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Architectural Photographers: Brad Feinknopf
It’s been a while since the last Architecture photographer we
featured here in ArchDaily, but we are back presenting one of the most
experienced photographers in North America:
Brad Feinknof.
As he states, his passion for photographing architecture stems
directly from the influence of his grandfather and father, both
successful architects practicing in Columbus, Ohio. He has personally
been shooting photography for over 20 years, since graduating from
Cornell University with his undergraduate degree in Design. Brad went on
to spend his post-collegiate years in New York City assisting prominent
photographers Richard Avedon, Robert Mapplethorpe, Arnold Newman and
Joyce Tenneson. Today, many of the ideals Brad obtained from his New
York experience carry over to his clients; — the consistent pursuit of
perfection, extreme attention to detail, uncompromised professionalism
and the utmost quality in service.
Following his return to Columbus, Brad established feinknopf
photography, rapidly growing an established clientele among
architectural, engineering and construction firms. In serving these
clients, Brad has traveled throughout the United States shooting
projects, many of which have been published in major publications. From
the multitude of projects I have shot of the years over 100 have gone on
to be AIA award winners.
Boston Convention Center - Rafael Viñoly Architects | © Brad Feinknopf
1. When and how did you start photographing architecture?
I have been surrounded by architecture from birth. With both father
and grandfather being architects, it has always been in my blood, but
the path to architectural photography was neither intentional nor
expected. Growing up, I spent many hours walking construction sites, and
in my teens, working construction. The intention was to ultimately
become an architect and follow in the family footsteps. When it came
time for college, I went to Cornell University and pursued a degree in
Design & Environmental Analysis/Facility Planning and Management, as
is seemed a good lead into Architecture in Graduate School. During my
junior year, many of my friends were Photography Majors and they
encouraged me to take a photography course. My first photography teacher
and mentor to this day was Barry Perlus, who is now head of the
Photography Department at Cornell. I had never been interested in
photography previously, as I had only know it as a tool of the newspaper
and yearbook staff, and I had no interest in photojournalism. Barry
opened a world where photography was a deliberate act, almost painterly.
You were not “capturing an event,” you went out with intent and
created. Once photography was presented to me in this new and magical
light, I was hooked. My journey than led me to New York City in the
pursuit of learning from the best of the best and had the good fortune
of working with many, as stated in my Bio. I loved New York but the day
to day effort of existing is such a city was more than I wanted and knew
I wanted to get married and have a family. I returned to Columbus, OH,
my home, and after a few years, opened my own studio. I started out
shooting Architecture, Corporate and Portrait work, and over the years
the balance has decidedly swung to Architecture. It is all very exciting
to me. It is not merely about taking pictures, it is about giving
something back to the architectural community from which I came.
Wilkes Barre Airport - HNTB | © Brad Feinknopf
2. Are you an architect?
No, my degree is in Design & Environmental Analysis/Facility
Planning and Management. As I have said, “Along the way I decided that I
would rather be paid to appreciate architecture than to do
architecture”. I think I would have been just an OK architect, but I
think I am better as a photographer.
University of Chicago - Rafael Viñoly | © Brad Feinknopf
3. Why do you like to photograph architecture?
It is almost a psychological thing. I take great joy in hearing an
architect’s thought process — what is the architects inspiration for
their work? It is great fun for me to move through a space, see its
evolution through time, season, weather, occupied, not occupied, etc. It
is not about, “taking a picture of a building,” it is about the
experience of “being.” Though I certainly have my ideas on how to shoot a
building, I see myself as a collaborator. I really want to get inside
the architect’s mind. It is then my responsibility to find those magical
moments that embrace the vision. I had the great fortune to work with
Charles Gwathmey on a shoot where Charley was present, and it is an
experience that is magical to this day. That is what it is all about.
Tangermann Center - Gwathmey Siegel | © Brad Feinknopf
Going back to Photo 101, photography gives one the right to stop,
look, and appreciate the world around you. If you stop to appreciate a
building, a rose, a crack in the sidewalk, and you are a doctor,
everyone thinks you have lost your mind, if you are a photographer,
everyone says, “Oh, he is a photographer.” It gives you the opportunity
to stop and smell the roses.
Bard University - Rafael Viñoly Architects | © Brad Feinknopf
4. Favorite architect?
Totally unfair question. The real answer is, whoever I am working
with at that moment in time. I immerse myself in my work and want the
very best for my clients. I am not here to judge but to appreciate and
therefore I am always looking for the beauty. Even a warehouse can have
beauty if seen through the right set of eyes. That said, there are
certainly those whose work I undeniably appreciate. I cannot tell you
the joy I have had photographing the work of Rafael Vinoly. My father,
the architect, was always far more concerned with whether a building
WORKED than merely its beauty. It is wonderful to be beautiful but if it
does not work, than what is the point. There is much avant garde
architecture that makes the viewer say WOW, but does it really perform
for the inhabitants? What I have found, photographing Vinoly’s work, is
that his project’s may not receive the attention of many of the
periodicals, as some of the starchitects do, but his buildings WORK! The
Pittsburgh Convention Center virtually redefines the Convention Center
and that it needs not be a dark black box. Vinoly’s labs have made
people understand that the walls do not need to be cinder block and the
lab benches do not need to be wood with black tops; they can be spaces
full of light which are modern and functional — spaces that a scientist
can look forward to going to everyday. To take the conventional notion
of what is a space and to redefine it is a special gift, which Rafael
and his principal collaborators, seem to understand.
