How to master… Fine-Art Architecture
Tony is a self-taught, award-winning, photographer shooting with Nikon FX cameras. He is passionate about fine-art and long-exposure images. Based in London, the city is where Tony finds and shares his inspiration, teaching 1-2-1 workshops
www.LondonFineArtPhotography.com
Architecture photography is a genre that is getting increasingly popular with photographers. As more creative buildings are constructed in our towns and cities, us photographers simply can’t wait to get out there and shoot them! Architects are given a creative licence to go and construct a building how they want; they design it how they want the world to see it. As a fine-art photographer, I believe the same creative licence is given to go and capture the building how I want; how I want the viewer to see my photograph. Fine-art photography suits architecture, as the buildings can be manipulated more than a landscape – or a portrait – could ever be. You can be more creative with something that’s man-made than you can with something that’s natural. But what is ‘fine art’? To me, fine art is the freedom to become an artist, to push the boundaries and create. Using wide-angle lenses, clever compositions, long exposures and processing techniques, we get to show the buildings in ways that they are not normally seen.
In this article, I will outline my take on certain aspects of photography that inspire me the most. To name a few, I will cover long-exposure photography, abstract images, as well as capturing interiors. I will also give some advice on taking images using my experience and observations so far, all of which I hope you will find useful.
MODERN ARCHITECTURE
Modern architecture, ‘modernism’, or ‘postmodern’, are the most common styles of architecture in the 21st century. The minimalistic design of the modern buildings allows photographers to create something different from the image. With an emphasis on volume, asymmetrical compositions, and minimal ornamentation, the photographer has more of a blank canvas to work with. Older buildings tend to have a lot more detailed stonework. As fascinating as these details may be, from a photography perspective, a nice sleek building with few small details is much easier to create an image from.
Design and shape
So much time, thought and money goes into the
