Integral Lens Multi-perspectival architectural photography Pygmalion Karatzas Palazzo Gopcevich, Trieste Italy October 27, 2018
Introduction background
1991 - 1995: B.Sc. in Architecture, Budapest 1995 - 1997: M.Sc. in Urban Design, Edinburgh 1999 - 2004: Freelance Architect 2005 - 2009: Karatzas Architecture & Construction 2009 - 2011: Karatzas & Pusterla Architects 2011 - 2012: Karatzas | Hassan | Papakonstantinou 2013 - present: Pygmalion Karatzas Photography Photo Editor at Arcspace / DAC 2015 - present: Collaboration with Mark DeKay Integral Lens
Introduction areas of work
Personal work, self-initiated projects Commissions, assignments Collaborations, editorial, curations Presentations, workshops, exhibitions
Introduction DeKay / Karatzas collaboration Mark is a professor of architecture at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Pygmalion is an architect and architectural photographer based in Greece. Mark wrote the book ‘Integral Sustainable Design’ and supervised Pygmalion’s Fulbright Artist Scholarship project in 2015-2016 in United States.
Introduction Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory Integral Theory as defined by Ken Wilber has been applied to the fields of education, medicine, psychology, business, politics & governance, socially engaged spirituality, consciousness studies, ecology and sustainability, human rights, art & literary theory, architecture and city planning. Its five core components are: 01. Levels (or stages) of collective human development, 02. States of consciousness, 03. The 4 quadrants / perspectives (covering individual, collective, interior and exterior dimensions), 04. Lines of human development (specific areas / fields of expertise & practice), 05. Types of manifestation. Integral Theory is based on a cross-cultural comparison of human knowledge, experience, and inquiry. It challenges us to hold multiple simultaneous perspectives and to address different levels of awareness across the spectrum of human development. We believe it is a helpful model in analysing complex phenomena; and considering the scope, breadth, and multifaceted aspects of the subject matter.
Quadrants, Levels, States, Lines, Types Ken Wilber, The Integral Vision, 2007 graphic by Stephen Lark, formlessmountain.com, 2008
Introduction Integral Theory in architecture & sustainability The four fundamental perspectives represent different knowledge domains that are always integrated within the discipline of architecture. It is useful before jumping in to an integral view on architectural photography, to take a look at how these perspectives inform architecture itself. 1) The Perspective of Behaviours is in the individual-objective value sphere. Practitioners take the viewpoint of science and engineering; it is empirical. It values what can be measured and weighed. It is concerned with how buildings work and perform, their functions, parts, details and elements. 2) The Perspective of Systems is in the inter-objective value sphere where parts are related into wholes. Practitioners take viewpoint of the complex and social sciences. Ecology rather than physics is often the model, but architecture itself is quite at home here in its own right, as a discipline that orders form based on resolving a complex set of issues. 3) The Perspective of Cultures is in the inter-subjective value sphere where meaning is generated out of shared interaction with others. Practitioners interpret architecture’s meaning and generate new cultural communications using the symbolic language of design. This viewpoint includes the stories, myths and narratives that we make significant about the built environment. 4) The Perspective of Experiences is the singular subjective value sphere in which architects focus on individual occupants’ interior sensations, feelings, emotions, consciousness, responses, and aesthetic experience. Of architecture’s “firmness, commodity and delight,” it is delight. This perspective also can be used to examine the designer’s own intentions and experiences.
Quadrants in Architecture & Sustainable Design Mark DeKay, Integral Sustainable Design, 2011
Introduction Integral Theory in art
The Expressivist Approach: maintain that the power of art lies in its ability to express something; namely some intuition, vision, impulse, or feeling of the artist. Artists from this school predominately used art not as a means of merely imitating an objective reality or focusing on the purely formal elements of their medium but as a vehicle for expressing some interior state. The Formalist Approach: argued that the true locus of art lies not in the artist’s original intent (which they dubbed “the intentional fallacy”) but rather in the structural integrity of the artwork itself and the formal elements in it. Artists using this approach turned their focus away from the expression of feelings and concentrated on a more “realistic” attitude, usually recording exterior events as objectively as possible. The Reception and Response Approach: argued that the true meaning and value of art is to be found in the interpretation that a community of viewers assigns to it, and on the recognition of the cultural background, the viewer response, historical reception, and historicity. Art is no longer an autonomous or solitary affair; the majority of postmodern artists used their art as a means of facilitating a response in the viewer, by emphasising the multiplicity of interpretations. The Symptomatic Approach: the meaning and nature of art is found in larger social currents, which operate mainly in the background of the artist and artwork. That is to say, the artwork is “symptomatic” of these overall social forces and their dysfunctions, which are typically investigated by approaches such as Marxism, feminism, racism, imperialism, and so on. Artist focused more on the depiction of social identities and inequalities (e.g. economic, gender, political, ecological).
Matt Rentschler, Introducing Integral Art, 2006. Major approaches to art in the four quadrants. Adapted from Ken Wilber’s ‘Integral Art and Literary Theory’
Art is in the Maker The Primal Art Holon
Art is in the Artwork The Artwork Holon
Art is in the Viewer The Viewer Holon
Art is in the Hidden Intent The Context Holon
Introduction Integral Lens timeline ‘Morphogenesis’ projects, 2013 - 2015, Europe & Middle East. ‘Integral Lens’ project, October 2015 - March 2016, USA. ‘Arcspace - The Camera’ interviews, January 2014 - present, Denmark. ‘Integral Lens’ paper, May 2018, Hungary. ‘Integral Lens’ collective presentations, October 2018, Greece & Italy.
Mark DeKay, Pygmalion Karatzas, Hungary, May 2018 Presentation of Integral Lens at the 3rd Integral European Conference
PART 1 Analysing architectural photography with the integral framework
photographic perspectives - historical examples photographic views - historical examples photographic types - contemporary examples beyond postmodern - contemporary examples
Photographic perspectives: historical examples, p1
Looking back at the history of architectural photography in the 20th century, we can point to four distinctive approaches/ perspectives: 1. Walker Evans’ ‘documentary style’ represents a relatively objective view, using little intervention between object and subject to descriptively record the American rural vernacular culture through its buildings and cityscapes. In that sense, it is a third-person view of architecture, intentionally taking – as much as possible – the photographer’s point of view out of the frame.
Walker Evans, Rural Church, S. Carolina, 1936. (documentary, representational)
Photographic perspectives: historical examples, p2
2. Alfred Stieglitz’s ‘Pictorialist movement’ presents a highly subjective view of the built environment, a first-person view in which reality is less important than impression. The photographer’s intention is to engender an aesthetic experience, rather than present a topographic record of the scene. The expressive possibilities and artistic potential of the medium are the primary focus, in an aspirational dialogue with the powerful internal – and more intangible – characteristics of fine arts.
Edward Steichen, The Flatiron Building, New York, 1904 (artistic, self-expressive)
Photographic perspectives: historical examples, p3
3. Charles Steeler’s narrative and symbolic imagery from the Ford Motor Company plant, we are presented with an inter-subjective view, enrolling the viewer in a cultural story where the built environment’s meaning takes priority. Photography in this case sits inside a second-person view, a perspective of “we”, with the intention gravitating towards the collective interpretation and influence as symbols.
Charles Sheeler, Criss-Crossed Conveyors, Ford Plant, Michigan, 1927. (symbolic, interpretive)
Photographic perspectives: historical examples, p4 4. Bill Hedrich’s ‘Fallingwater’ image from Edgar Kaufman House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and commissioned by Architectural Forum magazine. This is photography intended to make the best presentation of an architect’s work and to be published broadly for the consumption of and influence on future clients and study by other architects. This kind of editorial photography is driven and defined by the situation, the context of its production, and as such takes as its basis a different inter-objective view, the institutions and regulations of the architectural profession and the building market business and networks. However true they are to documenting, to providing an aesthetic experience, or becoming iconic symbols; they are primarily products set in the complex plural world of socio-economic systems.
Bill Hedrich, Edgar Kaufman House, PA, Frank Lloyd Wright, arch. 1937 (commercial, editorial)
Photographic perspectives: 4 quadrant framing
The four photographic perspectives DeKay / Karatzas, 2018 Placing the 4 historical examples in Integral Theory’s quadrants
The Photographic Eye self-expression, intention vision & intuition mental states, perception inner voice, truthfulness subjective beauty aesthetics & fine arts
The Photographic Frame the subject matter formal elements of composition internal structure & rhythm observable features technical skills objective documentation
The Photographic View cultural interpretations collective symbols historicity, theories reception & response semiotics, meaning movements, styles values & worldviews
The Photographic Practice socio-economic contexts media outlets, editing exhibitions & display means of production, technology assignment briefs, rights business & branding institutions, networks
Photographic Views (levels): historical examples, p1 From quadrants we now move to levels. The “Early Realists� (traditional level): Photographers prioritised rigorous observation, a mastery of technique and composition, and a deep desire to understand something of the world they found around themselves. They systematically recorded for extended periods of time subjects with unprecedented intensity and attentiveness. Scrupulous documentarians, artists who resisted overt aesthetics in order to prune photography down to its essence: the clear expression of the subject.
