PHOTOGRAPHY AS A PROPAGATOR IN ARCHITECTURE: THEN & NOW
DISSERTATION IN ARCHITECTURE 2019-2020
Submitted by:
AVIJIT SINGH SAROYA 160BARCHI149 /SSAA /B.Arch. /16
Guide: Tanaya Verma, Associate Professor Coordinator: Radha Dayal, Associate Professor
SUSHANT SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE ANSAL UNIVERSITY, GURGAON, INDIA
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BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE
This Dissertation is submitted by AVIJIT SINGH SAROYA, student of Fourth Year B. Arch. Session 2019-2020, at Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon, as partial requirement for the Five-Year B. Arch. Degree course of Ansal University, Gurgaon.
Originality of the information and opinion expressed in the Dissertation are of the author and do not reflect those of the guide, the coordinator or the institution.
Signature of the Student:
Signature of Guide
Roll No.: 160BARCHI149
Name: TANAYA VERMA
Name: AVIJIT SINGH SAROYA
Date:26.11.2019
Signature of Coordinator Name: RADHA DAYAL Date:
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all those who provided me with all the support & guidance to complete this research paper. Firstly, I would like to sincerely express my gratitude to my guide, Ar. Tanaya Verma, whose contribution in simulating suggestions & encouragement, helped me gain & establish a concrete direction of my ideas. This paper would not have been possible without her constant support and help, the constructive criticism and extensive knowledge in the field of photography & architecture. Secondly, I would like to thank my mentor, Ar. Radha Dayal. who helped in the initial stages to first & foremost channelize my thoughts on the topic, without whom I wouldn’t have a head start on this paper. Lastly, I would like to extend my heartful gratitude to my family & friends who enthusiastically and patiently took part in every conversation pertaining to my paper & gave me beneficial inputs for the same.
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ABSTRACT As peopled diversified the varied demands of the cultural life, architecture culture tends to reflect the aspects cultural & artistic, which have become more & more people rich cultural part of the life, wherein people pay more and more attention to the understanding of architecture. At the same time, there are professionals who need to present their vision through the media in a faster yet effective manner. Photography with the development of modern media tends to expand the breadth and depth of the image & the designer’s ideology, and works as an expression that is somehow added into the people’s field of vision. Photography, thus helps in creating an expansion of the building concept and provided the basis of the design idea. The advantage of being it as a fast form, and the fact that it can be used in any type of visual media. In architectural photography, all the objective existence of an image, can easily dwell with the designer’s original intention all together, and any finish can be embodied in the photo with help of varied advancements available. With the world of photography changing, and so the trends, ever since it has been invented people have been using it as a tool. The traditional methods are certainly being replaced by the digital means, thus creating a certain essence of an art form. Architecture can be appreciated is various forms, mediums, and so on. People though generally don’t actually take out time to evaluate an architectural work the way it actually should be, as a work of art, with certain functionality, its scope and method somehow becomes difficult to understand as a layman. It is when an architect’s responsibility , to present his vision, and that his when he looks for mediums to express his idea, thus photography is one of the closest form and on of the most efficient present in the universal media in the modern day world, which somehow has been exploited with the course of time. Photography in a way or the other has helped to bridge a certain longitude within the architectural communities & in a way helped for a recognition too, and worked as a propagator in architecture throughout. The visual art is accessed & made available for almost everyone to see & observe, giving the opportunity of both to explore as well as exploit.
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LIST OF TABLES/ FIGURES/ ILLUSTRATIONS Fig.1. Pierre Koeing Case Study House 22 by Julius Shulman Fig. 2. Rob van Esch’s beautiful work features beautiful use of motion and people to create interesting, graphic compositions Fig. 3. The edited version of El Centro with the HVAC units removed. Image: Chicago Tribune Fig. 4. A photo montage representing the various portals present online Fig. 5. Methodology map: representation of how the research is processed. Fig. 6. Bourges Cathedral,1903 by Fredrick Evans Fig. 7. Modern architecture: International exhibition,1932, New York Fig. 8. Original Barcelona Pavilion Fig. 9. Reconstructed Barcelona Pavilion Fig. 10. A photograph by Walter Gropius vs edited version by Le Corbusier Fig. 11. Salk Institute by Louis Kahn Fig. 12. Salk Institute, Harvard University Press Fig.13. Salk Institute as represented in different backdrops(source: Instagram) Fig. 14. Lokesh Dang for Renesa Architects Fig. 15. Rohan Dayal for Delhi Collective - Outhouse, Delhi Fig. 16. Ronchamp Church by Le Corbusier in 1950 Fig. 17. A replica of the church, demolished in 2008, China Fig. 18. Joginder Singh for Santiago Calatrava Fig. 19. Author for Chestnut Storeys Fig. 20. Author for Chestnut Storeys(unedited) Fig. 21. Author for Chestnut Storeys(edited)
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Fig. 22. Process from the vision to the audience Fig. 23. A montage of magazines Fig. 24. Data of audience (source: archdaily.com)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Bonafide Certificate.......................................................................................................................................i Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………....................................…………..ii Abstract ……………...…………………………………......................................................................................iii List of Tables / Figures / Illustrations …………………………………....................……………….....iv Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction..............................................................................................................................1 1.1 What is architectural photography?...............................................................................1 1.2 Evolution in architectural photography ......................................................................2 1.3 Current state in architectural photography ...............................................................5 1.4 Aim & Objective………………………………………..............................................................10 1.5 Scope & Limitations………………………………….............................................................10 1.6 Methodology & Methodology map..…………………....................................................11 Chapter 2: Photography as means of architectural (re)presentation & (re)production………………………………………………………………………………………....................13 2.1 History of architectural photography.......................................................................13 2.2 The photographer & architecture .............................................................................14 2.3 Intersection…………………………….. ...............................................................................15 2.4 (Re)Presentation…………………………….. ....................................................................16 2.5 (Re)Production……………………………….,,....................................................................17 2.6 Archival study on iconic architectural pictures……………………………………22 2.7 Influence of internet & new mediums on architectural presentation…………………………………………………………………………………………………….....25
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Chapter 3: CASE STUDY……………………………………........................................................................26 3.1 Renesa Architects………………………................................................................................26 3.2 Rohan Dayal………………………...........................................................................................28 3.3 Joginder Singh……………………….......................................................................................32 3.4 Chestnut Storeys…...…...………….......................................................................................35 Chapter 4: Analysis…….……………………………………........................................................................40 Chapter 5: Conclusion .............................................................................................................................42 5.1 Questioning the novelty of architecture…………………...........................................40 5.2 Impact & what it holds for the future, the photographer & the architect……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…......43 Appendix ......................................................................................................................................................44 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………………………………..46
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Chapter 1 Introduction The understanding of architecture is often nuanced as a product of visual or physical appearance, and with the developing phase of photography as a visual medium in photography, the experience of an image has taken a sudden change in how we look and perceive a building or its design. In the age of visual media & internet, it is easy to just screen our internet and look for a building, see its photograph & use it as a reference, mostly based on our understanding of its spatial character just through the photograph. The photograph as the sole constructor of the image not only just talks about its identity, but also reinforces & negates our idea & perception about architecture. Profound Architectural photographers like Helene Binet 1may continue to argue that the photographic experience does not compete with the architectural experience, but this portable square 2seems to have appropriated architecture around the world, and somehow influencing the creation of new architecture globally. 1.1: What is architectural photography? Architectural photography, in its most technical definition will be defined as photographing the buildings, the spaces & their design representing the structure as it is. The history of this relationship between the architecture & photography has different stages & inquiries. As the invention of photography was announced in 1839, it was hugely seen as a direct imprint of the world, and in its later stages defined as the substitute of the experience of being physically present in a space. “The photographer ,is often seen in a position of undeniable responsibility, considering the fact that it works as the communicator of the representation of this visual form , and it is often through the photographer’s perspective that we get to see the built world, wherein his focus is ours & his frame is ours, & frequently the images that we remember the most clearly are the one’s built with utmost deliberation. The Helene Binet is a French photographer who is most known for her works with architects like Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid & Peter Zumthor, famous for her pictures capturing spatiality of buildings through black & white photography 2 Binet in her interview about her photographical works talks about the photograph as a portable square of information conveyed about architecture. 1
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photographer creates a unique identity of the architecture without it being just a mere transition of mirroring of its design & idea”. Akiko Busch 3in her renowned book , ‘The photography of architecture, twelve years’ ,tells & discuss the role of architecture & the concede role of a photographer , and his eye & the way it examines the way in which architecture should be best represented, for often its through these photographs that out own ideas are hugely constructed.
