Architectural photography books

[WitoldWaldman]

Hi,

I'm looking for recommendations for good books on architectural photography. Photographing interiors and exteriors are the areas of interest, and these include construction sites as well as completed buildings.

Thanks for any suggestions that you may be able to offer.

--
Witold

[Mike_Guilbault]

Do a search on Amazon or Chapters.. there's quite a few good ones there. I can't remember the titles, but I do remember searching there and finding quite a few.

[ChristopherNg]

I'm assuming you're after subject matter, rather than technical how-to books, so my current favourites are ...

Robert Polidori's books on Chernobyl and Havana. Maybe also his new book Metropolis, which includes his very honest thoughts on architectural photography.

Anything featuring work by Eugene Atget.

Maybe also consider Bernd & Hilla Becher, Andreas Gursky, and Candida Hofer.

Gabriele Basilico's The Interrupted City is excellent if you like B&W urban landscapes.

You can find all these at either Amazon or www.photoeye.com.

[WitoldWaldman]

Mike and Christopher,

Thank you for your replies and suggestions. I must apologise as I did not make it very clear that I am interested in the technical aspects of interior and exterior architectural photography. I was trying to assemble some information to provide to a friend of mine who works for an architectural firm and wishes to take on-site photographs of projects that they are building.

--
Witold

[ChristopherNg]

OK, start again.

For basic easy to understand stuff, I always found books published by Rotovision to be quite good value. Check out www.rotovision.com.

Type "architectural photography" into www.amazon.com, and check out these three books (all of which I own and have found useful):
1. How to Photograph Buildings and Interiors by Gerry Kopelow
2. Professional Architectural Photography (Professional Photography Series) by Michael Harris
3. Photographing Architecture and Interiors by Julius Shulman, Richard Neutra

The great thing is you can usually find these books as heavily discounted remainders or even mint-condition second-hand for half the original RRP. Julius Shulman's book is a classic and I picked it up for about $5 (its a bit dated in terms of recommended equipment etc. but the images are still first-rate).

BTW, your friend really should commission a professional photographer. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[WitoldWaldman]

Christopher,

Thanks for your suggestions regarding the books that you have found useful. I was after just that sort of feedback from people who had read these types of books. I have also had a quick look at the available Rotovision titles, and some of those do look promising.

At the moment the company actually does commission a professional photographer to do the work for them. And from what I have heard, they do a good professional job with nice images that the company is happy with.

[ChrisWesnofske]

The most obvious book hasn't been mentioned. It's called "Photographing Buildings Inside and Out" by Norman McGrath. It's one of the best books on the subject, though I'm a bit biased as I was his assistant for a couple years way back in the dark ages.