Over forty-five years working in architectural photography, my practice has developed through direct relationships with architects and clients, mostly at senior level and with early involvement in projects. The work has been recognised and widely published, supporting books, journals, magazines and, most notably, architecture and built environment awards.
One detail stands out. I have never been commissioned by a PR or marketing agency.
That is not a complaint, nor is it accidental.
Architecture and marketing are now closely aligned in practice. Buildings are expected to communicate quickly and effectively. The pressure is constant, structured around timing and reach.
Architecture carries a different responsibility. It shapes environments, influences behaviour and contributes to the civic and social fabric. Its value is not exhausted by how it looks, or how superficially it can be considered. It unfolds over time, it tells a long story.
Photography can support either of these positions. It can produce images that are clear, resolved and immediately effective. Much of my own work is used in this way. There is nothing inherently reductive about that.
But there is another role for photography which has been central to my own approach.
That is to support ideas and outcomes rather than simply appearances. To contribute to a broader discussion about architecture and its place in society. My practice is about constructing a body of work that can hold complexity. It pays attention to how buildings are occupied, how they age, how they sit within a wider fabric.
For architects, this distinction matters.
There is increasing pressure to produce work that performs visually and circulates widely. At the same time, there is a growing expectation that architecture should address more substantive questions; infrastructure, public space, social value, the quality and sustainability of our environment.
Photography has a role in that. It can either reinforce a superficial reading of a project or help establish a deeper one.
In my own work, the emphasis has been on the latter. To produce images that help articulate the value of an architecture grounded in thought, precision and responsibility. To contribute to an understanding of the work that extends beyond the immediate moment of publication.
This is not a position taken against marketing. The same images are often used for communication and promotion. But their primary purpose is not short-term persuasion. It is to establish and demonstrate value over time, sometimes lifetimes.
The absence of PR-led commissions in my career reflects this alignment. The work has developed within a different set of relationships and expectations. Beyond the momentary glare of novelty, and embedded deep in the reflective, considered and committed work of making architecture.
Architecture That Stands The Test of Time, photographed for Architecture Today