1.2: Evolution of architectural photography This early enthusiasm of photography as a visual medium of representation was hugely used by the architects. The architects started to rely on photographs to present their work & their conceptual idea behind them. Throughout the period of modernism, photography and architecture became hugely entwined by the printed media, yet still their alliance fostered many questions considering their representation & detachment to what is actually real. Photography became an object of exploring a resource for reliving & registering the lived moments, spaces & places of the world. When discussed about the spectrum of photographic production in the history, architecture has clearly & frequently played an important role, from ranging it as the perspective of photography as an art, document or an instrument to gap the ideologies between a cultural bridge. There were profoundly the three moments or approaches in architectural photography throughout these years: urban photography, end of the 19th century to first half of the 20th century; modern photography , which hugely served as a medium of highlighting & establishing a relationship between exemplar architects & the acclaimed photographers who recorded their works; and architecture within the fine art photography, having insertions from artistic field yet having themes found in architecture or its built environment. In the architectural field, the 20th century was marked profoundly by the designs and debates that were hugely proposed by the modern architects. Wherein the architects always tried to establish a practice aligned with the construction of the discourse, which made it common for them to associate with photographers to have their work 3
Akiko Busch, “The photography of architecture” ,1986, pg 1
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recorded & documented. Also, because the beginning of the century saw a worldwide development of varied architectural magazines or print media which served as the imprint idea of conveying designs to the mass, and also helped in the promotion of even more recording of the period’s works. Julius Shulman’s 4was one of these exemplar photographers, whose work was highly acclaimed ,and served as an inspiration over all magazines & print media, wherein he described himself as “I’m a merchandiser , I am merchandising architecture”, wherein he meant of how print media was that the key influencer of a building’s approach to the masses was of how it was documented and produced in front of the masses. Which also gives an idea of the trends in architectural photography that has changed throughout the years from being circulated from print to mostly through internet & cellular applications these days. Refer to the fig. shown below where “ Julius Shulman’s iconic and exemplar picture represents an idealistic image of young people’s dreams, also for putting people in his photos at a time when many were void of all humans, his work introduced not just new modern buildings but a Southern California lifestyle, which was completely new to the world.
Article: How architecture photography evolved – A brief history & how it affects the images we see everyday, September 3,2014 by Michael West 4
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Fig.1: Pierre Koeing Case Study House 22 by Julius Shulman Ref: archdaily.com
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1.3: Current State in architectural photography There is something that is common about clothing, music, cars, houses & architectural photography that is common. They all go through various trends; many of them being hugely arguably cyclical in nature. In the 1950s, photographers like Julius Shulman & Ezra Stoller defined what architectural photography was and would certainly become, they would often style & populate their images with humans to add life, scale, & purpose. In essence, they were showing how the architecture would be used and how it is related to the people using it. Rob van Esch, an architectural photographer in his book ‘Trends in architectural photography’, has hugely talked about the fact about how there have been major shifts that has taken place in architectural photography throughout the years. “The requirements for architectural photography have dramatically changed since in the last 20 years. Wherein, at that time glamour photos were the trend. Beautiful sunshine, light blue sky, if you walk by the project you would not even recognize the architecture. The image worked as an icon, and somehow became more important than the building itself. Because of which, architectural photography as a medium flourished & nourished hugely. It talks about , how with the advent of this medium, there are photographers continuing to develop their own set of exemplar genre, where one tends to work according to the brief stated by the architect or the editor, wherein in the other tends to work on the their own perfectionist principle or ideology , factoring the profession of architectural photography into a wider horizon.
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Fig.2: Rob van Esch’s beautiful work features beautiful use of motion and people to create interesting, graphic compositions With the advent of digital media & the commercial architectural photography, which has moreover always been the idealized version of a building, and photo editing software which has merely expanded the horizons and scope of what is actually possible. And an industry in which everyone, being it the architect to the photographers, to the very click hungry blogs & magazines, everyone has now an interest in creating & producing the “wow” image, the line between touching something up & altering it has entirely become murky. The El Centro controversy came at a moment in which the relationship between photography and architecture was questioned and now has become more complicated than ever. Every-day, through various mediums on blogs, on Instagram, the public is treated & enveloped with an endless parade of perfect & exemplar images – for instance remote houses glowing at dusk or deserted museums looming at impossible and unvarying angles. In an age where more people will see the idealized & structured or morphed photograph of a project, than ever visit the physical building, this steady
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stream of picture surely threatens to invert the true and sacred relationship of architecture & photography.
Fig.3: The edited version of El Centro with the HVAC units removed. Image: Chicago Tribune “We are living in a digital age, and architecture itself has become a virtual commodity,� 5says
the curator and architecture writer Elias Redstone, whose book on the
topic, Shooting Space: Architecture in Contemporary Photography was published by Phaidon in 2014. If the world is consuming architecture online, through a series of increasingly unbelievable images, why build anything at all? All these shifts in the architectural photography has tend to question the fact , that how is it impacting the ideology, be it the architects or the photographers in a whole manner. The way that it is perceived now to what it was perceived then has completely changed with the very factors describing the state of changes in the scenario. These factors have somehow helped in the development and evolution of photographers & architects in a way, that the new age factors help them to reach out to the masses but at the same time , the layer at which they create is questioned sometimes considering its truthfulness & what is the world being shown. Today, it is very easy to morph and 5
Shooting Space: Architecture in Contemporary Photography- Elias Redstone
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create a false image and present it to the masses just in order to create an impact on the viewers , and to hit the maximum number of likes through the likes of portals like , Instagram, Behance, Pinterest, Arch-Daily etc, therefore somehow disturbing and playing with the actual integrity of the design. Therefore, it is very necessary to set out a right perspective considering the current scenario in architectural photography.
