Divergent Views of Architects and Photographers
In the field of architectural photography, the two worlds of architects and photographers collide. Although both are artistically minded forms of expression, the approaches taken by architects and photographers are quite different.
The architect works with three-dimensional structures and with spaces; the photographers works with two-dimensional surfaces. The architect measures his draft, his concept, by constructive points of view. He looks at architecture as a constant, which is bound to exist over a long period of time. The photographer records the transitory play of light and darkness, and of dimensionality; he records a subjective perception of a particular moment in time.
Architects ask for architectural photographers that are rich in information and with a minimum of perceptional changes to the building; images that depict the building’s intended impression; images that make the building dimensionally understandable and readily experienced by the viewer. Conversely, a photographer’s individual, artistic interpretation expressed through extreme viewing angles or framing reduces the information density of the photographic representation.
Due to the fact that every architectural depiction is always interpretive, and because any interpretation or orchestration has the potential to diminish the architect’s vision, the architectural photographer’s task is a difficult one, for he must unite both viewpoints into one.