1 PHOTO(GRAPHER): EDDY JOAQUIM

1 PHOTO(GRAPHER): EDDY JOAQUIM

POR HUGO OLIVEIRA

HO: Onde e quando foi esta fotografia registada?

EJ: Em La Tourette, em França, na manhã de 7 de Julho de 2001.

HO: Quais eram as condições no local?

EJ: A temperatura era amena. A primeira luz da manhã, longas sombras, ligeiramente difusas, serenidade. Os sons sugeriam um mosteiro totalmente funcional e em funcionamento. Serenos devido à função do edifício mas também pelo simbolismo de um local sagrado. O ar estava ligeiramente húmido e fresco, particularmente no sítio onde foi tirada a fotografia, que estava ligeiramente debaixo de terra.

HO: Existe algum aspecto técnico que queira mencionar?

EJ: A imagem foi tirada em rolo fotográfico e por isso está com um pouco de grão e não muito focada devido à pouca iluminação no interior e ao alto contraste proveniente das aberturas de luz acima. Ao longo dos anos, à medida que revisitava esta imagem, as imperfeições técnicas transmitem-me a ideia de que a mesma imagem é verdadeira tendo em conta a minha memória do loca. Possivelmente, as cores foram acentuadas devido ao tipo de rolo fotográfico usado, mas mesmo assim sinto que é a imagem é verdadeira na minha memória do local. Recordo-me que as cores eram muito intensas, em directo contraste com as percepções que eu tinha das obras de Le Corbusier, frequentemente publicadas através de fotografias a preto e branco que pareciam quase clinicas e desprovidas de vida. Quando se está no local é totalmente o oposto e esta fotografia recorda-me isso mesmo.

HO: Como surgiu a oportunidade de fotografar esta obra?

EJ: Por meu próprio interesse. Sou formado como arquitecto e exerço arquitectura e faço questão de visitar edifícios notáveis sempre que posso, tanto para aprender fotografia como para fotografar.

HO: O que é mais interessante para si nesta imagem?

EJ: As cores vibrantes e aparente fortuita composição formal que de alguma forma estava espacialmente muito equilibrada.

HO: Existe algum momento particular ou engraçado sobre este registo?

EJ: Infelizmente não foi uma situação engraçada, mas de qualquer forma muito presente na minha memória. O comboio que me levou à localidade próxima de La Tourette colheu uma pessoa. Ficamos presos numa área rural francesa por algum tempo, enquanto a polícia investigava o que se tinha sucedido. Nunca me esquecerei do som do impacto, que foi imperceptível até ao momento em que compreendemos porque razão o comboio tinha parado subitamente no meio do nada. É uma estranha memória para associar à tão maravilhosa experiência de visitar um edifício tão notável e tranquilo, no entanto estranhamente apropriado, um complemento à beleza inesperada do edifício.

HO: Existe algo que quisesse comunica através desta imagem?

EJ: Bem, ao longo de anos, nas viagens subsequentes que fiz a outros edifícios de Le Corbusier não apenas reforçaram a minha admiração pela humanidade dos seus espaços. Eles são muito mais do que sensorialmente sedutoras e confortáveis do que alguma vez alguém possa pensar olhando apenas para uma fotografia!

Eddy Joaquim é fotógrafo e arquitecto.

A imagem e entrevista seleccionadas fazem parte do projecto editorial "1 Photo(grapher)".

1 PHOTO(GRAPHER): DUCCIO MALAGAMBA

1 PHOTO(GRAPHER): DUCCIO MALAGAMBA

BY HUGO OLIVEIRA

HO: Where was this image taken?

DM: It is an exterior image of the Dalian Congress Centre in Dalian, China by Coop Himmelb(l)au Architects.

HO: Had you been there before?

DM: No, it was my first time in Dalian and just my second trip to China.

HO: When was is taken?

DM: I can remember that the photo was taken in the afternoon of a day at the beginning of December 2013.

HO: How did you end up registering this?

DM: I was commissioned by the architects to portrait their building.

HO: What were the conditions at the site?

