‘Archiometry’
Architecture and Geometry: Celebrating shapes, pattern and form in the built environment.
If you’re a wildlife, landscape or people photographer, you may wonder why anyone would want to photograph buildings and the wider built environment. Let me take you on a short photographic journey to explain why it appeals to me. In doing so, I hope to inspire you to try something different if this genre of photography is new to you.
But first of all, a spoiler alert! I’m not aiming for architectural verisimilitude or “record” shots of buildings in my photography. Many of my images have a graphic quality, or lean towards the abstract. What fascinates me are the shapes, patterns and three-dimensional forms we see in the real world, and how to interpret these in the two-dimensional world of photography so as to create visually interesting and stimulating images. As I live in a city, travel by public transport and have a professional background in urbanism, for me photographing buildings and the built environment is a natural vehicle for exploring shapes, pattern and form. You may find it an interesting way to explore other subjects such as the natural landscape or the human body.
Let’s start this photographic journey with a wide angle lens. Many cities have a distinctive skyline, created by the shape, height, massing and form of its buildings and the spaces between them. This can best be appreciated from a distance, without distractions in the fore or middle ground, such as when viewed across a body of water or from a high place. This skyline is so distinctive, I’m sure you’ll recognise it as Manhattan, even if you’ve never visited New York City! No tripod? No problem. I put the camera on a wall and used an in-camera, multiple exposure to blur the water so that it didn’t distract from the architecture.
Although we often think of skyscrapers as tall, rectangular buildings, look at the different shapes and forms in this urban landscape, the range of proportions and different ways buildings terminate at the top, as well as the variations in building height and spacing which all combine to create a distinctive skyline. You can’t appreciate this when you’re down in amongst the buildings – stand well back and enjoy!
If you zoom in a bit closer and focus on structures designed as a group, this can offer photo opportunities you won’t find in a wider view or in an individual building. The famous Cube Houses of Rotterdam designed by architect Piet Blom are a prime example. Each house represents a tree, and the group complex built around a series of open courtyards represents a forest. The houses themselves with their bright yellow geometric cladding offer terrific scope for architectural abstracts, but the spaces created below and around each group of houses provide even more opportunities. Take your time to walk around such developments and find interesting angles… and don’t forget to look up – you may find a star.
Zoom in even closer and seek out interesting individual buildings which can be photographed in isolation from their surroundings. When I plan to visit a location, I do my photography homework first by searching online for interesting buildings – contemporary or historic – and try to incorporate at least one visit, preferably more, to see the structure at different times of day and in different lighting and weather conditions.
Spend time walking around the complex to find a viewpoint from which you can appreciate the building’s distinctive shape and form. For example, La Salve bridge over the Nervion River in Bilbao gives you a bird’s-eye view of the Guggenheim Museum.
The resulting images make a change from most photos of this architectural gem which are usually taken at riverside level.
You don’t have to search out well-known work by famous architects. Even functional, everyday buildings can offer photographic opportunities if you focus on interesting elements, such as this bright red external stair tower on the Energy Centre in Queen Elizabeth Park, London (formerly known as the Olympic Park), or the patterns made by “brises soleil” (sun shades) on the façade of this unassuming apartment building in Marseille.
If I’ve whetted your appetite for “archiometry” you might like to see three of my favourite buildings to photograph. First up, Muralla Roja, a residential development designed by Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill, which is located in Calpe, Spain. Individual elements such as stairs, walls and walkways are painted in different vibrant colours, which means that photography at this complex lends itself to graphic architectural abstracts.
Next up, and still in Spain, is the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, a complex of individual, distinctive buildings and other architectural features designed by another Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava. Calatrava is a master of curves. Check him out!
Last but not least, a building in the UK – the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, where the original plain white exterior has been transformed by Dance Diagonal, an artwork by German artist Lothar Götz. The colourful pattern seems to change as you walk by the façade, get closer or move further away. Perfect for a series...
Still looking for inspiration or somewhere to start?
Set yourself a simple shape theme – for example circles, curves, lines, squares, or a grid – then walk around with your eyes open for your chosen shape. Once your eyes get attuned, you’ll be surprised how quickly you notice similar shapes in the built environment.
Alternatively, choose a different viewpoint. Find a high place and look directly down on your subject area. You don’t need a drone if you can find the right viewpoint with your feet on the floor – for example, at the top of a spiral staircase. Lie on the ground (or flip your back screen if you have one) to look straight up for interesting sky shapes between buildings, or ceiling patterns inside buildings. Ignore people giving you funny looks! Find a structure with a strong vertical emphasis, for example in the pattern of cladding or fenestration, and choose a viewpoint which emphasises the converging verticals for a dynamic feel, or adjust verticals and horizontals in post-processing to create a straight-on façade, like an architect’s drawing. You don’t need a fancy tilt shift lens; most of the time you can make such adjustments in Photoshop, Lightroom or your chosen processing program.
Research your favourite buildings to photograph, try to find out who designed them and search for other developments by the same architect. If you have a passion for travel as I do, this can lead you on a wonderful “archiometry” trail around your own country or further afield. Don’t know where to start? Search images for works by Frank Gehry, Santiago Calatrava, Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, Renzo Piano, Herzog & de Meuron, and Rem Koolhaas, to name but a few contemporary architects. You never know where it might lead you.
It’s not just about architecture. Explore the wider built environment for photographic inspiration. Use reflections in windows and shadows of street furniture as your main subject, or as part and parcel of your composition. Look for textures, patterns and shapes in hard surfaces and paving. Don’t ignore the humble building site – hoardings, particularly those decorated with artwork, or those which offer tantalising glimpses to the construction going on behind – can produce surprising photo opportunities. Find interesting public art or eye-catching adverts on shop windows and wait for the “right” person to pass in order to create a visual pun. But I’m straying away from “archiometry” now and into street photography… time to stop. Above all, have fun!
About Linda Wride ARPS
Linda is a self-taught freelance photographer based in Oxford, UK. She often combines her passion for photography with a love of travel at home and abroad. Although her portfolio is diverse, it’s underpinned by an appreciation of shape, pattern and form, often displaying a strong graphic quality.
Linda’s photos have been shown widely in joint and solo exhibitions at home and abroad, and featured in national and international press, photography magazines and books. Her work has also been recognised in a wide range of photography competitions. Linda is an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society (ARPS) and holds distinctions from the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (DPAGB) and the International Federation of Photographic Art (AFIAP).
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