Jazz at Lincoln Center - Rafael Viñoly Architects | © Brad Feinknopf
I could go on with favorites all day (Santiago Calatrava, Coop
Himmelblau, OMA, Kieran Timberlake, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, etc.) but
that is not what you asked. There are many doing some amazing work. I
also would like to say that there are many great architects lost behind
the cloak of the big firms. Great work is being done by Cannon Design,
HOK, SOM, Gensler and NBBJ but, in many cases, who is considered the
architect to the general public? I feel there are many who go largely
unrecognized.
Pittsburgh Convention Center - Rafael Viñoly Architects | © Brad Feinknopf
5. Favorite building?
Again, an unfair question. The Pittsburgh Convention Center holds a
special place in my heart, as my relationship with Rafael Vinoly was
initiated as a result of that project. Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum
Bilbao and Walt Disney Concert Hall both helped to redefine cities or at
least a portion of them. Calatrava never ceases to amaze, and I love
the Milwaukee Art Museum. That said, Phillip Johnson’s Glass House needs
to be recognized, as well as Frank Lylod Wright’s Falling Water. I
would rather appreciate them all for their own specialness than to pick
favorites. That is not how my mind works. We all exist in a special
moment in time, and we should embrace that moment and enjoy it. Why say
that this is the best or my favorite, when there is so much to enjoy?
Waccabuc House - Chanli Lin | © Brad Feinknopf
6. How do you work?
My assistant, Lauren Davis, helped me to understand that I don’t know
the answer to this question. After 20+ years, there is so much that I
do that I don’t even think about, it has become second nature. I guess
the process is something like this: I like to walk the project with the
architect and experience it through their eyes. I then want time, time
to understand and to appreciate what I am working with. I do light my
project, but sparingly. I do not wish to create something anew but
merely to show the work in its best possible light. I see a great deal
of photography that is heavily lit, and it is very sexy and serves a
specific purpose, but it always seems to be more about the lighting than
the building. I want the architecture to shine through, not my
photography to be the star of the show. I want the reaction to be, “What
a great building,” not “What a great photograph of that building.” I
prefer to have a minimum of 3 days at a project, if possible. That seems
the minimum amount of time to experience a building, and over that
time, you should have many opportunities to see the project under
different weather conditions, at various time of day, etc. Weather plays
such a huge role in what an architectural photographer does, so
understanding weather and how to make it work for you is a big part of
the equation. I cannot tell you how many times I have spent days at a
building, and then I happen to walk through a space that I have walked
30 times before and something jumps out, due to sun position, a certain
physical location, weather condition, time of year — something that was
never seen before. The important thing is to be open to these
experiences and be ready when they happen so that you may capture that
decisive moment.
UC Medical Sciences Building - Studios Architecture | © Brad Feinknopf
I always go back to Malcolm Gladwell’s premise from his book the
Outliers called the 10,000-Hour Rule. That the key to success in any
field has nothing to do with talent. It’s simply practice, 10,000 hours
of it — 20 hours a week for 10 years. I have spent at least an average
of 10 to 20 hours a week shooting architecture for over 20 years. At
this point, architecture speaks to me. It is the ability to be open to
that which you are hearing and having the knowledge to put that into
tangible through time of day, lens selection and vision.
Milstein Hall - OMA | © Brad Feinknopf
7.- What kind of equipment and software do you use?
My camera body is a Cambo Wide DS, and I have 6 Rodenstock Digital
Lenses from a 28mm up to a 90mm lens. I have recently upgraded to a
Phase One IQ160 Medium Format Digital back. On the back end, we have
Apple Computers and are retouching in Photoshop CS5. We use a handful of
plug-ins but the importance is being REAL. I was once asked, “How much
do you charge to drop in those magical skies in post?” I had to laugh
because I never dropped in a sky in my life. The beauty of learning with
film is you had to do everything in the camera and with lighting; there
was no Photoshop, and that is where a great deal of photographers fall
short. They grew up in the digital age and utilize Photoshop as a
crutch, as a fixer. Photoshop is there to help you remove dust, to
correct color, to augment and remove when necessary. It is not to
create. The more you can rely on your photographic skills and the less
on your computer skills, the better photographer you will be.
Dallas Fort Worth Airport - HNTB | © Brad Feinknopf
The Rodenstock lenses are amazing, and the Phase One back is just
incredible. That said, anyone can open their pocketbooks and buy nice
equipment. These are all merely tools. The greatest tool I have are my
eyes, and eyes that have been trained over 20 years of looking.
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- Milsten Hall – OMA | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Milstein Hall – OMA | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Tangermann Center – Gwathmey Siegel | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Tangermann Center – Gwathmey Siegel | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Boston Convention Center – Rafael Viñoly Architects | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Waccabuc House – Chanli Lin | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Orange Branch – MKCA Architects | © Brad Feinknopf
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- FCCH – Design Group | © Brad Feinknopf
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- South Franklin Circle – GUND | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Design Building at CCAD – Acock Associates | © Brad Feinknopf
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- OSU Thompson Library – Acock Associates | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Design Square Apartments at CCAD – Acock Associates | © Brad Feinknopf
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- OSU Thompson Library – Acock Associates | © Brad Feinknopf
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- UC Medical Sciences Building – Studios Architecture | © Brad Feinknopf
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- UC Medical Sciences Building – Studios Architecture | © Brad Feinknopf
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- UC Medical Sciences Building – Studios Architecture | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Wilkes Barre Airport – HNTB | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Bard University – Rafael Viñoly Architects | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Art Academy of Cinci – Design Collective | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Wexner Center – Peter Eisenman | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Jazz at Lincoln Center – Rafael Viñoly Architects | © Brad Feinknopf
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- University of Chicago – Rafael Viñoly | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Dallas Fort Worth Airport – HNTB | © Brad Feinknopf
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- USAF Academy – HNTB | © Brad Feinknopf
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- Pittsburgh Convention Center – Rafael Viñoly Architects | © Brad Feinknopf