DM: The area is close to the seaside and at the moment of the shooting there was a chilly sea breeze. Very chilly, actually, as in those days the temperature was around 10/15 degrees below zero. The site was almost silent as the workers already ended their working day and the traffic was far away. The entire afternoon had been cloudy, but getting closer to the sunset the sky opened up a little and a mild light timidly appeared.

HO: Are there any technical aspects of the photograph that you want to point out?

DM: Well, to work in cold conditions is always very demanding, both for the photographer and the equipment. Nevertheless I have to point out that in one week of work under those harsh climatic conditions I never had specific problems with the batteries or the camera.

HO: Why did you select this image among so many others?

DM: I find many reasons to like this image. First of all, I love its surreal atmosphere. The three figures look very small and lost in such an unusual surroundings, I also find very funny that the closest one wears a safety mask. This detail immediately transmits the sensation of an unsafe ambience. It somehow contributes to convert the Congress Centre into a space ship that possibly contaminated the area. Or perhaps the ship is there to evacuate the surprised and disoriented survivors from this post disaster landscape… I find the image satisfactory also looking at it from a more orthodox point of view: thinking to it just as an architecture photography it shows the building perfectly lightened, enhancing the peculiarity of its form and reflecting skin. The relationship with the surroundings is clearly expressed and finally the figures add scale and some action. Another aspect I like of this image is its balanced composition with almost one half of the image dominated by a “crescendo” of dark other half relying on a bright horizontal volume.

HO: Was there anything particular that you were trying to communicate through this image?

DM: I was definitely interested in showing the very peculiar context where the building was standing and I was fascinated by the contrasts in terms of scale and aesthetic. But let me reproduce what Architectural Review’s Editor Catherine Slessor said about my picture during an interview in port-magazine.com. She perfectly describes what I had in mind and, of course, she is able to express it much better than I could ever do when we come to English:

“It’s simultaneously beautiful and bleak – the beautiful new building like a delicate piece of sculpture or haute couture set against the backdrop of a still terraforming cityscape of bleak and anonymous skyscrapers. It’s exceptionally evocative of our times and how architecture is being relentlessly commodified, used as a bauble to prettify what is essentially a terrifyingly banal and overscaled urban development being realised at breakneck speed. By pulling back to include the wider context, Malagamba invites you to consider a much more revealing and complex picture.”

Duccio Malagamba is a photographer and architect.

The selected image and interview are part of the editorial project "1 Photo(grapher)".

1 PHOTO(GRAPHER): DAVID LEVENTI

1 PHOTO(GRAPHER): DAVID LEVENTI

BY HUGO OLIVEIRA

HO: Where and when was this photograph shot?

DL: It was shot in the Koepel Panopticon Prison, Arnhem, in the Netherlands, May 23, 2011 at 8:44pm.

HO: What were the conditions on site?

DL: Stark, comfortable temperature, industrial lighting, quiet, smell of smoke and burnt food from a cell microwave.   

HO: Is there any technical aspect of the shooting that you want to point out?

DL: I photographed the domed prison from the spot on the floor that allows for a near-perfect compositional contrast with my opera houses, which are shot from the spot at center stage where a performer would stand. I work with a large format camera so that I have the utmost control in making sure the composition of the image is architecturally symmetrical. I pay close attention to ensuring the lines are straight for perfect repetition and that the curves of the convolutions of ceiling and higher and lower catwalks are parallel and emphasize Euclidean geometry. With this camera, I am also able to flatten out space to make it look more like a painting. For instance, the industrial chandelier hangs down, but it looks askew, as if it is tilted toward you. I want the viewer to experience what it feels like to be surrounded by the space.

HO: How did you get inside the site?

DL: Through a barter agreement.

HO: What do you find most interesting about this image?

DL: The panopticon. On first inspection, I don't believe that the viewer identifies the interior as a prison. The ceiling of the prison reminds me of the tartan pattern now made famous by Burberry.  

HO: Is there anything that you were trying to communicate through this photograph?