Berenice Abbott, Changing New York, 1929 - 1937 Traditional, Realism
Photographic Views (levels): historical examples, p2
The “Early Realists� (traditional level): Beginning to mid-20th century Eugene Atget (1857 - 1927) Berenice Abbott (1898 - 1991) Walker Evans (1903 - 1975) Dorothea Lange (1895 - 1965)
Eugene Atget, Photographe de Paris, 1897 - 1927 Traditional, Realism
Photographic Views (levels): historical examples, p3
The “Design Photojournalists” (modern level): The Modern Worldview gives rise to a differentiation between the image and what it represents, while introducing the articulation of individualism and the personal expression of the photographer. Modern architectural photography strive to both represent the building objectively, thus, including Traditional Realism, but also now to give viewers the experience of “architecture as space”, and therefore going beyond the Traditional level.
Julius Shulman, Case Study House No.22, 1960 Modern, Spatialism, Iconic
1930s to present Julius Schulman Ezra Stoller Balthazar Koran Lucien Herve Hedrich & Blessing Helene Binet Paul Warchol Peter Aaron Roland Halbe Juergen Nogai Brad Feinknopf Richard Bryant Ake Eson Lindman Thomas Mayer
Photographic Views (levels): historical examples, p4
The “Design Photojournalists� (modern level): The Modern view represents also the dominant and iconic image of a building that captures and portrays the essence of the project, in contrast to the vernacular view that treats all views equally informative. Architectural photographers become wellaccepted authorities in the field, and by working closing with architects and editors, influence the cultural and economic aspects of the industry.
Ezra Stoller, TWA Terminal, 1962 Modern, Spatialism, Iconic
1930s to present Julius Schulman Ezra Stoller Balthazar Koran Lucien Herve Hedrich & Blessing Helene Binet Paul Warchol Peter Aaron Roland Halbe Juergen Nogai Brad Feinknopf Richard Bryant Ake Eson Lindman Thomas Mayer
Photographic Views (levels): historical examples, p5
The “New Topographists� (postmodern level): The Postmodern View looks at broader contexts to understand and expand the subject matter. Postmodern architectural photography developed critical perspectives towards the built environment and emphasised its urban and social systems. Images are stripped of any artistic frills and reduced to an essentially topographic state. The banal, everyday, the industrial, the urban sprawl, became the subjects of their lens, undermining the commodity status of the post-war art object.
1960s to present: Robert Adams, Stephen Shore, Lewis Baltz, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Ed Ruscha, Frank Gohlke, Nicholas Nixon, Thomas Struth, Thomas Ruff, Andreas Gursky,
Ed Ruscha, Every Building on Sunset Strip, 1966. Postmodern, Pluralism, Contextualism
Photographic Views (levels): historical examples, p6
The “New Topographists� (postmodern level): Postmodern architectural photography incorporates elements of straight as-is representation (traditional) and spatial complexities (modern), but the emphasis is no longer in the buildings themselves as documentation or design; rather a blunt mirror of the man-altered landscape and our cognitive dissonance to its global implications.
1960s to present: Robert Adams, Stephen Shore, Lewis Baltz, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Ed Ruscha, Frank Gohlke, Nicholas Nixon, Thomas Struth, Thomas Ruff, Andreas Gursky,
Stephen Shore, La Brea Ave & Beverly Blvd, 1975. Postmodern, Pluralism, Contextualism
Photographic Views (levels): historical examples, p7
One of the defining characteristics of the Postmodern worldview is contextualism, the understanding of anything by placing it into a larger context. Postmodern photography seeks to explain and situate architecture as a response to urban and social context. With Alan Karchmer’s image of the Steger Center we can see this shift from architecture-asspace to architecture-ascontext.
Alan Karchmer, Steger Center, University of Cincinnati, 2006 Postmodern, Pluralism, Contextualism
Photographic Lenses: Combining Perspectives with Views Sixteen Lenses of Architectural Photography DeKay / Karatzas, 2018. Beyond Postmodern: From an Integral Worldview one can see the full developmental unfoldment and find some healthy value to include from each preceding view. Using these four basic worldviews and four distinctive perspective as a framework, we can generate sixteen unique and valid prospects on architectural photography. Metaphorically, we term these, “Lenses”. When we define “integral” using the Wilber/AQAL definition, we take into consideration quadrants, levels, lines, types and states. In this sense Integral architectural photography becomes a panoply of practices. When we talk about “integral” as a level beyond Postmodern, we are considering the developmental line within each quadratic perspective. In this sense integral photography is a state of consciousness.
Photographic types: from topographic to editorial to expressive Beijing National Stadium, China Iwan Baan
- representational, objective, - “pure” applications include historic survey and documentation, archeology, anthropology, building science, restoration, etc. topographic / documentary
Tim Griffith
Irene Kung
- a synthesis of points of view between photographers, architects, publishers, - mostly for use within the architecture industry, - firms’ portfolios, competitions, publications, real estate, etc.
- subjective, abstract, expressionistic, impressionistic, multi-media, - primary point of view the photographer’s inner vision, concept, technique - gallery prints and display, public or private space decoration, exhibitions, etc.
editorial / commercial
expressive / fine art
One way to illustrate the typological spectrum is by looking at different interpretations of the same subject.
Photographic types: from topographic to editorial to expressive
A second way to illustrate the typological spectrum is by looking at the results of international photography competitions. Selected results from 17 competitions from 2014 to 2018 have been catalogued.
Photographic types: from topographic to editorial to expressive
https://www.pygmalionkaratzas.com/integrallenscompetitiontypes
Photographic Groups: Levels + Types
Intersecting the integral framing of levels and types produces the figure shown here. Examples of photographers are grouped in significant and influential clusters. We are interested in an integrally-framed mapping of the field.
Photographic grouping based on type and worldview DeKay / Karatzas, 2018.
Integral State + Documentary Type = “Reconstructionists" Edward Burtynsky, ’Water’ series, 2011.
We present some contemporary examples whose work, we feel, includes and transcends the three photographic views, while they masterfully combine all-quadrant perspectives. The examples also cover the typological spectrum. - stunning visual language, - global scale / cross-cultural documentation, - active engagement with social and environmental implications, - ability to communicate with audiences from different worldviews, sets Burtynsky’s work apart from other postmodern topographists.
Integral State + Documentary Type = “Reconstructionists"
Yiorgis Yerolymbos, ‘Car Park roof waterproofing’, Niarchos Cultural Center, 2014.
From 2010 to 2016 Yerolymbos documented the construction of the Niarchos Cultural Center in Athens, designed by Renzo Piano. His series ‘orthographs’ were taken hanging from a 100 m. crane looking straight down to the construction site. We see both objective documentation of the construction process, and an abstract order our of the complexity of the site. He uses a single point of view, flattening all spatial features as in the Traditional level, while the stripping of any artistic frills reduces the image to an essentially topographic state characteristic of the Postmodern level. The project became a highly successful exhibition, communicating both the institution’s brand and the photographer’s cultural interpretation.
Integral State + Editorial Type = “Aperspectivists" Iwan Baan, Makoko Floating School, Lagos Nigeria, 2013.
Baan’s ‘Makoko Floating School’ is part of his book & exhibition ’52 Weeks, 52 Cities’. It is an engaged commentary on human living and survival strategies, and on the relationship between people, social use and the built environment. The aerial point of view reveals the larger contextual systems. At the integral level we have the inclusion of multiple perspectives: architecture as setting for life, as a dynamic interaction with natural and social processes.
Integral State + Editorial Type = “Aperspectivists" Fernando Guerra, The Building on the Water, China Alvaro Siza architect, 2014
Fernando Guerra has been a pioneer in the way architecture is photographed and divulged. 19 years ago, he opened studio FG+SG together with his brother, and both are responsible in large part for the diffusion of Portuguese contemporary architecture in the last fifteen years. Fernando Guerra is an architectural photographer. His training, however, is as an architect. His gaze is divided between two distinct modes of constructing the world. Given this fact, he is in a prime position to personify the metamorphosis of the field of photography that will lead the practice of creating images to eventually identify itself, in part, with the field of architecture, with over 1200 projects photographed to date.
Integral State + Expressive Type = “Neo-Pictorialists“ David Burdeny, Floating Village, Vietnam, 2011. - raw immediacy of threshold places, liminality, - bridging the concrete with the ephemeral, - the sublime in the ordinary, - minimalism - suchness, - the witness - pure interaction between form and space The process of “concretising interiority” (one characteristic of Integral Art according to Jean Gebser) has this basic flow: 01. The photographer experiences a creative intuition, 02. He then conveys that intuition into the image, 03. The viewer contemplates on the image and receives that intuitive transmission. This intangible thread between the three parts of this process are beautifully present in Burdeny’s ‘Floating Village’ (shown here), as well as in his overall body of work. Trained in architecture, Burdeny’s subjects focus on the built environment, and his travels circle the globe.
