpy As Social Commentator
Architectural photography’s use in recent social documentation has
allowed new approaches to Architectural subjects providing new insight
into Architecture. Gabriele Basilico and his compatriots Mimmo Jodice,
Vincenzo Castella and Guido Guidi use black and white photographs
document chillingly desolate images of the city which he uses to depict the
way in which the urban experience has become unrelated to the cities
historic core23. Figure 21. addresses the issues of urbanisms supposed
liberator: the elevated road, showing the city’s stark reality.
22 A thousand words: Thomas Ruff Talks about "l.m.v.d.r." – Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Brief Article Summer, 2001 by Ronald Jones from findarticles.com
23 Gabriele Basilico - Interupted City , Actar, 1999
- 27 -
Fig. 21 Photographer: Mimmo JodiceNaples, 1978
Gelatine silver print
d.The Vision Of Architecture
Architecture is both about the small details, and the bigger picture,
Architectural photographers have grown to realise this since they began
capturing it. They have realised that a concentration on detail and
information can give us great insight but an ‘artistic’ impression perhaps
tells us more of the larger picture. For example the work of sharp precise
work of Baldus giving us an insight into the detailed physicality of the
architecture is no more valid than Alfred Stieglitz’ contrasting artistic
approach in conveying an architectural sense to the viewer.
The Architectural photograph is a complex method of representation and
can satisfy a range of objectives and to provide a vision of ‘Architecture’
the photographer must be able to comprimise, between art and
- 28 -information, between social reality and consumerist idealism, and
depending on its use either as a tool for promotion or social commentator,
shed new photographic light on the subject. The camera cannot show all
but the photographer can choose what to express.
In the words of photographer Eric De Mare:
‘The camera is a liar…but it can indicate some of the truth’24
24 The Architects Journal 17 January 1968
Bibliography
Books-
Iain Borden, Katerina Ruedi, ‘The Dissertation – An Architecture Student’s Handbook’, Architectural Press 2000.
Gabriele Basilico, Interupted City, Actar, 1999
T.R.Smith, ‘The Practice Of The Architect’, British Quarterly, 1880
Kenneth Frampton, ‘Modern Architecture – A Critical History’ Thames & Hudson, Third Edition, 1992
Hiroshi Sugimoto: Architecture - Marco De Michelis, Francesco Bonami 2003
Robert Elwall, ‘Building With Light – An International History Of Architectural Photography’ Merrel, 2004
Robert Elwall, ‘Photography Takes Command: The Camera And British Architecture 1890-1939’ London, RIBA Heinz gallery 1994
Robert Elwall , ‘Eric De Mare -Architecture In Camera series’ London, Riba publications 2000
Architectural Photography and the Growth of Cities 1850-1914, Stuttgart, 1980
Building Images: Seventy Years Of Photography at Hedich Blessing, Chronicle Books, 2000
Malcom Daniel, The Photographs Of Edouard Baldus, New York, Metropolitan Museum Of Art 1994
Eric de Mare, Photography and Architecture, London, Architectural Press 1961
Norman McGrath, Photographing Buildings Inside and Out, London, Architectural Press, 1987
Julius Shulman, ‘Architecture And Its Photography’, Cologne and London, Taschen, 1998
Julius Shulman, ‘Photographing Architecture and Interiors’. Los Angeles, Balcony Press
Journals-
Domus 2002 Mar n846 p.17-20
The Architects Journal 17 January 1968
The Architects Journal 1st August 1979
The Architects Journal 14th August 1991
The Architects Journal 31st January 2002 v215 P.19
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References
The Architects Journal 4th October 1989 v190 p.90-91
The Architects Journal 16th October 1990 v192 p.90-92
RIBA Journal February 1968 p.63
RIBA Journal July 1991
AA Files Autumn 1991 No.22 p70-74