DL: The domed prison is the closest example of Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon model of mass surveillance prison design - a central guard tower with a complete view of surrounding prison cells. This concept was designed so a central observer could monitor all of the prisoners at once, without any particular prisoner being able to feel under inspection. The domed prison has the same architectural structure as an opera house (without the opulence), but the difference is in who is observing whom. In an opera house, the audience of many is observing a few. In the domed prison, it's the reverse.

David Leventi is NY based photographer.

The image and interview selected are part of the editorial project "1 Photo(grapher)".

1 PHOTOGRAPHER: CAROLA MERELLO

1 PHOTOGRAPHER: CAROLA MERELLO

BY HUGO OLIVEIRA

HO: Where and when was this photograph shot?

CM: This photograph was shot at Siemens Pilot Paradigm Shift, in Bicocca area, Milan, Italy, in 2012.

HO: What were the conditions on site.

CM: The pictures were shot in Autumn, taking advantage of a soft and diffused light which muffled the contrast that is typical of this kind of spaces with huge and long series of windows.

HO: How did this opportunity show up?

CM: This work was commissioned by architects Barreca & La Varra, whom I have collaborated with on several occasions over the past few years.

HO: Why did you select this picture in particular?

CM: I selected this picture because I believe that the photography of office spaces is often looked down on. Although these environments are by nature sad and dehumanized, over the last few years many architectural firms have striven to transform them into more pleasant, polished and comfortable places to work in.

From my point of view this photo is particularly interesting because of its render-like effect. I deliberately created an image that produces an unreal effect, such as in architectural renderings, thanks to its extreme cleanliness, the use of light and the rigorous geometrical structure. Contrary to the norm, it is not the rendering that aims to get as close as possible to reality but the photo that somehow mimics the rendering.

Carola Merello is an architectural photographer based in Milan.

The image and interview selected are part of the editorial project "1 Photo(grapher)".

1 PHOTO(GRAPHER): ALESSANDRA CHEMOLLO

1 PHOTO(GRAPHER): ALESSANDRA CHEMOLLO

BY HUGO OLIVEIRA

HO: Where and when was this photograph shot?

AC: It was shot outside the Marco de Canavezes Church (Portugal), designed by Álvaro Siza Vieira, on April 4th, 1999 (Easter Sunday) around noon.

HO: What were the condition on site?

AC: It was Spring, there was Sun and perfume.

HO: Are there any technical aspects about the shooting that you would like to point out?

AC: This photograph was shot with Silvestri 6x9 view camera (Italian brand), analogue, movable. It is a simplification of a view camera but it shares the fact that the stages of frame selection and shutter are two different moments, it is necessary to remove the support to see in the glass the reversed image of the reality that you want to register, and replace it with the pack that contains the film. It means that when you shoot you are not looking through the camera. This kind of introduces a new element on scene: the photographer, whose face is normally covered by the camera, and relates to the subject depicted in a frontal way. The camera on the tripod will only shoot when the photographer activates the shutter. 

HO: How did this opportunity happen?

AC: By commission. It was a work I did for "Catalogo Electa - Alvaro Siza - Opera Completa".

HO: Had you been there before?

AC: I had been there a few days before for the project briefing, and I then decided to go there again for Easter Mass, which is the only occasion in the year where the whole door is open.

HO: Why did you select this image?

AC: I chose it because I believe that what I decided and what fate decided both perfectly met at the precise moment adding a new sense to the architectural project through the photographical contents.

HO: Is there anything particular about it?

AC: I must say that everything portrayed in the image is absolutely true and unintentional, no one was posing for the photograph.

HO: Was there anything that you were trying to communicate through it?

AC: On this I should step back and let who know better than me: "If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera" Lewis Hine

Alessandra Chemollo is an italian photographer.

The image and interview selected are part of the editorial project "1 Photo(grapher)".

1 PHOTO(GRAPHER): ASIER GOGORTZA

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1 PHOTO(GRAPHER): ASIER GOGORTZA

BY HUGO OLIVEIRA

HO: Where and when was this photograph taken?

