One of my favourite buildings, or rather collection of them, in London is the Barbican. I’ve been meaning to go and do some shots of it for a while now but never quite got there. I had the lens with me from a job on Friday so headed over there this afternoon for an hour or so.
The light was stunning today and lovely and warm but quite stark and contrasty. I played around with these for a while in Lightroom but ended up going for black and white in the end. Pleased with the few shots below.
Still collecting together some of my photos from the last few months. On my recent trip to France with work we took a trip to see the incredible Abbaye du Thoronet. It is quite simply the most beautiful building I have ever experienced. Whilst it was a little crowded with tourists the strong shadows and detail of the stone are incredible. I managed to get through two rolls of film whilst there. I would love to spend a week there just watching the changing light and documenting it through photography.
Here’s a few of my favourite shots from the visit.
On Weds I nipped down to Clerkenwell after work to catch a lecture by the ever knowledgeable Robert Elwall. I’ve previously posted about him as he runs RIBA Pix, of which I am lucky enough to be able to contribute to. I’ve been working my way through his book “Building with light” and a lot of the lecture was familiar from that.
The main topic of the lecture was to do with the way in the Architectural Review represented and almost pushed modernism with dynamic images and innovative graphics for a period of around 30 years. The lecture also discussed the changes in technology in terms of printing as well as photographic processes. The photographers Dell & Wainwright featured heavily in the lecture, they worked for the Architectural Review as staff photographers for 16 years! Ultimately it ended with a number of photographers almost turning against the movement and representing the projects in a less than favourable light. The move to 35mm and faster films allowed a more documentary style which was used against it. Hard to summarise but a great experience to see such in depth knowledge of the Architecture and representation of it at the time. Also good to do a bit of networking after.
And so as not to finish on a negative note Robert finished on his favourite image from the era.
So, it’s time for another upgrade on the camera front. If I knew what I know now I never would have bought the D300 last August, I would have saved a bit more and gone straight for the D700. The D300 is an incredible camera for sure but I really need to have a properly wide shift lens and that means going full frame. The 24mm PC-E is about a 36mm lens on the DX sensor of the D300 but properly wide at 24mm on the D700. That makes a massive difference when trying to do any kind of internal shoot. Recently I’ve been hiring the D700. I’m pretty sure it’s the right thing to do. Hopefully when the latest invoices get paid and I’ve sold the D300 on eBay I’ll have enough to get it.
All I have to do then is save some more to get the shift lens to avoid hiring that any more!
I saw this great video via Twitter. It’s of a friends, friend called Angus who run’s a great practice called Dematos Ryan. Unusually for an Architect’s practice they seem to be quite savvy with the whole new media thing and this is one of their latest outputs. There’s something really quite beautiful about the whole video!
Things have been rather busy recently which is why I haven’t managed to write more than a few words here. I’ve had a few deadlines at work and also been busy with photography both for the office and myself. This weekend was crazy busy and it went something a little like this.
Friday
10am meet new client to discuss shoot for an article in the Architects Journal. Then rush home, shower, get into suit and head up to Marlybone.
2pm watch Matt & Anna get married then drink and eat until 2am.
Saturday
10am arrive in Kentish town (hungover) to help Nick & Zoe in the garden. Carefully dismantle a rotting shed so that someone can come and pick it up and salvage it. A few trips to the dump also. Then late afternoon do shoot of their new flat upstairs for their Gumtree listing.
Sunday
8.30am train from Euston. A full days shoot of a completed building for the office. Back for an office BBQ at 7, more drinks then back home.
Monday
8.09am train from Waterloo down South to shoot a project for some friends. Spend all day there and stay for dusk shots. Back to the flat at 11pm.
Tuesday
9.30am train from Waterloo down to Guildford to shoot a construction project for an article coming up in one of the journals. Back to the office for the afternoon.
So pretty mental all in all really. Each evening involved getting back to the flat downloading CF cards, backing up images to another drive, charging camera batteries and getting ready for the next day. A lot of early starts and no lie in on a Sat certainly took it’s toll. Having said that it was definitely worth it. Bagged some great images and worked for 3 different new clients. Will be investing in some more kit I think.
A few of the images are below. I can’t publish quite a few of them at present but might update this in the future.
The Ashmolean has made the shortlist for this years Sterling Prize! Fantastic news. There’s some interesting projects on there especially the DSDHA school as well as the incredibly beautiful Theis & Khan studio and apartment.
The coverage in the national press has been huge! I’m definitely a big believer that normal press is far more useful than the journals. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a few of my images published on the BBC, Guardian, Independent and RIBA Journal amongst others. What I’m also really pleased about is that the image below seems to have become a signature image with most publications choosing to go with this one. Great exposure for Rick and of course Andy Matthews Photography!
The bad news? Well some people aren’t very good at crediting the Photographers. BBC & RIBA Journal I’m looking in your direction!