Integral State + Expressive Type = “Neo-Pictorialists“ John Kosmopoulos, ‘New Olympus’, New York, 2016. Canadian professor in behaviour science & photographer John Kosmopoulos, gives a definition of fine art photography that, we feel, echoes with the integral approach. “Fine art photography is a style or genre of photography that offers a harmonious composition of elements within a frame of reference whose content provides aesthetic, sensory, and sometimes surreal qualities that fulfill the authentic, creative, and personal vision of the photographer as artist while heightening the emotional and psychological response of the observer. It is an established but evolving discipline in photography whose essential condition is the ‘felt aesthetic’ (the feeling of being immersed in and inspired by something intellectually and imaginatively beautiful). This type of photography is often exemplified by but not limited to black and white compositions, various exposure lengths, and eclectic subjects (e.g., abstract, architecture, landscapes, nude portraits, etc.). It may also be interpreted by refined theories and concepts across disciplines (e.g., philosophy, psychology, literature, music, film, culture, semiotics, mathematics, science) and past and current trends in art, photography and technology in part or in whole. It is often defined in contrast to journalistic, documentary, and commercial photography. It also adheres to quality standards in post-processing and printing as part of the creation of art.” © John Kosmopoulos
PART 2 Presenting the ‘Integral Lens’ photographic project of Pygmalion Karatzas
An individual iteration of ‘Integral Lens’ The Fulbright Artist Scholarship Project October 2015 - March 2016, USA.
Sequence: Architectural details Building portraits Project portfolios / monographs Intimate urban scenes Cityscape panoramas Thematic series: Nortigo Boomeritis Serial Vision Future Memories Aperspectival Empire State of Mind AQAL Views
‘Integral Lens’ project: An integral approach to the study and representation of the built environment through the photographic medium.
Trip statistics: 9,600 miles flying, 4,200 miles driving, 1,300 miles public commuting, 750,000 steps walking, 12,000 still images taken, 65,000 images in timelapse video, 150 buildings and locations from 12 cities, 142 days on the road.
‘Nortigo’ is an exercise in shifting points of view as a gesture to reveal new and interesting information, compositions and feelings from spaces designed to form tangible connections between above and below, by looking straight up towards the ceiling, atrium or sky. The progression from indoor to outdoor spaces supplements the introvert/extrovert design polarity, while the pairing of classical buildings with modern, postmodern and cosmogenic architecture allows for comparative viewing experiences and a diverse showcase of the built environment.
Series ‘Nortigo’, Experience Music Project Museum, Seattle, Frank Gehry Architect, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Series ‘Nortigo’, Harvard Art Museum, Cambridge, Renzo Piano Architect, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Rockefeller Plaza, New York, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
‘Boomeritis’ presents stand-alone portraits of buildings with the long exposure shooting technique using neutral density filter. We depart from straight photography to fuse the boundaries between representational and expressionistic image making.
Lake Point Tower, Chicago, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Aqua Tower, Chicago, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Details of skyscrapers and public buildings, frontal views of iconic architecture, presented in a way that highlights the formalistic aspects of design, while the blurring of time is intended to give them a timeless feel. Desaturated or monochrome treatments emphasise the tectonic elements of subjects, and the manual blending of different exposures in post-processing adds presence, depth and complementary lighting.
WMS Boathouse, Chicago, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Long exposure photography makes people slow down, observe buildings closer, do research and field survey, revisit locations under different light conditions, and by doing so enriching their understanding and awareness of the built environment. Boomeritis aims to inspire people to not only view architecture as a two dimensional image representation, but to motivate them to experience it more comprehensively.
St. Mary of the Assumptions, San Francisco, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
In ‘Serial Vision’ streetscapes are combined with architectural landmarks. The black and white high contrast rendering and the candid moments are a tribute to the classic street photography genre. Street photography is associated with the joy of simply walking around the city, observing the interaction between people and their surroundings, and creating a dynamic balance of the elements by way of framing and composition.
EMP Museum, Seattle, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Series: ‘Serial Vision’, National WWII Museum, New Orleans, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Red Rock Amphitheater, Denver, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Union Station, Denver, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Cloud Gate, Chicago, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Series: Future Memories
Community Rowing Boathouse, Boston, Anmahian Winton Architects photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Series: Future Memories
National WWII Museum, New Orleans, Voorsanger Mathes Architects photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Series: Future Memories
New World Symphony Hall, Miami, Frank Gehry Architects photo Pygmalion Karatzas
List of buildings visited and photographed during the trip: 1. Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center, NY, Weiss / Manfredi 2. Whitney Museum of American Art, NY, Renzo Piano Building Workshop 3. Fulton Center, NY, Grimshaw Architects 4. West Concourse, PATH Station, NY, Santiago Calatrava 5. The Morgan Library and Museum extension, New York, by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. 6. The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, by SANAA. 7. Pier 15, New York, by SHoP Architects and Ken Smith. 8. Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park, New York, by Weiss/Manfredi. 9. 9/11 Memorial and Museum, New York, by Micahel Arad, Peter Walker, Davis Brody Bond, and Snohetta. 10. High Line public park, New York, James Corner Field Operations, with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Piet Oudolf. 11. InterActiveCorp’s Head Quarters, NY, Frank Gehry 12. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY, Frank Lloyd Wright 13. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, NY 14. Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center, NY, David Rockwell. 15. The Julliard School, NY, Diller Scofidio + Renfro with FX Fowle 16. 41 Cooper Square, NY, Morphosis / Thom Mayne 17. The Catholic Center at NYU, Machado Silvetti Architects. 18. The Pavilion at Brookfield Place, NY, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. 19. Zuccotti park, NY, Cooper Roberston. 20. Community Rowing Boathouse, Boston, Anmahian Winton Architects 21. The new MIT Media Lab expansion, Cambridge, Fumihiko Maki. 22. Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Art of the Americas Extension, Foster & Partners. 23. Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Contemporary Art Extension, I.M. Pei 24. Harvard Art Museums renovation and expansion, Cambridge, Renzo Piano Building Workshop. 25. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Diller + Scofidio + Renfro. 26. JFK Library and Museum, Boston, I.M. Pei. 27. Ray and Maria Stata Center, MIT, Cambridge, Frank Gehry. 28. Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, Renzo Piano Building Workshop. 29. MIT Chapel, Cambridge, Eero Saarinen 30. Chicago Architecture Biennial Exhibition 2015, Chicago Cultural Center.
List of buildings visited and photographed during the trip: 31. Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, University of Chicago, Murphy Jahn Architects 32. McCormick Tribune Campus Center, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, OMA / Rem Koolhaas 33. State Street Village, IIT Dormitory, Chicago, Helmut Jahn, Murphy-Jahn Associates. 34. Lakefront Kiosk, Chicago Architecture Biennial, Ultramoderne. 35. Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Josef Paul Kleihues. 36. Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Chicago, Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. 37. WMS Boathouse, Clark Park Chicago, Studio Gang Architects 38. Oak Park Public Library, Chicago, Nagle Hartray Architects. 39. The Art Institute of Chicago, Modern Wing extension, Renzo Piano Building Workshop. 40. Millennium park plaza, Chicago. 41. S. R. Crown Hall, IIT, Chicago, Mies van der Rohe. 42. Bloomingdale line (trail and park), Chicago. 43. James Thompson Center, Chicago, Helmut Jahn. 44. Frank Lloyd Wright Home and studio, Chicago. 45. California Science Center, Los Angeles. 46. The Broad Museum, Los Angeles, Diller Scofidio + Renfro 47. Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, Frank Gehry. 48. Getty Center, Los Angeles, Richard Meier. 49. Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple, Lutah Maria Riggs. 50. Malibu Hindu Temple, Los Angeles. 51. Monterey Bay Aquarium, EHDD. 52. Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center, Nevada, Line and Space Architects. 53. California Academy of Science, San Francisco, Renzo Piano Building Workshop. 54. De Young Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco, Herzog & de Meuron. 55. Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, Daniel Libeskind 56. Stanford Department of Art & Art History, Stanford, Diller Scofidio + Renfro. 57. Stanford James H. Clark Center, Foster and Partners in collaboration with MBT Architecture. 58. B Cellars Winery, Napa Valley. 59. Domaine Chandon, Napa Valley. 60. Seattle Public Library, OMA / Rem Koolhaas
List of buildings visited and photographed during the trip: 61. Experience Music Project Museum, Seattle, Frank Gehry 62. Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle, Weiss Manfredi. 63. Seattle Center. 64. Museum of History & Industry, Seattle. 65. University of Washington campus, Seattle. 66. Clyfford Still Museum, Denver, Allied Works Architecture 67. Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, Adjaye Associates 68. Denver Art Museum extension, Daniel Libeskind 69. Denver Union Station, SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) 70. Denver Performing Arts Complex 71. University of Denver Campus 72. Cadet Chapel, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Walter Netsch, Harold Wagoner, SOM 73. 1111 Lincoln Road Parking, Miami Beach, Herzog & de Meuron 74. Perez Art Museum, Miami, Herzog & de Meuron 75. New World Symphony, Miami Beach, Frank Gehry 76. Faena Arts Center, Miami Beach, OMA / Rem Koolhaas 77. The National WWII Museum, New Orleans, Voorsanger Mathes LLC 78. Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Stephen Goldring Hall, New Orleans, Errol Barron / Michael Toups. 79. Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, Studio WTA 80. University of Tennessee, Knoxville Campus
Bloomingdale Trail, Chicago, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Brooklyn Bridge, New York photo Pygmalion Karatzas
‘Aperspectival’ is taking a more intimate look at the man-altered landscape, influenced by the visual vocabulary of the ‘New Topographics’ and the metropolitan condition ‘terrain vague’ as defined by Ignasi de Sola-Morales. In contrast to the carefully designed and integrated city-planning projects, contemporary cities are also characterised by their obsolete and unproductive spaces, undefined, without specific limits. As such they manifest as spaces of freedom and represent an anonymous reality outside the urban regeneration policies.
