Photography and Architecture

October 7, 20090 Comments Tagged: digital, mobile phone, photo, Photography, public, social media

Andy Marshall over at Fotofacade has a great article up at the moment about how photography relates to architecture.

In it he argues that "The photograph is the principal currency in which architecture is traded."

He gives a number of examples to prove his case - including German photographers of the 1920s, the photography of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's work, and of course Julius Schulman.

The most interesting point he makes is the changes that are coming with the rise of digital camera, mobile phone cameras and social media. To be fair, these are not impacting professional photographers so much, but are opening the door for the general public to take part in the photographic documentation of architecture.

Digital Cameras have had a few impacts on photography. The ability to take (and delete) more and more  photos, compared to considering the expense of every shot on film, allows greater  experimentation with the photos taken. The freedom of almost unlimited shots also means that people are taking photos of more varied subjects, including buildings and the environment around them. In a way, digital cameras have opened up photography to the people in new ways, and this will HAVE to be seen in the area of architecture photography.

Mobile phone cameras are changing photography in a similar manner. While the quality and capability of the cameras in mobile phones is not that great, they hold one great advantage.  They are portable, in fact they are almost always within arms reach. This added accessibility to a camera is resulting in more photos being taken, and by a wider range of people.

Tilt shift photography has been around forever, but seems to once again be back in vogue these days. These days people can experiment with Tilt shift techniques without having to fork out thousands of dollars for a special lens. There are tutorials all over the web on how to use photoshop to achieve the same effect, and there are now even iPhone apps that emulate the effect when you take the photo. This is again fostering experimentation and creativity.

Social Media websites are another area that is effecting the landscape of photography (pun intended). Facebook, flickr and Twitter all allow the almost immediate sharing of photos with ones friends and acquaintances. Twitter in particular (in combination with mobile phone cameras) has allowed for instantaneous sharing of images with others. People are taking more photos, sharing them friends and, in some cases, critiquing and encouraging one another. There is a growing community of people taking and appreciating photos.

The end result of all these influences is the overall increase in use and consumption of photography by the masses. This can only mean a greater understanding and appreciation of photography, including architectural photography. It remains to be seen whether this will impact the realm of architecture photography directly. It may take a few years, but I think it will.