Designing Buildings - The Construction Wiki

Search

Subjects

Tools / info

Edit this article

Last edited 10 Nov 2020

See full history

Main author

Michael Brooks

Simon Kennedy - Architectural photographer

(Greenwich Reach Bridge, Deptford for Moxon Architects)

Simon Kennedy is a London-based photographer specialising in architecture and interiors.

Simon's work has been exhibited and published widely, and his recent clients include The BBC, Hopkins Architects, MJP Architects, Sheppard Robson Architects, Jansen Magazine, Tank Magazine, Architecture Today, Building Design and Detail Magazine.

Simon also provides editorial images, and has experience in technical verified views photography for planning applications.

Simon answered some of Designing Buildings Wiki's questions about his career-to-date.

Designing Buildings Wiki (DBW): How did you get started in photography?

Simon Kennedy (SK): I had always been fascinated by photography as a child, then a student of architecture, and then as a professional working in the construction industry. It took me a while to figure out that it was what I should do for a living.

(Rowan Park, Merton, for Sheppard Robson)

DBW: What was it that draw you to architectural photography in particular?

SK: I am a qualified architect and practiced for a number of years - it is definitely the subject about which I am most passionate and also about which I know the most. The relationships between perspective, field of view, light and built form remain intriguing.

(Chambers Wharf, London for SimpsonHaugh)

DBW: What is your favourite piece of equipment to work with?

SK: My Arca Swiss D4 geared tripod head... a fantastic piece of precision engineering that is indispensable when you have to level a camera a hundred times in a day! Also, large format film remains an astonishingly beautiful medium.

DBW: What do you find the most challenging part of being an architectural photographer?

SK: There are many challenges, the weather is a constant issue in this country, but the biggest challenge is to produce an image that correlates to the architect's original vision for the project. This can be very difficult as there are often aspects of a completed project that the architect feels unhappy with. However, this makes the job very satisfying when you do make those images that succeed.

(Broadgate Circle, London for Arup Associates)

DBW: What has been your favourite commission to work on?

SK: I very much enjoy photographing bridges, the most recent one I have shot was by Moxon Architects in Deptford - a stunning structure. (See top image)

DBW: Is there a building you would really like to get a chance to shoot?

SK: The Tricorn Centre that once stood in Portsmouth. The systematic destruction of Brutalist buildings throughout the country is very sad.

(Heygate Abstracted, personal project)

DBW: What advice would you give to an aspiring architectural photographer?

SK: Get out and do it as often as you can - this is the only way to begin to understand how a building responds to different lighting conditions, and to develop your own vision. Also, study the types of images that are used to represent buildings - you need to know what the rules are even if you then decide to break them.