Fig.4: A photo montage representing the various portals present online Photography and architecture have always had an intimate & interlinked relationship. With their patient robustness, buildings were the perfect subjects for the longexposure times of early cameras. And keeping in mind that painters and different specialists had clashed emotions about enabling the camera to replicate their work, engineers & architects to a great extent grasped the photo, fast to see the upsides of a medium that could decipher their three-dimensional manifestations into simple toprocess shapes & forms and spread them over the world. The period after the second world war, saw a lot of commercial photographers like Julius Shulman & Ezra Stoller who not only captured the exemplar architects of their time but also helped to create an idealized vision of mid-century modernism itself. To “Stollerize� a building was to create something intensely desirable out of the materials
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present. With his beautifully structured & lit, and perfectly composed shots of modern California life, Shulman served more as a marketer over a documentarian. “I sell architecture better and more directly and more vividly than the architect does,� 6
he once said.
The current scenario clearly seems to follow the same ideology, wherein the work that is being produced and put up on the internet is somehow following the same brief as of what Julius Shulman stated. There is a huge scale of reproduction & representation being done and looked at on the internet. Both the architect & the photographer, are working & calibrating on the selling factor of their design which is somehow good in a way, and bad in the other. Good because, its now readily easy to sound an inspiration and look it over the internet. Bad because, due to the presence of widespread ideas being present on the internet, the projects that are being built or are given a brief of, tends to follow & procreate what they see on the internet, creating copies of their inspirations.
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Julius Shulman on selling architecture
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Research question Impact of photography & it’s expression on the modern scenario of architecture?
Keywords: Architectural
photography,
visual
movement,
perspective,
abstract,
space,
photography, reproduction, representation, spatiality, vision.
1.4: Aim: To study & analyse the importance of architectural photography in informing about the discipline of architecture & formulating a framework in which photography as a propagator helps to do so.
Objective: ➢ To understand, how photography plays a role in the representation & it’s interpretation, also it’s architectural ideas, philosophy & design. ➢ To identify the implication of the philosophical viewpoints on photography and similarly an architectural photograph. ➢ To understand of what & how certain photographs of architecture are iconic, and find an intervention they need to justify their design & nature. ➢ Understanding the design principles of a photograph. ➢ To understand, the point of views of various architectural photographers & how they convey the message of a 3D built brilliantly through a 2D image.
1.5: Scope of study: The research will be done & evolve through understanding of the following: ➢ A discourse on the subject of architectural photography, and its representation by: Architects, philosophers & photographers.
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➢ Analysing selected architectural photographs by exemplary architectural photographers. ➢ The point of view of photographers & what makes them chose a frame to get an iconic image. ➢ The point of view of architects while briefing their architectural photographers for the representation of their projects. ➢ Analysing how the current mediums like Arch Daily, Dezeen, Instagram plays an important role in the representation of the visual medium in architecture
Limitations: The various point of views of architectural photographers, results in a different notion regarding the framing & shooting of architecture, which somehow leads to a process of arriving at a common place, which in one way other might get slightly conflicting. In order to reach a conclusion or to establish a certain system of thought, it needs an appropriate & thorough study to be supplemented by virtually unlimited images. The background study that includes history of architecture & photography shall be looked at briefly & the whole study being a whole research by itself. In the given timespan which may be impossible to do so. The case studies are to be performed by conducting various interviews with photographers & architects & to find out a common paradigm between them.
1.6: Methodology: The research paper evolves through theoretical work wherein the primary research will involve the study of theories & literature about: ➢ The evolution of architectural photography & its impact to the modern scenario. ➢ The dimensions & possibilities an image can create written by various philosophers & photographer including, Julius Shulman, Ezra Stroller, Joginder Singh, Rohan Dayal etc. ➢ The interpretation of various iconic photographers using various insights. ➢ Documentation will be done in two parts
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•
First part including the information from primary resources, to understand briefly a history of photography & architecture, and understanding it through various paradigm linking between them.
•
Second part including the case studies & interviews performed & intervened considering various factors of architecture & photography.
➢ The translation of a building to an image & the factors that goes behind it. The following is a map of methodology:
Framework of literature based analysis
Introduction
Study of famous architectural photographs
Trends in architectural photography
Conclusive argument THEN & NOW
Fig.5: Methodology map: representation of how the research is processed.
Expected outcome: To answer the prime idea, of identifying & evaluation of how and why an architectural photograph helps in interpreting the knowledge about architecture, and studying it as how it works like a brilliant medium of expression for architects. To understand factors through the outcomes from the research & draw a conclusion that how architecture can be photographed, and how actually it has impacted the modern scenario in architecture. 12
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Chapter 2 2.1: The history of architectural photography: In shattered glass, the history of architectural photography by Nicholas Olesberg 7, it talks about the architect’s obsession with photography & using architecture as a motif and a metaphor & how it questions the neutrality of the camera in the architectural assignment. The idea of how cumbersome as the equipment may have been, but cameras were vastly more efficient in recording the historic & remoted sites than the patient pencils use by the historical surveys. It talks about how it is the most suitable form of representation of architecture as a visual art. It talks about the 19th century and how it was known for its medieval cathedrals from the work of Fredrick Evans8, through French monuments & the Renaissance Italy through the studio of brothers Alinari. It talks about the scope of camera, & how it was quickly and almost forever lost to architectural photography wherein the emerging Romantic language of rendering & veduta in which buildings were animated by scudding skies or shafts of sun, losing the reality which an image depicted. It talks about how, the reality an image creates was taken away by the process of rendering which was processed & exploited on being shown as real while not being in reality.
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Article : Shattered Glass, the history of architectural photography , Nicholas Olesberg, December 22, 2013 A british photographer ,best known for his images of English & French Cathedrals
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Fig.6 Bourges Cathedral,1903 by Fredrick Evans
2.2: The Photographer and Architecture: Photography is a ship carrying light and space and heading toward the future In the photographer & architecture by Nagoya Hatakeyama9, he talks about and tries to establish a concrete relationship between architecture & photography, He talks about a photographer who stands in front of architecture: a building and how he erects a tripod on the ground, and places his small “building� on it. He tries to establish a paradigm between the two, considering how a 3D structure is framed into a 2D image by an architectural photographer. He talks about photography is an element that well visualize the design content & intent of an architect. He talks about how architecture & photography echo each other. It emphasizes on how an architectural photographer 9
The photographer & architecture , April 3 , 2018
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captures the real essence of a building through space & time, and helps to create a visual connect to anyone seeing it. It enhances the idea of how photography tries to enhance architectural elements, and serves as the right representation.