Bay Bridge Pier, San Francisco photo Pygmalion Karatzas
South Beach, Miami, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
This highly influential movement from the 70ies was a break from the romantic and idealistic view of both urbanism and countryside and offered a more straight, and sometimes blunt, look at the man-altered landscape. It was a timely critical realisation of the cognitive dissonance maintained by the modernist ideal. As such became more than just a viewing perspective, it expressed the condition of postmodernity.
Series ‘Empire State of Mind’, Chicago riverwalk skyline, Chicago, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
With the ‘Empire state of mind’ series the scale is broadened to open vistas, in search of the iconic and the genius loci.
Series ‘Empire State of Mind’, Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
The coupling of urban with rural locations reflects the dominant dichotomy of contemporary living, while the 2x1 ratio follows the panoramic feeling of vastness.
Series ‘Empire State of Mind’, Venice Beach at sunset, Los Angeles, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Experiencing the American landscape, I am reminded of Rem Koolhaas ‘Bigness’: “Beyond a certain scale, architecture acquires the properties of Bigness.
Series ‘Empire State of Mind’, Manhattan Skyline at dusk, New York, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
The best reason to broach Bigness is the one given by climbers of Mount Everest: “because it is there.” Bigness is ultimate architecture.”
‘AQAL Views’ is a series of long exposure urban waterscapes. Blurred ocean and moving skies meet building silhouettes and auxiliary structures in a merging dance between the perpetual and the ephemeral. As the shutter takes more time to let light into the sensor, so the photographer takes more time to get absorbed by the scene, and invites the viewer to have a similar unifying visual experience.
Lower Manhattan, New York photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Having lived most of my life near water, a deep connection with this element has been formed. Scenes that combine cityscapes with waterscapes are dear to my heart in a primal level. Arriving in places, the new and unfamiliar instinctively is counterbalanced by the familiarity of the waterfront.
Lo Presti Park, Boston, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
At the end, when we put aside all the analyses and pause from all the search, we find what they refer in Zen as “the beginner’s mind”, a fresh look as if we just witnessed the wonders of this world. When all is said and done, comes a peaceful feeling of completion and the shear joy of being.
Bay Bridge, San Francisco, photo Pygmalion Karatzas
When we momentarily drop all we know and the anxiety of the unknown, we can rest in “one taste”, in the unifying consciousness that all are one. We all live in “AQAL space” and such is our viewing.
Charles River esplanade, Boston photo Pygmalion Karatzas
Conclusion of part 2:
indicative prospects from Integral Lens
Indicative prospects from Integral Lens project, 4 quadrant & 4 levels Pygmalion Karatzas, 2018
Karatzas / DeKay, 2018
PART 3 Viewing Arcspace’s featured photographers through the integral lens
Integral Lens interview series
Arcspace.com is an architecture website that features today’s most creative projects as well as the most influential of the past. It was founded in 1999 by architect and independent curator Kirsten Kiser. Since 2012 it is run and operated by the Danish Architecture Centre. DAC’s goal is to disseminate knowledge about architecture and urban development, to create a broad interest for new ideas traversing traditional boundaries, and to show how architecture creates cultural and economic assets for people, the industry and society at large. The Camera section is an online exhibition dedicated to professional architectural photography as well as artistic photography related to the built environment. As photo editor and in collaboration with chief editor Robert Martin we have been selecting and presenting photographers’ work, exclusive q&a discussions, and various stories and news related to the fields of communication and visual discourse.
With the selection of photographers and the q&a discussions we explore architectural photography aspects such as: the background biography and influences of the photographers, the overall vision and approach, the relationship between architects and photographers, specific key projects in assignments and personal work, film and digital, print and online means of production and distribution, business aspects of the industry, editing, commercial and artistic expressions, gear and technological advancements, awareness and transformative experiences, the interaction between people and their built environment, movements, styles and sub-genres, future plans and broader collaborations between photography and architecture, workshops, teaching, apprenticeship.
Arcspace’s q & a in the 4 quadrants Pygmalion Karatzas, 2018
overall vision & approach, awareness & perpection, transformative experiences, biography, typological expressions, intetions & concepts
key projects assignments & personal work interaction between people & the built environment, workflow, craftsmanship
background & influences, relationship between architects & photographers, movements & styles, workshops, teaching, apprenticeship, collaboration between architecture & photography
film & digital, print & online media, production & distribution, editing & post-processing, gear & technological advancements, agencies, business aspects
PART 3_1 Presenting Arcspace’s featured photographers 2014 - 2018 Iteration - Authorship
ANDREW PROKOS
USA, www.andrewprokos.com Publication: 30 January 2014 https://arcspace.com/camera/andrew-prokos/
New York based Andrew Prokos is a leading architectural and location photographer working in the USA today. He has established himself with the award winning photographic series 'Gehry's Children' and 'Niemeyer's Brasilia' featured here.
MICHAEL MASSAIA
USA, www.michaelmassaia.com Publication: 20 February 2014 https://arcspace.com/camera/michael-massaia/
Michael Massaia is a young fine art photographer and printmaker who spent the past few years documenting areas and objects in his native New Jersey. Black and white, isolation and a unique render of the ordinary is among his trademarks. Here, he explains how severe insomnia, photo realistic paintings, self-taught descipline and seeing what is right in front of him with an uncompromising vision, made him into the very talented photographer he is.
JUERGEN NOGAI
Germany / USA, www.juergennogai.com Publication: 19 March 2014 https://arcspace.com/camera/juergen-nogai/
Juergen Nogai is a German architecture, art and documentary photographer who studied Fine Arts, Film, Theatre and Television Science at the University of Cologne. Juergen started his freelance photography studio in Bremen where he worked for museums, architects, publishers, companies, design- and advertising agencies, but in 2000 he relocated to Los Angeles and began his decade long collaboration with architectural photographer Julius Shulman. His work is part of the permanent collections of numerous museums and his clients include many leading architectural firms and publishing houses.
JOHN KOSMOPOULOS
Canada, www.silverzenphotography.com Publication: 2 April 2014 https://arcspace.com/camera/john-kosmopoulos/
John Kosmopoulos is an internationally awarded photographer specializing in architecture, abstract, long exposure, and minimalist black and white fine art photography. His work has been featured in galleries and several national and international publications, and was voted one of the "grand and prestigious photographers of 2013" by 121Clicks.com. He is also a moderator and curator of the architecture group and exhibit at Stark Magazine and featured artist with the House of Ilford, Topaz Labs and Formatt Hitech. He resides in Toronto where he balances his passion for the photographic arts and writing with his love of the behaviour sciences as a consultant and educator.
AKIRA TAKAUE
Japan, www.akiratakaue.com Publication: 16 April 2014 https://arcspace.com/camera/akira-takaue/
Dr. Akira Takaue is a structural & consulting engineer from Japan, working on high-rise buildings, longspan bridges and other mega-structures mainly in Asia since 1996. After receiving his Ph.D. and whilst working for an international structural engineering firm, Takaue travels around the world producing fine art architectural images rooted in his approach of structural mechanics and material engineering.
THOMAS MAYER
Germany, www.thomas-mayer-photo.de Publication: 22 May 2014 https://arcspace.com/camera/thomas-mayer/
Thomas Mayer was born 1946 in Switzerland, and since 1969 he has been a freelance photographer based in Neuss, Germany. Before he started turning his lens towards architecture, Mayer did commercial work for car companies, editorial work for magazines like Zeit Magazin, GEO, Stern as well as corporate work for various industrial and institutional clients. Between 1989 and 1999 he documented the Neue Zollhof Dusseldorf development from competition to completion and the images got published in numerous publications around the world, establishing him in the field of architectural photography and led to long-term collaborations with architects like Frank Gehry and others. Between 2002 and 2007, he also documented the re-development of the world cultural heritage site Zeche Zollverein in Essen with projects by OMA and SANAA. He describes his work as architectural reportage photography with a journalistic approach to design and life within it. With over 30 years of experience in the field he has an astonishing oevre of more than 100,000 images. In 2013, ArchDaily listed him as one of the top 13 architectural photographers.