AG: This was shot from the “Free Square” also known as the “pediment” of the Gehasto neighborhood, in a town called Itsasu (Lapurdi, Basque Country), in a January afternoon, in 2013.

HO: What were the conditions on site?

AG: It was a very cloudy day, but there was a lot of light. In every photograph done for this project, I was looking for similar lighting conditions, avoiding direct sunlight exposure, using the clouds as a natural diffuser in order to achieve a neutral and smooth atmosphere.

HO: Is there any technical aspects you want to point out?

AG: Just like in the rest of the series I opted by putting the pediment centered in the image at a fixed height. 

HO: How did you get to the site?

AG: The first time I went there it many years ago by chance, in one of my aimlessly trips in that area. At that time, I did't have in mind this series on pediments, but the place seemed very special and for years I went there in many occasions. I would say that this specific space is what inspired me to make this photographical series on pediments. I am sure that I repeated this series more than seven times, in different days, with different lights, during a period of time longer than one year. It turned out to me a small obsession.

HO: Is there a funny story about this particular photograph?

AG: From my house, it takes me about one hour to get there by car, and sometimes I would go alone, mas in most of the times I would go with Marga, my partner. Weekend would come and I would ask her: "Let's go see the Itsasu pediment?" and she would always be happy to go with me, maybe she would even be more excited than me. Sometimes we would get there and I wouldn't even take my camera because the light wasn't the one I wanted. In the next weekend the same thing would happen. By the time I took a photograph which I was satisfied with, our son Ladix was already four months young and the first time we went there Marga wasn't even pregnant. However, today I am amazed by the fact that she never said denied going there with me to see the "pediment".

HO: Is there anything that you were trying to communicate throught the image?

AG: I think that this is one of the images from this series that better explains what I was looking for, and although it is still difficult for me to put it into words, I wanted to address the pediment as an architectonical element, to address its functionality, its symbolism for Basques, its aesthetics.... and also its intervention in the landscape, the relation created between the building and the surrounding... I would say that it was a reasearch process on aesthetics.

Asier Gogortza is a photographer based in the Basque Country.

The image and interview selected are part of the editorial project "1 Photo(grapher)".

1 PHOTO(GRAPHER): ANNA POSITANO

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1 PHOTO(GRAPHER): ANNA POSITANO

BY HUGO OLIVEIRA

HO: Where did you take this photograph?

AP: I took this photograph in London (UK), within the Olympic site. This is the Copper Box by MAKE Architects and Populous. In front of it is Monica Bonvicini's sculpture RUN.

HO: When was it shot?

AP: It was in early May 2012, before the Olympic games.

HO: What were the conditions on site?

AP: London was quite cold for the season. It did not rain, yet it was wet and the sky was gray.

HO: Can you share some of the most technical aspects about this photograph?

AP: For most of the commissions I usually work with my view camera on a tripod. In this case I used a medium format Pentax and no tripod, because it would have been too tricky and tiring to wander with all that weight around a 560 acre site all by myself.

HO: How did you get to the site?

AP: The Italian magazine Casabella informally tasked me to shoot the Olympic site for their July editorial. To be honest, I got in with a ticket for the waterpolo match and no photography pass.

HO: Why did you select this photograph? 

AP: I like this photograph, even though it is not my favourite ever. I have chosen it because this is the toughest picture among the most difficult shooting I have ever done (for now!). And it was totally worth the effort, because after the publication on Casabella my work got way better.

HO: Is there any peculiar event that happened in the preparation for this photograph?

AP: Today I can say that all the experience of the Olympic shooting was funny, though at the time it was just crazy and tough to me.

As I mentioned, I was informally tasked by the magazine. That means no photography pass for granted, no expenses cover and insane deadline: They would only buy the pictures, take it or leave it. Right before they called me in April, my business was in deep water. The conditions they offered were not actually meeting my needs, but I told myself: 'It could be the last time I do this job. If it works, great. If not, it's not a big deal.' Then I borrowed the money, got a cheap flight to London and asked some friends to put me up.