2.3: Intersection of Photography and Architecture This special issue of Visual Resources 10presents a discussion on the intersection between architecture and photography, two closely interconnected disciplines whose interplay has evolved significantly over time. Ever since the invention of photography during the nineteenth century, the control over the visual representation of the built world has been contested & argued between the architect and the photographer. This resulting relationship has somehow moved from an initial reliance on photography in documenting buildings (and thus from its subordinate role to architecture) to a more contemporary association in which architects depend on photographic images to convey a message or to legitimize their work. Neither an indexical recording of the building nor an equivalent of architectural drawings, photographic representations of artifacts and built spaces reflect varying ideologies and politics, as well as evolving cultural and professional agendas. Photography of architecture is moreover about a complex transcription of a three�dimensional world onto a small flat surface. It is also the testimony of the interaction between two closely related and yet somewhat conflicting disciplines, whose interplay has grown entangled in recent times: while architects and historians continue to deploy photographs as indexical records of artefacts, buildings and sites are growingly identified with their photographic image as a consequence of the emphasis placed today on architecture as a form of mass communication. This history of the partnership & relationship of architecture and photography is captivating for its numerous facets and nuances: be it the way of how it interrogates photography as an automatic drawing or even as a direct imprint of the constructed world, but it also accentuates the rhetoric and ideology of the photograph as an image crafted toward a particular communicative goal.
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Intersection of photography & architecture : Maria Antonella Pellizari & Paolo Scrivano
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2.4: (Re)presentation Architecture and photography have had a close relationship with each other since the invention of the photography. While architecture was one of the main subjects of photography, photography served architecture as a valuable tool of representation. In the early years of photography, architecture was an ideal subject since buildings stand still during the long exposure of time. In the meantime, largely due to its advantages over drawings and engravings, photography was immediately valued as a new tool of architectural representation. It drew pictures with accuracy; photographs were produced quicker than sketches; a view could be obtained in mass numbers; anyone could take photographs, and lastly, any picture produced by human hand was not as ‘truthful’ as the one produced by a machine. In the 19th century architectural environment, there was a need of architectural documentation; ‘truthfulness’ was the basic concern through which all the debates on the styles or the importance of function or the restoration were carried on. Moreover, the scientific approach of architectural study demanded precise drawings (Elwall, 2004, p. 12). Representation of reality was an obligation for images, but drawings and engravings were subjected unescapably to the interventions of the choices, talent and prejudices of the craftsman. Accordingly, photography met these needs by giving minute details and correct proportions. As John Ruskin appreciated the reliability of photography in a letter in 1845, ‘It is such a happy thing to be able to depend on everything to be sure not only that the painter is perfectly honest but also that he can’t make a mistake’ (Shapiro, 1972, as cited in Arrhenius, 2005, p. 103). It was believed that photographs provided more detailed and more accurate representations which reflected the ‘truth’ more than any drawing could do. Thus, since photography was conceived as an accurate record, free from omissions, distortion, style and subjectivity, the profession of architecture started to use photography as a tool for architectural representation. When photography came into view as a new technique of architectural representation, the already established conventions of architectural representation were directly applied to architectural photography. The plan, the elevation and the perspective, which constituted the basic vocabulary of the architectural image, were applied to
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architectural photography. For instance, to make a photographic equivalent of elevation drawing, photographers climbed to a height as close as the midpoint of the facade. The viewpoint was chosen in such a way that the image of the facade was flattened. Besides, the photograph was mostly taken when the sun’s position reduced the shadows. Moreover, contextual indicators such as pedestrians or vehicles were eliminated by taking a picture at an empty hour or using the long exposure. On the other hand, to produce a ‘perspective’ view, the standard practice which was climbing to midheight of the facade was also used, but this time the viewing point was chosen in such a way that the three-dimensional form of the structure was emphasised. Moreover, the angle of the sun, bringing up the texture of the stone, creating shadows and indicating the depth through architectural carving and reliefs was seized (Robinson, 1987).With the increasing demand for architectural photographs. That demand came not only from institutions or individuals related to the profession of architecture but also from a variety of foundations, such as official institutions, local governments, private societies, commercial entrepreneurs and world exhibitions. Additionally, during the second half of the 19th century, a number of the architectural and historical societies were active, and some of them were commissioned and published photographs (Ackerman, 2002). Accordingly, not only historic architecture but also construction histories of prominent buildings, the transformation of the cities and the progression of industrial architecture were recorded. A vast array of architectural photographs was produced. Architects, critics, theorists and scholars who studied architecture widely used these photographs. Architectural photographs were seen as a substitute of ‘being there’ and became a source of knowledge as much as on-site studies.
2.5: (Re)production A photograph is the result of essential choices of the photographer such as the arrangement of the subject, the moment at which to represent an existing subject and the point of view establishing the frame. A photographer makes these choices in such a way that the photograph conveys the photographer’s vision, purpose, agenda or understanding. A photograph is one of the views among a large number of possible views which could be taken. Accordingly, a building seen in a photograph is rendering.
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It is an interpretation. In the meantime, in publications and exhibitions being decontextualized from its site, being dissociated from its social context and accompanied by a caption and other images, architecture in photographs gets a variety of meanings. In the introductory article of the book edited by Joan Ockman and Beatriz Colomina, Architecture production (1988), Colomina proposes that ‘architecture, as distinct from the building, is interpretive, critical act’. To her, an interpretation can have a linguistic condition in the discourses of theory, criticism, history and be carried out employing different modes of visual representations such as drawings, models, photographs and films (Colomina, 2002, p. 207). In the same article, by highlighting Walter Benjamin’s argument which suggests that in modernity, art production lost its connection with the practice of ritual but connected with politics, Colomina probes the terms of ‘production’ and ‘reproduction’. She re-evaluates the impact of mass media on modern architecture regarding the production and consumption of architecture. She has the opinion that roles of production and reproduction overlap within the continuous cycle. Historians agree that the modern movement indebted its success to photography. Modern architecture started to be seen in the early 1920s, yet it was not until the exhibition, ‘Modern Architecture—International Exhibition’, organised by HenryRussell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson at The Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1932, the movement gained widespread visibility and popularity. The exhibition consisted photographs of modern architecture which have been built since 1922. It toured for two years to 14 places throughout the United States. A catalogue and a book co-authored by Hitchcock, Johnson and Lewis Mumford accompanied to the exhibition. While the exhibition was presenting the modern architecture and inspiring young architects, the book became the source for the understanding of modern architecture (Rosa, 1998, p. 100). Accordingly, the modern architecture was mostly seen and comprehended through its photographs. Indeed, an article in Architectural Review written in 1934, the critic Philip Morton Shand accentuated the affiliation of photography with modern architecture as ‘Did modern photography beget modern architecture or the converse?’ (Elwall, 2007, p. 53) Likewise, already in the 1930s, H. S. Goodhart-Rendel discerns the photography’s role in the production of modern architecture which supersedes the act of construction as: ‘The modern architectural
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drawing is interesting, the photograph is magnificent, the building is unfortunate but necessary stage between the two’ (as cited from Elwall, 2004, p. 9). By going beyond merely a representation and a presentation, photography took part in the production of modern architecture as Joseph Rosa (1998) states: ‘The construction of modern architecture takes place between the camera lens and the building—the photographic image of a sleek new building and its everydayness rarely converge. In the meantime, photographs continue to construct, perpetuate and later historicise a modern movement while buildings become used, modified and significantly altered (Rosa, 1998, p. 103)’.