IRENE KUNG
Switzerland, www.irenekung.com Publication: 19 October 2014 https://arcspace.com/camera/irene-kung/
Irene Kung was born in Switzerland and trained as a painter. In the past few years, however, she has expanded her repertoire to include photography. Her works have been exhibited in numerous international galleries and her book 'The Invisible City' won the PDN Photobook 2013 award. “In her beautiful and mysterious photos, Irene Kung gives us just such a map of the city, the city of daylight transformed into the nocturnal city of dreams. In her photos, cathedrals become the heavenly palaces they must have seemed to the faithful who knew nothing of architecture and structural engineering. Monuments retain their identity and their geographical location, and yet in the process of leaving the earth to float upward into the unconscious, they shed the dry husks of culture and of purpose to become wondrous abstractions.� - Francine Prose
MARINA MORON
Jesús Marina Barba & Elena Morón Serna Spain, www.marinamoron.com Publication: 23 November 2014 https://arcspace.com/camera/_marina_moron/
_Marina_Morón is the name of the creative collaboration between Jesús Marina Barba, professor at Granada University, and Elena Morón Serna, architect and researcher. Their work explores tangible connections between the image and architectonic space with an emphasis on the experiencial qualities of colour and the Japanese concept of ‘Ma'. They have written the books 'Sintagmas cromáticos', 'A_chroma', and 'Tras el muro blanco' and their work has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Distinctions include international architecture and artistic awards. They have been directors of the following research projects: 'Time and colour' (2003-2006), 'Images of the past, history of the future' (2005-2007), and 'CO3 - Towards a new relationship between architecture and colour' (2009-2012). Their latest book 'K: emptiness' will be released in 2015.
SHANNON McGRATH
UK / Australia, www.shannonmcgrath.com Publication: 19 January 2015 https://arcspace.com/camera/shannon-mcgrath/
Shannon McGrath has been photographing architecture and interior design works for 15 years. She is commissioned by pre-eminent architects and designers around Australia for her ability to get under the skin of a project, and not only capture its pure essence but also her client's formal design intent. Passionate and professional, Shannon's images are known for their beautiful portrayal of light and form, with a soft realism that celebrates the subject matter. Shannon's work appears regularly in publications as a regular contributor, and she travels extensively both nationally and overseas photographing buildings and interiors. She has been invited to photograph several published book projects and artistic series, and is also an award-winning photographer. Always seeking to add new layers, Shannon is studying her Masters in Fine Arts at RMIT to complement her previous training. She is increasingly exhibiting her personal artistic work throughout galleries in Melbourne, drawing on her love for constructed spaces and continually exploring the interior/exterior nuances of life on a day-to-day level. In honing her art practice, Shannon continues to glimpse into spaces beyond and the intricacies of what lies beneath.
Ã…KE E:SON LINDMAN
Sweden, www.lindmanphotography.com Publication: 8 February 2015 https://arcspace.com/camera/aake-eson-lindman/
Åke E:son Lindman is a prolific architectural photographer based in Sweden. After graduating from the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm in 1975, he started working with documentary photography. After documenting the Bo85 Housing EXPO, Lindman started focusing on architectural photography. Since then, he has being involved in many projects for architects like Carlos Scarpa, Rafael Moneo, Per Friberg, Gert Wingardh, Ralph Erskine, on thematic collections 'Gardens of Italy', 'Fourteen Swedish Embassies', 'Swedish Country House', among others, and his personal project 'Pure Architecture’. In the words of Olof Hultin, former editor-in-chief Arkitektur magazine: “Åke E:son Lindman is the Swedish architectural photographer who continually and with a sure instinct seeks to develop his proffessionalism- which as an editor one appreciates. Not all photographers share his genuine interest in architecture. This means that he sees the architecture, not the image, as what is most important. As a result he is now succeeding more and more in photographing the space and not the object. That is where the wheat is really seperated from the chaff!” We are pleased to present a selection of Mr. Lindman's photographic work along with an interview he gave to Julia Tedroff from Gothenburg Photography School.
YIORGIS YEROLYMBOS
Greece, www.yerolymbos.com Publication: 16 March 2015 https://arcspace.com/camera/yiorgis-yerolymbos/
Yiorgis Yerolymbos studied both photography and architecture, with his MA focused in Image and Communication and his Ph.D. in Art and Design. He has presented five solo exhibitions ('Default Landscapes', 'Road Trip USA', 'Interim', 'Terza Natura', 'No Man's Land') and participated in numerous group shows in Greece and abroad. Some of his most important projects include the construction of Egnatia motorway at its full length, the US coast to coast road trip as Fulbright scholar, and the on-going construction of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens designed by Renzo Piano. Yerolymbos has been published in more than 20 books on art and architecture in Greece, Europe and the US. Between 2008 and 2011 taught photography in the School of Architecture at the University of Thessaly. His work was part of the Greek Pavilion of the Venice Biennale in 2013 and 2014, and has received 1st Prize for Cinema Still Photography in the BAFTA Awards, 3rd Prize in Landscape Photography by GAIORAMA, and 1st selection for the Biennale of Young Artists of Europe by the Ministry of Culture. His longstanding dedication to the art of the photographic medium coupled with his prolific work, have established him as a leading figure in architectural photography in Greece. With his focus on the human-altered landscape he bridges landscape with architectural photography and immortalizes the ephemeral.
BRAD FEINKNOPF
USA, www.feinknopf.com Publication: 19 April 2015 https://arcspace.com/camera/brad-feinknopf/
Being from a family of architects, Brad Feinknopf has been subjected to architecture all of his life. He has been doing commercial and architectural photography for over 25 years and has done a wide variety of work for many of the world's most well-known architects. Recently, ArchDaily selected Feinknopf as one of their 'Top 13 Architectural Photographers in the World’. Feinknopf received a degree in Design from Cornell University, but from an early age developed a passion for photography. Subsequently, he spend several years assisting notable photographers such as Richard Avedon, Robert Mapplethorpe, Arnold Newman, among others. In 1988, Feinknopf moved to Columbus, Ohio where he established his own studio. His professionalism is evident in his enthusiasm and dedication to his craft, his engaged commitment to quality, and his belief in the fhe notion that good architecture can make a positive difference in people's lives. We are pleased to present his thoughtful perspectives on the many aspects of architectural photography alongside selcted examples from his outstanding oeuvre.
RICHARD BRYANT & Arcaid Images
UK, www.richardbryant.co.uk Publication: 18 May 2015 https://arcspace.com/camera/richard-bryant--arcaid-images/
Richard Bryant studied architecture before pursuing a career as a photographer. It was a modest start of site progress shots for colleagues and friends and building studies for the Architects' Journal. Photographing the Soane Museum for an edition of World of Interiors brought him to the attention of a wider and international press and the architect James Stirling. Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, Gwathmey Siegal, Richard Meier, Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid followed. Bryant's interest in historic architecture was fed by two New York-based magazines (House and Garden and Magazine Antiques), both of which sent him around the world to interpret such projects as the Frick Collection in New York and Scholss Charlottenburg in Berlin. In 1991 Bryant was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 1996 he was the subject of a television programme and invited to exhibit his own work at the Venice Biennalle. In 1998 Bryant was given an Honorary Fellowship in Design from Kingston University. After the millennium Bryant looked to widen his client base, embarked upon the London project for Rizzoli, and moved from film to digital. Luxury brands, Armani, Bulgari ,Gucci and Netjets and design agency Pentagram became clients, while he still enjoyed architectural and cultural projects. In parallel Bryant has continued to pursue personal projects which include Carlo Scarpa's Museo Canoviano in Possagno and more recently Scarpa's Castelvecchio in Verona and various Constructivist projects in Moscow. Early in his career, with Lynne Bryant, he formed Arcaid Images Agency. Arcaid is one of the world's most comprehensive, privately run, commercial collections of images from all aspects of the built world, ancient to contemporary, iconic to ordinary. With over 130,000 images in their library, they represent nearly 200 photographers in over 30 countries. In 2012, they launched the annual Arcaid Architectural Photography Awards aiming to highlight the skills and creativity of architectural photographers and celebrate the genre.
MICHAEL KENNA
UK / USA, www.michaelkenna.net Publication: 22 June 2015 https://arcspace.com/camera/michael-kenna/
Michael Kenna is widely considered to be one of the masters of contemporary fine art photography. Kenna was born in 1953 in Widnes, England. Despite aspiring to become a Catholic priest, Kenna's passion for art led him to study at the Banbury School of Art and the London College of Printing. He went on to work as a commercial photographer for several years before moving to the US in the 1980's. Here, he worked with renowned photographer Ruth Bernhard while pursuing his own photographic career. He has lived in the US ever since. Kenna's work has been shown in numerous galleries and museum exhibitions in Asia, Australia, Europe and USA, most notably the collections of the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Patrimoine Photographique in Paris. In 2000, the Ministry of Culture in France awarded Kenna with the Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters. Other prestigious awards include the Imogen Cunningham Award (1981), Art in Public Buildings Award (1987), Institute for Aesthetic Development Award (1989), Golden Saffron Award (1996), Honorary Master of Arts Brooks Institute (2003). Kenna has published 47 books that span three decades of photographic journeys from over 30 countries around the world. His has built up an impressive list of clients that include the Bank of America, British Rail, Moet and Chandon and many others. He approaches landscape photography with a conscious focus on the relationship between places and the stories and traces people leave on them. His uncompromising vision is rooted in the craftmanship of printing, the alchemy of the darkroom, and the minimalist aesthetic. With his extensive revisits to locations and the dialogue between the camera and his vision, the photographic act becomes a holistic process of connecting with the world.
