Thoughts on Interiors

I recently had the privilege to do some interesting architectural work,  at both Delta’s new terminal at the JFK Airport and at some corporate interiors, both of which presented some unique photographic challenges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At an airport, you are more or less at the mercy of the space and the people that occupy it. As you are in there photographing, travelers lounge, eat, relax and walk throughout the terminal as they wait for their flights, and you can’t really ask them to move. On top of this, even after you have been vetted by the TSA, you are escorted during your entire shooting time by a security guard you feel rushed with compositions. So you are limited in how much your shots can be setup and arranged – ideally, you are given the time to wait for all the light and subject matter in your frame to align just right, and then take the shot, but you don’t always have this luxury. And so, though I much prefer to get everything perfect in-camera, you sometimes have to turn to Photoshop.

Shooting in corporate interiors is very much the opposite. When you show up as the photographer, you’re given total access, with plenty of time to wait for the right light and to compose photographs of what are most often beautiful, cleanly designed spaces. To me, this is a great professional joy. The challenge in photographing this kind of architecture is showing how these new, contemporary spaces are designed for people to flow through them, without actually including people in the shots. It is also of course important to incorporate specific design elements, which architectural clients might want featured or highlighted, within the photographs.

The little challenges that come up in these different kinds of architectural photography is what keeps this work interesting to me. I always welcome the chance to see a new space, and figure out the best ways to represent and re align the puzzle and the architect’s vision within the frame of a photograph.