Fig. 7 Modern architecture: International exhibition,1932, New York Since the beginning of the 20th century, as a result of developed and varied communication means and technologies, the dissemination of pictures has expanded an unpredictable way. As a result of its photographs, and the increasing speed of their dissemination, architecture has started to have a ‘virtual’ existence which is created by its images in the media. Even though the virtual simulates the built one, it has a different meaning and a life than the real building standing on the ground. For instance, Mies Van Der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavillion had a short life in between 1929 and 1930 and was seen by a limited number of visitors thanks to its photographs disseminated as it became one of the iconic buildings of the modern movement. For less than a year, it was an exhibition building seen by a limited number of visitors. Between 1930 and 1986, although it did not exist physically, it continued to be viewed through photographs by many people, then as a result of public appreciation, it was rebuilt in 1986. Indeed, the
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article, ‘Fear of Glass: The Barcelona Pavilion’, by Jose Quetlas (1988), exemplifies this new situation: By means of mass media and photographs, the user has replaced by the viewer in the role of giving meaning to the building (as cited by Colomina, 2002, p. 216).
Fig. 8 Original Barcelona Pavilion
Fig. 9 Reconstructed Barcelona Pavilion Here, the example proves that the photograph is no more a mere representation of the built architecture but a kind of production of architecture which provides architecture with life in another environment which is mass media. In this environment, the dynamics affecting the endurance of work is different from the real world. By arguing 20
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Le Corbusier’s continuous modifications of photographs to reinforce his theoretical arguments, Colomina states that the task of photography is not to reflect a mirror image of architecture, construction is an important stage of production but it is not the end product. By using photography and layout, Le Corbusier constructs ‘another architecture in the space of the page’. Correspondingly, the conception of a building and its reproduction are not hierarchal but a circular process (Colomina, 1987, pp. 12–14). As Colomina further suggests that the media is ‘the true site within which modern architecture is produced’, and Le Corbusier was perhaps the first architect who wholly understood the role of the mass media concerning production (Colomina, 2002, p. 213).
Fig. 10 A photograph by Walter Gropius vs edited version by Le Corbusier Through the 20th century, the connection between the architecture and people was established and maintained mostly by photographs. Accordingly, the previous relationship of architecture with its user changed. The transformations in the relationship between producer, product and audience formed a new condition. Since architecture’s public reception became to be depended on the consumption of its photographs, the work of architecture dramatically changed. As Benjamin Buchloch noted in the 1990s: ‘Advanced postmodern architects seem to calculate the photographic dimension of their architectural constructions already at the design stage: The facades and interior spaces are drawn with an eye towards their photographic reproducibility or they direct their design towards a newly found ability of architectural masses, materials and spaces to yield to the laws of the photographic surface in an endless process of transforming the tectonic and spatial into the spectacular (Buchloh, 1994, p. 17).
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When it was the turn of the 21st century, because of the advent of the internet and internet- based social networks, the mass media is much more diverse than ever before. Through the internet, global and transnational borderless networks provide quick communication and instantaneous transformation of any data. There are a gigantic number of architectural websites such as e-magazines, websites of firms and institutions, as well as personal blocks in every language. There are a considerable number of electronic architectural magazines which published in English such as architecturalrecord.com, architectmagazine.com, archdaily.com, dezeen.com and architizer.com. These websites have a great number of visitors. There are also many websites published in another language or bilingual websites as arkitera.net, germanarchitects.com and domusweb.it. All these platforms have worldwide accessibility. In these sites, there are recent news and articles about finished and on-going architectural projects, interviews with architects, announcements of competitions and their winners, remarks on prize winner projects, essays on the latest construction technologies and a wide range of materials as well as a significant number of advertisements. It is not surprising that most of these contents rely on professionally produced architectural photographs that adopt the advertising style of commercial photography to promote architecture as a consumer object. Besides, social media and personal blocks also provide photographs to contribute to architectural discussions and spreading of buildings. Through the internet, architecture meets its audience so promptly that it was not possible 20 to 30 years ago.
2.6: Archival study on iconic architectural pictures Often, the first ever apprehension that we have of a building if often formed by its photograph, and its usually the photographer’s eye that helps us to see the most seemingly familiar structures with a fresh eye. Architecture in general taught & discussed by other architect relies hugely on the recognition of mass of famous & profound pictures. Sometimes, these can be ironically be more eminent and more satisfying than the building themselves. The fine line purpose of most of these photographs lies in the fact that they are meant to (re)present & (re)produce objects realistically. It’s often nuanced as more than just a document
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considering the fact that it is prescribed with intricate details & design structure of the architect being represented in the truest form in a picture. “Often, a dramatic photograph can have such a strong impact that it doesn’t remain a simple reproduction of architecture but in fact an icon and a symbol itself. It is curious to see how buildings documentation elevates its status from merely architecture to higher art”. 11’ Louis Kahn designed the Salk centre in La Jolla, in such a way that its expressive composition is spatially as well symbolically incomplete, with two rhythmic buildings which define a powerful axis that is open at each end. Because of this, we immediately visualise the building from the picture at the bottom compared to the one at the top. “Buildings are the places we live, work and carry on with our lives. They are in one way or the other inhabited by the mundane and for this reason we are not prone to seeing architecture as an art unless instructed to do so, which is what a photographer usually does. While this is not to say that it remains to the photographer bestow legitimacy upon architecture it does point out the curious ease with which we will accept the aesthetic value of the representation more easily than the original”. 12 (Rattenbury, 2002)
Fig. 11 Salk Institute by Louis Kahn
11 12
Rattenbury(2002) Busch,(1993)
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Fig. 12 Salk Institute, Harvard University Press Vs The numerous representations done of the same viewpoint in different backdrops present on the internet of the Salk Institute(refer to the figure below):
Fig. 13 Salk Institute as represented in different backdrops(source: Instagram)
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2.7: Influence of new mediums on architectural presentation With a broad platform available on the internet, for an architect or a designer, the contemporaries in the field are majorly focusing on what and how they put their work on the internet, which can be easily morphed to look good rather than actually working on the design’s individual identity. With photography being a tool of advancements one can easily fool a viewer or it’s space by manipulating it with the help of various techniques, and tools ranging from an editing software to a lens, or artificial lighting. There have been incidences in which, it has been used as an exemplar tool of documenting a building, and at the same time being the only thing that is alive, with the building hitting to ruins in the course of time. Photography and the mediums present today has become really ubiquitous now considering the fact that almost everyone takes a photograph, whereas earlier only few people used to, because of which photography as a representational media has become more relevant and more accessible with a lot of people. Because of the presence of mediums present on the internet, more people get to see a designer’s capability through a picture instead of a magazine which is seen by only a category of people. With the help of various techniques like promotion and paid activities, it is very easy for a designer or an architect today to target a wider audience. “With reference to this, the history of modern art has been described as a history of photographs of modern art; and perhaps the history of modern architecture can also be viewed in this way. A picture post card of Taj Mahal is as much as a picture of the idea of the Taj Mahal as it is of an actual object. The fact of the post card denotes that the Taj Mahal is an important idea more reliably than it denotes that such an object exists in the shown form”. 13(Rattenbury, 2002)
13
Greene(2002). In K. Rattenbury, This is not architecture
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Chapter 3 3.1: CASE STUDY: RENESA ARCHITECTS
Fig.14 Lokesh Dang for Renesa Architects With the belief of Julius Shulman’s words, that “I’m a merchandiser, I’m merchandising architecture” , in a conversation with Sanchit Arora head architect at Renesa architects, his idea about architecture & its representation clearly seems to follow the same. He beliefs that architectural photography is no more just a technique of representing a design but its moreover a shadow of thoughts & beliefs that needs to well translated to the viewer. The firm hugely believes in the idea of (re)presentation &(re)production, which helps them recreate designs & presentation techniques for their designs to hit the masses. With their recent projects, being featured on portals like Arch Daily, Dezeen, their whole strategy of architectural representation is majorly focused through documentation of their designs, considering the new age factors in architectural photography like art direction, set design, which helps them to procreate something new as well as something striking to see.
