Relationships 101: Photography and Architecture

The Architect

Architecture is much more than just creating a building. It's an art form. It is a way to express feeling and emotion, as well as physical functionality and efficiency in a structure. The most beautifully designed buildings truly blur the line between building and art work.

East Moline Glass Headquarters - Argus Dispatch Headquarters - East Moline, Illinois

The Photographer

Like Architecture, photography is more than just taking a picture. It aims to capture the interaction between light and the physical form to convey a message. It should strive to capture the mood and feeling of the moment to accurately portray what is in front of the lens. Similar to architecture, photography is a process. It starts with envisioning the structure, taking into account the lighting conditions, and what elements are most important to focus on. The data is then collected, that is the image itself. Then processing in the digital dark room takes place to achieve the final photograph.

Steel Plow Burger Company - Moline, Illinois

The Relationship

A relationship exists between architects and photographers, both being important to one another.  It would be difficult if not impossible to convey the beauty of the architects work by explanation alone. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, which is why it is so effective at cutting to the chase.  It allows the viewer to not just imagine what’s being explained but to see it. If an architect is unable to showcase their work through photography it stifles their reach to the world at large. The ability to share their work is a powerful tool to drive growth and attract new clients to the firm.

Coworkqc - Davenport, Iowa

It would be nice to think that photography has played a small, quite roll in the way architecture has evolved.  Allowing more of the world to see and understand that architect’s aren’t just designing buildings, they are creating functional works of art.  More education and understanding of what an architect does leads to greater appreciation and desire for their service and expertise.  As architects continue to push the beauty and functionality of structures forward, you can be sure photographers will be right there to capturing every new creation.

Guest Blog

Joe Hotle joined the [design][build] by architects team as office coordinator and photographer in late September of 2017.  For the last 10 years photography has been a growing passion for him. It has evolved from a hobby to something that takes a much larger placeholder in his life. Along with office coordination its something he is happy to bring to our team!  He looks forward to growing his ability to portray not only the world around us but the amazing projects we have completed here at [design][build] by architects. Follow our story on Facebook, and Joe’s personal work at JMH Photography some of which will be on display January 18th, 2018 at Coworkqc from 6-9pm. Stop in and say hello!