HEDRICH BLESSING PHOTOGRAPHERS Nick Merrick, John Miller, Steve Hall, www.hallmerrick.com USA, www.hedrichblessing.com Publication: 24 October 2015 https://arcspace.com/camera/hedrich-blessing-photographers/
The photographic studio Hedrich Blessing was founded in 1929 by Ken Hedrich and Henry Blessing in Chicago USA. Since the beginning of the studio's creation they believed in a strong relationship between photographer and architect, as well as mentorship between senior and younger photographers was established. These founding principles became the studio's leading philosophy throughout its history. In 1937, Architectural Forum commissioned Hedrich Blessing to photograph recent works of Frank Lloyd Wright and in the 1950s the studio became associated with documenting the modern architecture movement, particularly with Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, Albert Kahn, Buckminster Fuller, Eero Saarinen, Minoru Yamasaki, Harry Weese and Skidmore Owings & Merrill. Although most widely known for its architectural photography, Hedrich Blessing has been working with designers in related fields such as industrial, annual report, product and editorial. Today, there are four photographers leading the studio who build upon its history and tradition: Steve Hall, Tom Harris, Nick Merrick, and Jon Miller. Each beginning as a photographic assistant and was mentored by one of their predecessors. In the firm's 86 year history there have been twenty photographers. In 2013, the studio started offering time-based media in Motion+Sound, ranging from fully produced narratives to more basic time-lapse photography. With a long list of high profile clients Hedrich Blessing is one of the leading architectural photography firms in the US and internationally.
FABRICE SILLY
France, www.fabricesillyphotography.com Publication: 6 January 2016 https://arcspace.com/camera/fabrice-silly/
Emanating from his imaginary world, Fabrice Silly’s works are aesthetic proposals calling on our own imagination. He does not intend to make us travel, but to carry us away. Revisited megalopolis, becoming illusions at the risk of wounding the pride of the highest tower, reminding us that man is ephemeral in a floating world. In his work the tireless quest for an uncluttered style, formally ideal, persevering and, though still discreet, easily recognizable, enables Fabrice Silly to be acknowledged as a true artist.
EZRA STOLLER & ESTO PHOTOGRAPHICS
Erica Stoller, www.esto.com USA, www.ezrastoller.com (1915 - 2004) Publication: 27 June 2016 https://arcspace.com/camera/ezra-stoller--esto-photographics/
Ezra Stoller was born in Chicago in 1915 and studied architecture at New York University. Graduating with a degree in Industrial Design, Stoller began to photograph architecture. During WWII he worked with photographer Paul Strand at the Army Signal Corps Photo Center. After the war, Stoller continued his career with industrial and scientific commissions as well. Over the next forty years, many modern buildings were recognized and remembered by the images Stoller created. He worked closely with many of the period’s leading architects including Frank Lloyd Wright, Paul Rudolph, Marcel Breuer, I.M. Pei, Gordon Bunshaft, Eero Saarinen, Richard Meier among others. In 1961, he received the first Gold Medal for Photography from the American Institute of Architects. In his later years, Stoller founded Esto Photographics, a photo agency specializing in images of the built environment, with assignment work and a comprehensive picture library, connecting photographers with designers, publishers and other related professionals. The firm is currently directed by his daughter Erica Stoller. In this feature we are pleased to present a selection from the Ezra Stoller archive, a sample of the agency’s current photographers, and a discussion about architectural photography with the Director of Esto Photographics Erica Stoller.
PHILIP GUNKEL
Germany, www.philipgunkel.de Publication: 1 November 2016 https://arcspace.com/camera/philip-gunkel/
Philip Gunkel is an international professional fine art photographer that is specialized in architecture, commercial and landscape photography. He is born in 1986 in Berlin where he is still living and working today. Philip made his graduation in Photodesign in 2012 at the Lette-Verein, afterwards he started studying geological sciences at the Freie Universität and began working as a freelance photographer. His two main passions are to shoot abstract architecture with a desire to perfectionism and high quality that does justice to and reveal the main thoughts of the architects. He also feels determined to travel the most remote and rugged landscapes of mother earth to caption the unique and utterly beauty of nature and it's living beings.
GEORGE MESSARITAKIS
Greece / Germany, www.gmessaritakis.com Publication: 19 December 2016 https://arcspace.com/camera/george-messaritakis/
George Messaritakis is a photographer who specializes in architecture and landscape photography. Trained as a software engineer, and with a passion for construction of all kinds since childhood, he eventually adopted photography as his professional field and vocation, after being introduced to it by chance during his studies. He is currently based in Berlin and Athens, working for architectural and commercial clients and trade magazines.
RASMUS HJORTSHØJ
Denmark, www.coastarc.com Publication: 30 January 2017 https://arcspace.com/camera/rasmus-hjortshoj/
Rasmus Hjortshøj is a trained architect and photographer specialising in architectural and landscape photography. Based in Copenhagen, he worked in architectural offices like 3XN, SLETH and COBE and eventually opened his own practice - COAST - combining architectural design, planning, research and the visual portrayal of the built environment. Recent photographic works include West 57 in New York, Grove in Miami, and Navy Yards in Philadelphia by Bjarke Ingels Group, Ragnarock museum, Nørreport Station Area, and Smørblomsten kindergarten by COBE Architects, TAMA library by Toyo Ito, New Museum and Kanazawa 21st Century museum by SANAA, among others. His Ph.D. research focuses on how cityscapes and coastlines influence each other and together redefine building typologies. His desaturated approach to iconography brings out a timeless feeling and presence to both man-made and natural subjects, while the detached perspective echoes the ‘New Topographics’ objectivity towards the man-altered landscape.
MARCELA GRASSI
Argentina / Italy / Spain, www.marcelagrassi.com Publication: 22 May 2017 https://arcspace.com/camera/marcela-grassi/
Marcela Grassi is a trained architect specialising in architectural photographer. Born in Argentina, studying in Italy and living in Spain has given her a multi-cultural development that along with her architectural background informs and enriches her perspective from the detail to the urban scale. She has collaborated with EMBT Miralles Tagliabue, MBM Architects, BAAS Architecture, Penzel Architects, Carlos Ferrater, Wilkinson Eyre Architects, among others, and her work is regularly featured in international print and web publications. Her sensitivity and meticulous approach pays tribute to the beauty of the built environment and its relationship to light and context.
NAARO
Marcela Spadaro, Freya Najade Argentina / Germany / UK, www.naaro.com Publication: 28 August 2017 https://arcspace.com/camera/naaro/
NAARO studio is dedicated to document contemporary architecture around the world. Based in London, they strive to create images that reflect the unique qualities of the projects they photograph. NAARO’s vision is the result of Freya Najade and Marcela Spadaro’s combined expertise, encompassing a wealth of practical experience drawn from their complementary backgrounds. Freya, born in Germany, is an award-winning photographer whose strength lies within the documentation of the social and built environment. Marcela, born in Argentina, is trained as an architect and worked for over 10 years at the forefront of contemporary architecture with Zaha Hadid Architects. Publications include: Thames & Hudson, Phaidon, Domus, Wallpaper, ICON Magazine, Huffington Post, Elle Decoration, Architectural Digest, Summa+, Design Milk, Surface Magazine, The Times Literature, Architects Journal, Dezeen, Archdaily, Arquitectura Viva, among others. They also teach an intensive architectural photography course at London College of Communication, University of the Arts London.
JOĂƒO MORGADO
Portugal, www.joaomorgado.com Publication: 15 November 2017 https://arcspace.com/camera/joao-morgado/
Joao Morgado studied architecture at ISCTE in Lisbon Portugal and worked as an architect for five years in offices in Rotterdam and Maastricht. In 2007 he started collaborating with national and international offices following his vocation in architectural photography. At the age of 32 he has become a prolific author covering projects in his home country as well as Italy, France, Spain, Croatia and Kuwait. In 2013 he introduced aerial photography using RC drones. His work is regularly published in leading industry media and in 2014 he won the Arcaid Architectural photography award in the category ‘Sense of Place’ for his aerial image of the Swimming Pools in Leça da Palmeira, designed by Álvaro Siza Vieira. Topteny Magazine lists him among the top ten architectural photographers worldwide. With more than 300 public and private projects in his portfolio, Morgado displays a passionate dedication to the portrayal of contemporary architectural works, building upon and continuing the expressive relationship between iconography and built environment.
HUFTON + CROW
Nick Hufton, Allan Crow UK, www.huftonandcrow.com Publication: 22 February 2018 https://arcspace.com/camera/hufton-crow/
Hufton + Crow architectural photography studio comprises of english photographer duo Nick Hufton and Allan Crow. They started collaborating in 2004 and with their passionate attention to detail and their dedication to self-initiated projects as well as assignments, quickly established themselves as a prolific and successful practice creating striking images of contemporary architecture from around the world. As two experienced photographers with complementary skills and competitive characters they bring a unique approach to their iconographic documentation of the built environment. In 2014 they won the prestigious ‘Architectural Photographer of the Year’ Award by Arcaid Images supported by the World Architecture Festival, and Divisare Atlas of Architecture ranks them among the top 10 architectural photographers worldwide in their extensive database of 2491 photographers.