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With almost, 70% of the 20’s profound magazines, calling it shut, Sanchit Arora calls it the age of internet, with people not waiting for a magazine to release in the market, but instead use their cell phones & surf it through portals like Pinterest, Instagram, Arch Daily. The internet according to him has made take inspiration much more simpler , and according to him the key idea to be loved by the masses is to do something new every time , with people scrolling their cell phones constantly for inspirations he believes in creating designs & their representations unique in every form , and architectural photography is possibly their best source of representation of their designs & ideas to the masses.
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3.2: CASE STUDY: ROHAN DAYAL (ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER)
Fig. 15 Rohan Dayal for Delhi Collective - Outhouse, Delhi In a conversation with the renowned architectural photographer, Rohan Dayal based in Delhi, a lot of questions considering the advent of newer means of communication was thoroughly discussed and questioned. He beliefs that the freedom a designer or an architect gives to him while documenting a project helps him to stay on his vision instead following the certain set of brief given to him by the architect as he beliefs with the widespread data and documentation present on the internet , the architect or the designer tends to be influenced by their ideology and sometimes urge for the same. He tends to focus on just the overall concept that he observes on the site and works accordingly. According to him, the impact of the modern media has both a good as well as bad impact. Good because, the amount of exposure that is present on the internet, and how it is readily accessible by all, makes the process easy and more communicable to the masses. Internet according to him has bridged the gap between an architect’s vision to that of a reader’s narrower and made the visual experience even while sitting at home a delight, considering the brilliant ways the architecture is being 28
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photographed, so that the right perspective, and the right angle catches the viewer’s eye. The number game of likes though have increased the competition on the internet but at the same, its pushing more & more people to learn something new and evolve through it. He beliefs that, not everyone tends to buy an Architectural Digest AD magazine, or an Inside Outside, but its readily easy if you’re present on the internet through the help of tools like sponsorship by various net portals that your work is seen by all, the layman and the artiste. The connect ranges from A-Z, and its scope is widening day by day with more and more people accessing the internet. Because of such readily available inspirations present on the internet, architects & designers are reconsidering their design methods and regular houses are made better on referring to the Indian context, under the mastery of what they see on the internet, in a more modernistic manner. Bad because, everything is becoming similar also, a lot of people are shying away from experimenting and trying to create analogous designs following the similar ideology. He gives an example of Ronchamp Church by Le Corbusier in 1950, which was copied and made again in China but demolished in 2008. (refer to the figures below)
Fig. 16 Ronchamp Church by Le Corbusier in 1950
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Fig. 17 A replica of the church, demolished in 2008, China The above example clearly states of how a clear imitation clearly vitiate the essence of the indigenous design, wherein he claims the famous phrase that “Good architects steal , bad architects copy”, which is certainly true in this reference that how a bad translation can cost to the identity of a design. Further, he explains how in the current scenario with the newer means and software being present it is easy to morph and edit an image and present a product which might be real in its first look but unreal in nature. With the help of such software it is easy to achieve anything & everything, which might not be completely present in the design just to catch hold of a viewer, to create a better image but definitely not the reality. He further gives an example of Le Corbusier who often in his projects would airbrush the context and highly believed in the editing of the images, just to make it look better (refer to fig. 9). He gives an example wherein he is often pushed to take an unfinished project, and then is asked by the client to morph the design capabilities through post processing which according to him is changing the industry and is something widely being done by a lot of architects & designers , in which they’re trying to produce a selling factor more rather than focusing the actual reality of the design.
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He is further questioned on the fact and on the words of Julius Shulman about being a merchandiser as an architectural photographer to which he answers , that in today’s time every artist are required to follow a certain USP or the X factor for them to be upright and successful in the market considering the ever growing competition. Wherein sometimes, he’s asked to do document spaces in a way they might not be in reality i.e. the identity is forged, for them just to look good on the internet. He derives his clients into categories; the one who asks the spaces to look bigger than what they actually are, the one who focuses on details, the one who focuses on artistic perspectives, the one who works only on theme-based documentation. According to him, what has really upscaled in the market is the theme-based documentation, wherein the architect & the photographer is made to stand on the same pedestal of thoughts and a project is conceptualized for the same. He gives an example of how Renesa Architect’s in the recent times in the Indian context have gained popularity through their projects, he beliefs that their notion of picking up projects and getting the right documentation out in the market is what working perfectly for them. He beliefs that the right use of the current scenario in architectural photography and its repercussions can surely lead to the perfect boom needed to an architect as well as the photographer. He further explains how one of his clients briefed him to do a similar shoot like that of Renesa’s to which he explained on the point again, that the internet boom is good but then again but at the same time , wherein he’s asked to do something which is extremely popularised on the internet, and with widespread accessibility and with so many mediums being available , everyone wants to get published , and be out there in the world. The impact of the modern scenario according to him has surely benefited the industry, that its gaining popularity and that more & more people are getting an opportunity to work in this field. If we go on the internet, we can find the original image by an architectural photographer being produced a thousand times on the same viewports by different photographers ranging from an amateur to a professional. The industry is open to all sorts of people, from those who can’t get a line straight to those trying to perfect their skills while learning from the portals online. According to him “The picture frame is possibly the best translation of the designer’s mind to the reader’s eye”. 31
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3.3: CASE STUDY: JOGINDER SINGH (ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER)
Fig. 18 Joginder Singh for Santiago Calatrava A maestro of architectural photography & an architect with an experience of 25+ years, and with many books under his name, Joginder Singh stands upon his principles & ideologies and about his experience throughout the years. He believes that in any art form there is a certain standard growth or self-analysis that one has for their work, or about questioning their work. He says, that with time comes the experience and with changes in the industry he’s got to adapt and vary with the approaches too, but there are some thoughts & beliefs he still abides and haven’t changed with the current scenario in architecture & photography. He believes, for an architectural photographer to commission the best of his work & skills, should be let free & have a freedom to respond themselves to the space. He says, that what is architectural photography is now was completely different some decades ago, wherein a photographer was commissioned according to his own thoughts & perspective of the space wherein today 32