The magazine was interested in the completed Olympic site, therefore they recommended not to show anything related to the construction sites. Since the editorial was entitled 'London 2012. The Running City' they also told me to pay great attention to Bonvicini's sculpture RUN. Well, you can imagine my dismay when I found that the Copper Box and RUN were entirely behind a closed fence. The security was all over the Olympic site (a guard every 20-30 meters) and I could not climb the fence without being arrested under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000. When I was about to give up, I ran into a builder getting out of the construction site from a little door. I asked, I begged him to let me in. After a couple of no-no-no, I started weeping; then he left the door open and told me: 'I didn't see you!'

I shot my photos and did not get arrested. Casabella published most of my photographs and I still work as an architectural photographer. A sort of happy end.

HO: Is there anything valuable to take out of that experience?

AP: What happened during this shooting is a great lesson to me. I had the proof that being genuinely determined in achieving your goals can make the difference.

Anna Positano is a Genoa based photographer who works under commission for architects and magazines.

The image and interview selected are part of the editorial project "1 Photo(grapher)".

1 PHOTO(GRAPHER): AMANDA LARGE & YOUNES BOUNHAR

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1 PHOTO(GRAPHER): AMANDA LARGE & YOUNES BOUNHAR

BY HUGO OLIVEIRA

HO: What is this image about and where was this it taken?

AL&YB: This photo depicts one of the Absolute Towers by Beijing's MAD Architects and was taken in Mississauga, ON, just west of the city of Toronto, in Canada.

HO: When was it taken?

AL&YB: It was taken on June 3, 2013 at 12:54pm. The time is a crucial element in this photograph.

HO: What were the conditions at the site?

AL&YB: The photograph was taken at high noon time on a beautiful, almost cloudless late spring day.

HO: Can you mention any technical aspects about the shooting?

AL&YB: Most people are surprised when we tell them that this photo has seen very little post-processing and is essentially as taken in camera. It is even more astonishing for many, when we explain that it was taken at noon! The key to this photograph was to take advantage of the very strong sun lighting the edge of the tower, thus creating a very large contrast area between that edge and the background. In deliberately underexposing the frame, we purposefully isolated said edge from its surroundings as if it were floating in space.

HO: How did this opportunity appear?

AL&YB: This was a commission for "Canadian Architect" magazine. This particular image later became the cover photograph for the magazine.

HO: Had you been there before?

AL&YB: No. We had been meaning to take a trip out there to photograph the towers for the fun of it, so the assignment was the icing on the cake.

HO: Is there anything peculiar about the moment when you shot the photograph?

AL&YB: In fact this was the very first image of the building we made. We arrived early on site and made this image while waiting for our contact from the developer's office.

HO: Why did you select this image and is there anything you were trying to communicate through it?

AL&YB: We have always liked the Absolute Towers and had them on our must-shoot list for a while. The towers had been heavily covered in national and international media and had been photographed ad nauseam, so we wanted to do something that like the towers had a special cachet. Something that not only highlighted the towers' main features – in this case the curvaceous lines and reflective surfaces – but that also underscored their uniqueness in the Mississauga landscape. As photographers, we tend to be mostly drawn to the quality of light at the edges of the day. Sunset, sunrise and twilight will generally make buildings look their best. However, we don't just apply a standard formula on a shoot; rather, each building is unique and has special characteristics that define it. These characteristics will define how we approach the building from a photographic standpoint.  In this case, we basically broke one of the biggest "rules" of photography, which advises against shooting at noon. Given the towers' reflective surface, anything that is directly struck by sunlight is going to be much, much brighter than the rest. The position of the sun was such that the entire front curve of the tower was lit up, while the rest was several orders of magnitude darker. Therefore, instead of exposing the frame as the camera suggested, we chose to underexpose it drastically. In this way, the curve was perfectly exposed while the rest of the scene was plunged into darkness thus providing an abstract and unique quality to the photo.

Amanda Large & Younes Bounhar are architectural photographers based in Canada.

The image and interview selected are part of the editorial project "1 Photo(grapher)".