ADAM MØRK
Denmark, www.adammork.dk Publication: 14 January 2018 https://arcspace.com/camera/adam-mork/
Adam Mørk graduated from the School of Architecture of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and worked as an architect for five years before turning his full focus on architectural photography in 2002. Already as a practicing architect at Dissing + Weitling he was photographing the firm’s projects under the guidance of Hans Dissing and Arne Jacobsen. Since opening his own studio, he has been photographing for leading European Architects like 3XN, COBE, Henning Larsen, Behnisch, among others. His architectural background brings a respectful approach to all aspects of the projects - such as composition, materials, spacial relations, people’s interaction with architecture, context; while his appreciation of the photographic medium adds a meticulous sensitivity to light and environmental conditions, mirroring those of the architectural design process itself. With a diverse technical expertise he moves freely between the slow contemplative photo shoot style of medium formats and the fast editorial style of DSLRs giving us an end result both versatile and rich in cultural documentation. His work is regularly featured in international web and print publications showcasing his deeper appreciation for the architectural profession.
SEBASTIAN WEISS
Germany, www.le-blanc.com Publication: 13 August 2018 https://arcspace.com/camera/sebastian-weiss/
Sebastian Weiss studied Civil Engineering at the Technical University of Dresden and worked as an art director in advertising agencies before turning his focus on architectural photography, both with his own original work and editorially as photo columnist for AD Architectural Digest Germany and a BFF professional. Through his lens the aesthetic and individual aspects and qualities of the public domain become the stage for the interaction between every day life and the built environment. With a strong graphic presence and the subtle simplicity of minimalism we explore forms, patterns, textures, and colours from the diverse urban landscape of both landmark architecture and trivial buildings. His images have received distinctions from international competitions like PX3, IPA, Arcaid Images and represented by Tappan Collective in Los Angeles.
JAMES STEPHENSON UK, www.clickclickjim.com Publication: upcoming https://arcspace.com/camera
Jim Stephenson is a photographer and film-maker concerned with the documentation of architecture and the built environment. Trained as an architectural technologist, he worked in the industry for ten years before focusing on architectural photography full time. His background allows him to converse meaningfully with his clients, and confidently conveys this in his work. In the past few years, his approach has taken on a documentary-style edge as he studies and depicts how people interact with buildings and spaces. Working across the UK and around the world, Jim has had his images regularly featured in numerous print and web media, of projects by a wide range of architects, including BIG, Herzog & de Meuron, Zaha Hadid Architects, Foster & Partners, MVRDV, Sou Fujimoto Architects, among others. His image archive is represented by View Pictures, and in 2018 he received the Blueprint Magazine Photography Awards in Architecture & Time, and was shortlisted at the Architizer A+Awards. His personal passion for the medium is also evident with his initiatives as founder of the Miniclick Photography Talks, Design Brighton and the Threshold Architecture Hub, co-producer of the web video series Lightbulb, and with his collaboration with film-maker Edward Bishop, producing short films of architectural projects.
PART 3_2 Additional photographers - published on archisearch.gr - upcoming on arcspace.com
EDWARD BURTYNSKY
Canada, www.edwardburtynsky.com Publication: 29 February 2016 https://www.archisearch.gr/photography/pygmalion-karatzas-presents-theintegral-lens-series-5-edward-burtynsky-photos-amp-videos-c/
RUI PALHA
Portugal, www.ruipalha.com Publication: 29 June 2016 https://www.archisearch.gr/photography/pygmalion-karatzas-presents-theintegral-lens-series-6-rui-palha/
ANGIE McMONIGAL
USA, www.angiemcmonigal.com Publication: 23 December 2015 https://www.archisearch.gr/photography/pygmalion-karatzas-presents-theintegral-lens-series-3-angie-mcmonigal/
THIBAULT ROLAND
France / USA, www.thibaultroland.com Publication: 30 January 2016 https://www.archisearch.gr/photography/pygmalion-karatzas-presents-theintegral-lens-series-4-thibault-roland/
DENNIS RAMOS
Philippines / USA, www.dennis-ramos.com Publication: 4 August 2016 https://www.archisearch.gr/photography/pygmalion-karatzas-presents-theintegral-lens-series-7-dennis-ramos/
MICHAEL WOLF
Germany, www.photomichaelwolf.com Publication: upcoming https://arcspace.com/camera
DAVID BURDENY
Canada, www.davidburdeny.com Publication: upcoming https://arcspace.com/camera
HÉLÈNE BINET
Switzerland / France / UK, www.helenebinet.com Publication: upcoming https://arcspace.com/camera
FERNANDO GUERRA
Portugal, www.ultimasreportagens.com Publication: upcoming https://arcspace.com/camera
ROLAND HALBE & Artur Images Germany, www.rolandhalbe.eu Publication: upcoming https://arcspace.com/camera
TIM GRIFFITH
Australia / USA, www.timgriffith.com Publication: upcoming https://arcspace.com/camera
In 2013 with the exhibition ‘Beyond the Assignment: defining photographs of architecture and design’, organized by the Julius Shulman Institute and Woodbury University School of Architecture in Los Angeles, the work of ten renowned American architectural photographers and the contemporary buildings they capture were presented. We are also observing the co-creation of the perception and analysis of architecture from the various perspectives/fields involved in its dissemination: magazine editors, social media platforms along with architects and photographers. This collective work curated by Bilyana Dimitrova is a prime example of editorial architectural photography. In 2014 the exhibition ‘Constructing Worlds: photography and architecture in the Modern Age’, organized by the Barbican Art Gallery in London, and the companion book by Phaidon ‘Shooting Space: architecture in contemporary photography’ was edited by Elias Redstone. It explores the relationship between architecture and photography in the representation and investigation of various aspects of the built environment: from the transformation of a metropolis after the Great Depression, to the adverse consequences of modernity in the vernacular countryside, from arcane industrial archetypes to urban piecemeal growth in the Middle East and Asia, from a deeper understanding of architects’ intentions to artistically capturing icons of the 20th century, from contemplative images of space to imagined environments, to name a few. With this collection we are introduced to distinguished artistic expressions of architectural photography.
In recent years, the subject matter - architecture itself, has been analysed from an integral framework. Examples of such an approach include the nine-part critical campaign of Architectural Review’s editor Peter Buchanan titled ‘The Big Rethink: towards a complete architecture’ in 2012, introducing Ken Wilber’s integral theory to the architectural audience, which “establishes a new framework for the design of 21st-century buildings and cities”. Another example is the seminal book ‘Integral Sustainable Design: transformative perspectives’ by professor of architecture Mark DeKay from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 2011 published by Routledge. Approaching the medium of photography and the subject matter of architecture in a holistic manner, is the underline intention of these series. Applying it to the framing of the project itself, meeting people, institutions and cases who fill in the pieces and enrich the content. Topographic, editorial & expressive architectural photography is thus explored further documenting a comprehensive spectrum of the relationships between photography and the built environment.
PART 4 Summarising integral photography themes with examples from contemporary photographers 01. All-quadrant transmissions 02. Catalysing human development 03. Photography as an Integral Transformative Practice 04. The built environment as a dynamic phenomenon 05. Typological fluidity 06. Multi-level communication & pluralistic dissemination 07. Combining themes
Tim Griffith, Riverside 66, 2014. (UL)
Integral Photography theme #1: All-quadrant transmissions, p1
Takes its inspiration from the seminal 20th century “set piece” images of a building that took additional time, logistics and resources to produce and were intended to become the iconic representations of the project. By appropriating his own editorial work, Griffith’s post-processing fuses the boundaries between the objective and subjective views while the dominant presence remains in the interior perspective. The carefully selected elevated point of view merges the shape of the building with the urban fabric, and in that way it also crosses over to the LR quadrant.
Fernando Guerra, Cabo de Villa, 2015. (UR)
Takes its inspiration from satellite-like “peeking” to give us a bird’s-eye view of the animate and inanimate interactions that are carefully positioned to reflect key design features of the project. While Guerra captured the building fully, this image illustrates a dialogue between abstraction and representation while the dominant presence remains in the exterior perspective.
Irene Kung, Inter-Active Corp, 2010. (LL)
Integral Photography theme #1: All-quadrant transmissions, p2
Part of her book ‘The Invisible City’, a direct reference to Italo Calvino’s novel, Invisible Cities. With a selection of historic and contemporary architectural landmarks from around the world, she treats them as otherworldly ‘scapes’ reminiscent of imagery from the unconscious, the realm of dreams and visual archetypes. The building is taken out of its original urban context and floats weightless on the open sea with the curved walls as sails. The image is an art work based on the author’s vision (UL) yet heavily charged with cultural inter-subjective themes.
Iwan Baan, New York after the storm, 2012. (LR)
Part of his book ’52 Weeks, 52 Cities’, an engaged commentary on human living and survival strategies, and on the relationship between humans, social use and the built environment on a global scale. For most shoots Baan rents a helicopter to capture his subjects from above, to get some distance from ‘architecture-in-isolation,’ and reveal the larger contextual systems at play. While the boundaries between documentation and interpretation are blurred, the dominant presence remains in the inter-objective perspective.