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it requires a whole team to suggest and somehow hinder the actual genre & capabilities while commissioning a photographer. He tells about the idea of freedom wherein when he wrote a book on Forts & Palaces, he didn’t know the designer, wherein his approach to the space & place is done without any agenda in his mind, creating in one way or the other an abstract imagery. He believes that is where the differences in the architectural photography is made, when you tend to produce an abstract imagery having no sense of agenda attached to it , in comparison to a commercial project or for an architect ,where you tend to deliver an accurate representation played with the vision suggested by the designer. He is firm on his thought that social media haven’t really revolutionized photography or architecture, and is nothing but a platform provided. That it is nothing but a marketing tool, and involves a lot of work, and for the people using it as a marketing tool or what Julius Shulman suggested merchandising it, have a team dedicated for it, it is certainly a projection used by some, and not by others. He believes it certainly provides a lot of outreach but at the same time restricts the possibility of a truer image to the world, considering a lot of times the image that goes around in the internet is highly post processed. He calls himself as a service provider, providing service to the industry, and when being asked about how the markets have changed in the recent years, he believes the respect of the Journals is still intact with the fact that people who extremely believe in reading good quality content still prefer a respect journal over scrolling through their Instagram feeds. He believes , Journals are and forever will be the actual formal way of representation of thoughts & design while social media informal , as for Journals there are certain guidelines that are followed and then processed for publications , whereas on the internet you might find 1000 absurd pictures of a design certainly exploiting the sacred image of a design, wherein neither the viewer nor the one posting have a vision or a sense for the same. He believes, architectural photography is definitely not governing architecture, he believes that when there are imperfections in the peas , a lot can be edited out of the frame, wherein an incomplete project can be made look better , with post processing, and architectural photography helps in putting out the vision in front of the world but
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at the same time there are people who tries to exploit this vision, counting the capabilities of an architectural photographer.
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3.4: CASE STUDY: CHESTNUT STOREYS (ARCHITECTURAL & INTERIOR DESIGN FIRM)
Fig. 19 Author for Chestnut Storeys With a firm belief of being different and at the same time trying to match with the trends of architecture’s propagation in the market, Farah Agarwal, director and head at Chestnut Storeys believes that in the recent years architectural photography has clearly outshined itself considering the platform available to it. When asked about what guidelines their photographers tend to follow for their projects, the ideology according to her is simply formed with the fact that they set a certain freedom for their photographer to express & play around with his skills & forte, with their main aim being to showcase & highlight the truthfulness of the space , yet at the same time post process it a little before it goes to the internet. According to her the post processing an image is similar to how we produce architectural renders wherein a lot of times the representation of a space or place , if not real is almost close to the reality to gain the attention of the audience and viewers and give them the idea of the
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space, the idea is not to completely discreate an image but to play with it for a more sound impression on the internet.
Fig. 20 Author for Chestnut Storeys(unedited)
Fig. 21 Author for Chestnut Storeys(edited)
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In the pictures above the unedited & edited , we see the image one straight out of the camera , and one that went on the internet. The significance of such a post processing is clearly followed by the impression of Le Corbusier’s expression , wherein he said and reflected in a lot of images that he edited, that a lot of times one needs to brush out or erase things in an image, that doesn’t effects it’s context and it’s identity, but at the same time it is the designer’s & the photographer’s responsibility to represent and showcase an image that is 98% close to reality , and 2% post processed. Otherwise, there is a widespread criticism ready that everyday questions the novelty of architecture being lost on such grounds. Further, she stated how it’s the photographer and it’s expression through an image that is possibly the best source to convey a design. There is a certain justice that a photographer tends to convey and portray through an image that is shot in a real time space. She believes a designer’s vision is divided into stages. The stages being:
Designer
3D visualization
Client
Photographer
2D Image
Masses
Fig. 22 Process from the vision to the audience
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The photographer according to her plays an important role to present and showcase an undying image of a designer’s vision, wherein a designer’s render is limited to a client’s satisfaction it is the photograph’s identity, that helps to outshine the vision and being represented in real depth on what was actually done. The designer’s 3D is limited to represent an architectural idea, but for it’s efficiency or it’s identity, it is the photograph according to her that plays an undying character, and to put the justice to the design and in front of the world. The marketing or the advertising industry in architecture today is highly dependent on architectural photography, considering the fact that there are millions of people that search on the internet for an inspiration or an idea, and for the portals present online, their sole construct lies on the image & who is putting it up. The render she believes is always a proposal, whereas an image there is nothing hidden in representing an identity of the design. The reason because of which there are new jobs that are coming up which earlier people never knew even existed. Jobs like art direction, styling, lighting & equipment, prop stores, in the current scenario have developed their own pace with architectural photography , and are hugely seen and being appreciated for the same. All of them hugely relies on architectural photography as their sole construct of presentation, thus for an industry that is hugely spread on the internet platforms the image being on the internet is being monitored & detailed by a big team now. Further, she states how merchandising architecture has made the industry competitive yet really interesting to work in. Wherein photography as a propagator in architecture with the current mediums like Instagram, ArchDaily, Dezeen has hugely helped the designers & architects to reach to a wider audience. Earlier, according to her the reach of a designer’s vision was very limited with the print media, because there is a category of people that read a journal or a magazine , and even to get on the magazine or a journals required a lot of filters because of which somehow or the other the outreach becomes shortened. Wherein, today with the help of internet and its mediums it is easy to outshine and represent your idea in the market. The print media, is somehow a slower process, again with the fact that how every industry has a trend , similarly it is the case in architecture & design too. Wherein the platforms present on the internet has given a space to the designers to reflect their idea in a less complicated way and for
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them to outshine considering how unique their designs are and how they are being put up on the internet. The accessibility and reachability on internet is much easier, than going and buying a journal, which again makes us question the novelty of architecture, and how by making it more easier and simpler or by forging a true identity, are we really moving towards on selling and merchandising a fake identity rather a truer one. The later clearly depends on the designer & the photographer representing the image, and how are they impacted by the current scenario.
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Chapter 4 Analysis Before the advent of social media, the buildings were hugely published on magazines, and with their representation edited & refined according to the architect’s vision and preferences.
Fig. 23 A montage of magazines Whereas nowadays architectural magazines are just left unread with people not buying them, as they are now much more focused on a more influential platform that in many ways is not totally controlled by the architects. The digital media and platforms have clearly changed the way people view & interact with architecture, considering which a lot of architects & designers tend to receive numerous insights on what is liked by the masses, and certainly how to design their structures.
Audience
Online
Magazines
Fig. 24 Data of audience (source: archdaily.com)
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Every firm tries to approach the social media in their own ways, but at the same time this approach is guarded by the photography working as a propagator. Photography as a propagator today, with the help of social media have inspired & challenged a lot of contemporary architects and their practices. The advancements in this industry , with things like geotagging or the use of hashtags have helped architects & photographers to reach to a wider audience. There are certain architects and firms that hugely believes that the more that their design is able to engage its visitors, with the help of social media and its propagation the more the building becomes successful. The ideology of merchandising architecture is being hugely practiced all around the world thoroughly with the help of internet, which somehow wasn’t possible 20 years ago. The internet is certainly a boom of about 1 Billion active monthly users, which the architects & designers are certainly using as their key platform to market & promote their work, with all these platforms hugely relying on an image or the principle of photography, considering the fact that an image is an expression that hugely relates to almost anyone & everyone. The overlap between the design & its execution is represented through an image, wherein the identity and the character of the design is truly explained by an image. The firms & designers today can easily be present on the internet and with the help of the photographing tool, receive both positive & negative criticism on their work. Hence, with this huge representation of pictures by the production of designs, the platforms available plays an important role in the development of both architecture & photography. Wherein, the photograph plays an important role to represent propagate an executed design in front of the masses.
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Chapter 5 Conclusion 5.1: Questioning the novelty of architecture. With the presence of media and other digitals means, there have been an over exposure of the design, somehow making the novelty of architecture lost somewhere. There is a certain importance, that the basic structure of a picture needs to be an exemplar, ranging it from its picture plane, aperture, height & place from where it is clicked. The views that are usually archived by the camera, the colour & the textures often appear different to what we see in the media, but in reality, if the design is not structured properly, what we see on the internet and what we see in reality might not be practically working even. The architecture then is just created for the mass & for the publicity instead of being worked upon its novel quality & structure. A project today is engaged & made to fame, by the way it is photographed and represented in front of the world. It’s very necessary for a photographer to deliver the right vision of the architect or the designer in front of the world, otherwise with a bad representation he might exploit the vision the architect might would want to convey. If compared to the other industry such as Fashion or visual merchandising, we see a lot of super exaggerated clothing & product, that are being circulated for advertisements, considering their “wow” factor. Architecture is somehow much beyond than the image itself, and there is a breed of architect who don’t tend to glamourize architecture, with a feeling that they procreate the idea of truthfulness in their designs & structure & its quality. They believe that they don’t need it because, a design that speaks for itself doesn’t required to be sanitised and put forward in front of the world. With new process & means, it is very easy to make everything look perfect by a picture, but in reality, how flawed one space or design maybe. So, it is necessary to put out the real architecture in front of the world, and not be questioned with the idea of glamourizing it. An architecture is truly defined as a montage of spaces or the noise in the city, wherein it is the photograph that helps to create that into a true melody, by the correct vision &
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representation certainly required for people to see. How flawed or perfect it might be, a vision of a space with an intention to put it across the world is brilliantly done by the means of architectural photography or documentation.
5.2: Impact & what it holds for the future, the photographer & the architect. The various ideas in modern architecture are brought out to spotlight by the digital means in the vast proportions, which means that a person doesn't need to visit any particular place in any part of the world to learn about the architecture of that place. All of their requirements with the advent of digital media is just a click away, through online portals & e-magazines & web albums that dually provide all information through photographs & documentation. The photographs give an exemplar glimpse of the building to the reader while still sticking to its authenticity. The photograph helps to highlight the essential mood & components of the design in a frame considering the factors described by the architect. Thus, this helps the architect to create a physical experience to the reader in all aspects involved. The photograph as a medium helps as a tool that interprets an architectural space at a particular moment of time. The whole idea of photography & architecture has moreover been the same, the only major advancements that have been seen are in technology which has made it more & more flexible. Photography in a way or the other has always been one of the greatest tools to document architecture, wherein the buildings may deplete within the course of time, but a photograph truly lives long. Photography is an exemplar tool of documenting architecture & definitely a necessity too, so in the process, photography tends to be come indispensable. For its said "a picture is worth a thousand words"
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Appendix Questionnaire To the architect: 1. What are your guidelines or brief to the photographer in representing your vision? 2. How photography according to you is an effective mode of expression & communication/documentation of your work. 3. What do you think has helped your work to reach out to the masses, considering photography as a tool of expression? 4. How internet has helped in the industry, what are your learning’s from the various architectural blogs that has clearly outshined the yesteryear’s magazines. 5. Do you think with the various platforms available on the internet , are architects & designers are just aiming to be present in front of the masses , rather than actually focusing on their building , whether its identity would be just the one presented by the photographer on the internet, or it will have one of its own in reality too.
To the photographer: 1. What are your reasons or ideology while shooting architecture? 2. How do you feel has the impacts of modern digital means (eg. arch daily, Instagram, Pinterest) / have revolutionized the field of photography & architecture? 3. Is documenting architecture more like selling a merchandise created by an architect? What's the expression that you look for / what brief do you tend to follow from the architect's point of view.
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4. With the advent of new mediums of photography as a medium to be published, how do you it has benefited the reader as well as the architect for their work to reach to the masses. 5. What do you think the impact of the current scenario of architectural photography is on architecture?
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BIBLIOGRAPHY b, c., n.d. architecturereproduction. K Rattenbury, This is not architecture, pp. 207-221. Brant, J., August 19, 2018. Three Defining Movements in Architectural Photography. buchloh, b. (1994). the architecture in the uncanny photographs of Andrea Robbins & Max Becher. Kortrijk,belgium: Kanaal Art foundation, pp.17-22. colomina, 1987. le corbusier and photography. assemblage. colomina, n.d. architecturereproduction. in k rattenbury(ed), this is not architecture. Corbusier, L., 2011. Towards a New Architecture. reprint ed. s.l.:CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Cumming, E. & Kaplan, W., 1991. The Arts and Crafts Movement. London: Thames and Hudson. Duncan, A., 1999. Art Nouveau. London: Thames and Hudson. elwall.R, 1991. James Fergusson(1808-1886)a pioneering architectural historian. pp. 139,393-404. elwall, r. (2007). new eyes for old:architectural photography. 8th ed. twentieth century architecture, pp.52-68. Elwall, R. (2004). Building with light. London: Merrell, p.12. Frampton, K., 2007. Modern Architecture: A Critical History. s.l.:Thames & Hudson. Marshall, P. J., 2001. The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire. s.l.:Cambridge University Press. Rattenbury, K. (2002). This is Not Architecture. London & New York: Taylor & Francis, p.p.121. 46
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Rosa, J, 1994. the architectural photography of julius shulman. a constructed view. rosa, j. (1998). architectural photography & construction of modern architecture. pp.History of photography,99-104. Robinson, C. (1987). Architecture transformed. Cambridge: Mit Press, p.6. west, m., September 3, 2014. HOW ARCHITECTURE PHOTOGRAPHY EVOLVED - A BRIEF HISTORY AND HOW IT AFFECTS THE IMAGES WE SEE EVERYDAY. mike west photography.
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