Integral Photography theme #2: Catalysing human development, p1
At the heart of the creative process we find the evolution of consciousness itself. A deeper function of the creative impulse is to experience the transformation from internal intuition to tangible product. The Zen aesthetic has a rich history of embedding in its creative fields notions of: transience, stark beauty, natural patina, profound grace, and subtlety, as an integral part of daily life. A network of cultural practices with the meditative state for creator and user at its core. Jean Gebser identifies one characteristic of Integral Art as “concretizing interiority�. For this theme we have selected photographers who’s work directly or indirectly speaks to this subtle concretising interiority.
Integral Photography theme #2: Catalysing human development, p1
The creative duo of Jesús Marina Barba and Elena Morón Serna have collaborated on photographic projects since 2003. “We are interested in the eastern idea that the body itself activates space and not the space alone. We like to play with the same principle of the active presence that materialises itself in the interior space of the ‘Ma’ in Japanese culture.” Approaching iconography as a representation of our perception, both in the way we create and view it, becomes an opportunity to understand and expand our spatial consciousness. Marina_Morón, She’s asleep #14, 2014. (topographic)
Integral Photography theme #2: Catalysing human development, p2
Ă…ke E:son Lindman, Nordic Pavilion, Venice, Sverre Fehn.
Thomas Mayer, Glass Cube Leonardo, Bad Driburg, Germany, 3 deluxe.
Two prolific authors who started in documentary photography and for over three decades have produced an extensive international body of work in service of the field of architecture and its dissemination.
Integral Photography theme #2: Catalysing human development, p3
Michael Massaia, Deep in a Dream, Central Park, New York.
Sebastian Weiss, ZAC du Coteau, Arcueil, France
“Photography is fast. Photography is slow. Photography must push you to look at what is in front of you. To notice it, to be captured by it; not only to try to capture it. Taking photos has become so immediate to be done that the small display on which we pass the finger replaces our sight. Perhaps we didn’t notice: looking at what we capture has become optional. The difference between an image buried in the middle of thousand others in a memory card and the photo of a lived moment, is that the photo moves through time. It has the power to produce not only the simple memory, but an emotional answer in whom watches it. From reality, to the eye, to the camera, to the mind, and then to the heart: a flow. “Flowing City”. “Flowing City” is the city that moves in front of man, together with man, inside man; and, at the same time, it’s the man that flows inside the endless movement of the city. To live those flows, to understand them, you must stop them: observe them, sometimes remove their colors and linger on emotions. At least for a fragment of time, at least for that necessary time.” - Roberto Srelz, Flowing City excerpt
Integral Photography themes #2: Catalysing human development, p4 Mark Citret, Power Lines and Plowed Field, 2003.
Citret’s work includes landscapes, waterscapes, cityscapes, construction sites, interiors, and street photography. - making the ordinary extraordinary, - aligning mind, heart and eye, - gentle yet firm presence, - direct connection with the viewer.
Nathan Wirth, Wake (Richard Serra sculptures), Seattle, 2010.
- transience, impermanence and imperfections of wabi-sabi, - a mind not occupied with emotions or thoughts, - looking at the work with loving-sight, without intellectualising the experience - brings a state of unobstructed communion with the subject.
Integral Photography theme #2: Catalysing human development, p5
Peter Aaron, Rem Koolhaas,Villa dall’Ava, Paris France.
Juergen Nogai, Frey House in Palm Springs, Albert Frey, California.
“Photography has become the lens through which we observe and analyse the evolution of architecture.” - Joseph Rosa, chief curator, US National Building Museum The positive aspect of this reality is that architects and the public around the world can participate in this educational process, the negative aspect on the other hand - is the trap of images dominating over their core purpose: the actual experiencing of architecture. The practice of architectural photography, makes people slow, observe buildings and human interaction closer, do research and field survey, revisit locations under different light and weather conditions, enriching our understanding and awareness of the build environment and embody this holistic experiencing.
Integral Photography theme #3: photography as an integral transformative practice
Integral Photographic Practice Modules: - Vital (energetic): How much can I enter into a raw photographic flow state? - Technical (physical): How skilful can I be with the techniques and craft of photography? - Critical (mental): How accessible can I be to the larger forces and social systems of the photographic world? - Psychological (shadow): How well can I surpass my creative barriers? - Public (social): Do my presentations entertain, educate and enlighten? - Ethical (interpersonal): How much can I give back to my community? - Contemplative (spiritual/transpersonal): How aware can I be of my entire photographic practice and process?
Integral Photographic Practice Modules Pygmalion Karatzas, 2018.
Integral Photography theme #4: The built environment as a dynamic phenomenon Welsey's 2 year long exposure of the construction sites in Berlin is one extreme topographic way to capture processes. Silly’s Timeless series is using the intentional camera movement technique in a more expressionistic way to capture the vibrant pulse of city life.
Michael Welsey, Berlin construction site, 2-year exposure, 1997-99
Fabrice Silly, Timeless #4, 2013
Integral Photography themes #4: Dynamic phenomena
another way to capture and present dynamic phenomena is with the use of time-lapse and hyper lapse videography, as shown here from the video ‘EXPO 2015 Milano Glimpses’.
“EXPO 2015 Milano Glimpses”, Timelapse & Hyperlapse videography, Pygmalion Karatzas, 2015
Integral Photography theme #5: Typological fluidity, p1 A second way to illustrate the typological spectrum is by looking at images of similar subject and shooting method: Even though, all three images are taken from a carefully selected elevated vantage point, and the subjects are cropped to extend indefinitely beyond the frame, the viewing experience is quite different.
Michael Wolf, Architecture of Density, 2005.
Wolf’s image from the high-rise residential towers of Hong Kong, confronts the global urbanisation issues of human scale and density. topographic
Yiorgis Yerolymbos, Tower 25, 2016.
Yerolymbos’ image brings the viewer to a portion of the building as a close-up facade details and yet it captures all key elements of the design in a masterful architectural abstractions. editorial
Shannon McGrath, Guggenheim Bilbao, 2011.
McGrath’s image is using the sculptural and chromatic features of this iconic building as her motifs and brushes in an expressionist painting. expressive
Integral Photography theme #6: Multi-level communication & pluralistic dissemination, p1 Dionisio Gonzalez, NovaAcqua Gasosa II, 2004. (editorial)
Gonzalez’ ‘Cartographs for removal’ reimagines informal Brazilian favelas by stitching together photographs from Sao Paolo with seamless architectural renderings. Photorealism and photography nowadays appear more and more interchangeable, blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality. Photography in this case is used as an architectural proposal to argue that sensitive micro-interventions can be more effective than demolition and displacement. Even though the subject matter is a difficult and complex one - like the degradation of large city areas - the artist has chosen to strike a balance to entertain, educate and enlighten with his work.
Integral Photography theme #6: Multi-level communication & pluralistic dissemination, p2
With a career spanning 40 years and 47 books from 30 countries, Kenna’s uncompromising vision is rooted in: - the craftsmanship of printing and the alchemy of the darkroom, - a conscious focus on the relationship between places and the traces people leave on them, - extensive revisits to the same location, - a tender gaze of subtle beauty, - fleeing yet meaningful connections of transitory revelation making the photographic act a holistic process of connecting with the world, resonating between photographer, image and viewer.
Michael Kenna, Ratcliffe Power Station Study 41, 2003. (expressive)
Combining integral photography themes
We are finishing with an example outside the architectural photography category to suggest that this integral photographic approach can be applied to other photographic genres; and to note that the above mentioned themes are rarely found in a single image or even a series of images, but rather when we examine a photographer’s body of work holistically.
Gregory Colbert, ’Ashes and Snow’, 2005.
Nomadic Museum, New York, 2015, architect Shigeru Ban
Combining integral photography themes: Even though Colbert’s ‘Ashes & Snow’ project is not in the architectural category, - his original and unique personal style combining expressive and documentary types, - the number of years spend with his subjects and the physical training he had to undergo, - the giving back to the community with the foundation for animal use royalties, - the combination of still images and feature-length meditative videography, - the nomadic museum designed with recycled material, - the level of reception and response his work resonates with, make his work an inspirational example of integral photography.
Gregory Colbert, ’Ashes and Snow’, 2005.
Nomadic Museum, New York, 2015, architect Shigeru Ban
INTEGRAL NEXT Upcoming iterations of Integral Lens
Integral Next 1 - Academic Mini-Term / traveling workshop
In development with the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, DeKay / Karatzas, 2018 - 2019
Integral Next 2 - Traveling Exhibitions (selective groupings)
The Integral Lens pays homage to the major past and present genres of the field. Put together, they highlight four broader functions of the historic relationship between architecture and photography: - Documenting and portraying the built environment and the urban condition, - Making architecture with photography, - Producing architectural critique and contributing to the urban discourse, - Establishing an expressive dialogue with the contemporary urban landscape and aspiring to something greater.
In development with the Hellenic Institute of Architecture, Pygmalion Karatzas, 2018 - 2019
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