Interviews.
Here at M-mode not only are we a community of photographers, but we love discussing and sharing others stories which we find interesting. Be it tales from photographers, designers, architects to the world of travel, styling and hospitality. We aim to share their stories with you in the hope of inspiring others by those who inspire us.
NEW THIS WEEK
An interview with British based architectural & interiors photographer, Mark Hardy
“I come from a heavy art orientated background. In school I drew cartoons if you have children and are familiar with ‘Tom Gates’ that basically sums up my school life. After failing all but one of my GCSEs I went to art college where I planned to do animation, but somehow thought when I was there I’d prefer to be in a rock band.. (that didn’t work out). I studied music production, before working out that I preferred making the artwork for any music projects.”
An interview with Ontario based architectural photographer Riley Snelling
“In 2017 I decided to shift my focus back to architectural photography. I reached out to local photographers for assisting gigs and was taken under the wings of Younes and Amanda from Doublespace, two of the most incredible photographers who I still admire greatly. I got to work with them on almost every shoot for just under two years. During this time I developed a handful of my own clients and slowly my commissions started to increase.”
An interview with Warsaw based interior & architectural photographer Nate Cook
“I’m quite a perfectionist when it comes to my work, so I often find myself going through images sets multiple times and taking numerous small tweaks before delivery. After each shoot I take notes on areas where I could improve and general lessons I learned throughout the process.”
An interview with interior & architectural photographer Tomáš Slavík
“I jumped into photography in my early teenage years. I was into mountain bikes and races. During these events, I kept being fascinated by photographers and their gear, until I bought my first DSLR at age 14. The decision to study at high school became easy then. I then studied at the Graphic School of Prague in the photography department and later continued onto the Academy Arts and Architecture, but I voluntarily left this institution after a couple of years.”
An interview with Architectural & Drone photographer and videographer Dmitry Tkachenko
“I have had a passion for photography and cinema all my life, and it was only when I was in Norway that I was able to fully realize it. The beauty of this country amazed me so much that I really wanted to learn how to photograph well and share it with other people. Over time, I was offered money for my pictures and pretty quickly my hobby turned into a job.”
An interview with Interior & Architectural photographer and Baltimore resident, Jennifer Hughes
“Last year, I decided I was going to eliminate strobes all together from my kit and now only use existing light - manipulating it with bounce cards and black cloth when necessary. It is very freeing to shoot that way…chasing the light and having nature provide the boundaries of what is possible. I’m always considering how I can simplify even further.”
An interview with Architectural & Interior photographers Aaron Zaccardelli & Ryan Laing - aka - ZAC & ZAC
“We went into this together and at the start always used to shoot together. Bouncing ideas off each other and learning as we went. It wasn’t intentional, it just worked out that way. We always work together as a team now but much less working together on the same shoot unless our client has time constraints on location or there are very technical light setups required etc… “
RECENTLY ADDED
An interview with Ecuadorian architect & architectural photographer Lorena Darquea Schettini
“Guadalajara is a beautiful city, with an amazing cultural scene. When I arrived, I was amazed of the great history, culture, architecture and design which could be found around the city; also, getting to know designers and architects, through these years make me feel grateful to call this city home.”
An interview with interior & architectural duo Photographix India
“It’s a collaboration with many creative talents that help our client achieve more in a day’s work. Every talent is nurtured, honed and allowed to bloom. As a collective, we offer interior architecture photography / videography / styling and post production services and are based out of three cities in India.”
An interview with Christchurch based interior & architectural photographer Dennis Radermacher
“Early in my career I leaned into the Japanese philosophy of kaizen, or continuous improvement. The goal is to constantly optimize every aspect of my work. Huge changes are hard, but improving 1% at a time yields big results over long periods of time. These improvements do not have to be creative, they can relate to peripheral issues like workflow improvements.”
An interview with Ahmedabad based architect and photographer, Atik Bheda
“Ahmedabad as a city holds architectural importance for it is home to pioneer architects and their projects that helped shape Modern Indian architecture. So personally, there’s a lot to explore and learn in and from the city.”
An interview with Chennai based architectural photographer Yash R Jain
“I enjoy capturing the play of light and shadow. For all my shoots, I prefer using natural light. There is a lot of preparation and planning that happens before any shoot in terms of setting up a frame and styling the space. Timing and weather play an important role in this, as the natural light affects the space differently throughout the day.”
An interview with Prague based architectural photographer Radek Úlehla
“My belief is that early in one’s career these personal projects are an important part of a portfolio development. This has a significant advantage in providing the flexibility to explore subjects that you want to shoot and to showcase our skills in a way that best reflects your vision.”
An interview with trained architect, interior & architectural photographer Paulina Ojeda
“Till this point in my way of work and career, I use only natural light, it seems to me that there lies a lot of the magic of the place, as it is that it plays with textures and shadows that constantly changes in the space, that adding to the inhabitants that may be on the site.”
An interview with Melbourne based interior & architectural photographer and AP Almanac contributor Veeral Patel
“One of my initial conversations with Mike about AP Almanac was that he wanted the site to go beyond photography and how he wanted it to be somewhat like Dezeen. That suited my own interests as I disliked talking about photography i.e., gear but was more interested in people, processes and inspirations.”
An interview with Prague based interior photographer & trained architect Alexandra Timpau, aka Alex.Shoots.Building
“Most of my work happens in the Czech Republic and the neighboring countries, indeed. The architectural photographers here are very good and that competition, I believe, is very healthy. Since I am an architect I feel like the new kid on the block and as the only woman (I think), I’m definitely the oddball here.”
An interview with London based interior and architectural photographer Billy Bolton.
“Obviously I take descriptive images otherwise designers wouldn’t employ me to record their work. But I make sure I shoot a certain amount of images in the style that I like where the depth has been flattened and shapes, shadows and light are abstracted.”
An interview with Montreal’s award-winning interior & architectural photographer - Felix Michaud
“Inspiration comes from everywhere, really. From websites specializing in architecture, but also from art photography in general, whether street or conceptual photography. I give a special place to improvisation and to unprovoked errors during shootings and post-production of the images. The resulting style is therefore a blend of unexpected events and found inspirations of all kinds.”
An interview with architectural photographer Luke O’Donovan, curator of ‘Power Structure’ exhibition
“First and foremost, we just want to celebrate the work of some of our favourite photographers from around the world — we started preparing it before the pandemic, but now after a year of gallery closures and postponements it feels amazing that we’re able to put on anything at all.”
An interview with architectural, interiors, environmental & documentary photographer Bas Gijselhart
'“Inspiration could come from graphic design, a sketch by the architect or a scene from a movie. I don't think it works in a literal 1-to-1 way for me. I rarely make concepts. In essence I just walk around and lift up my camera to make a photo once in a while.”
An interview with award-winning architectural photographer, filmmaker, artist & Mass Collective member Simon Kennedy
“I have no doubt that there is still a place for an impactful still image. At the end of the day there are things you can do with a still that are difficult if not impossible to do with the moving image, no matter how sophisticated the cameras and software become.”
An interview with Toronto based photographer, M-mode 2020 Finalist & Canadian Architect Award of Excellence 2020 winner, Salina Kassam
“I approach my photography, telling stories, of process, of development, a metaphor for the evolution of the building of a building. My approach with architectural photography is to be able to let the photographs tell a story, create a narrative, and articulate a process.”
An interview with Bath based commercial, portrait, travel & interiors photographer Toby Mitchell
“I was given an internship at CEREAL Magazine as a photography intern. After six months of mentorship under Rich Stapleton and Rosa Park, shooting all over Europe and a lot of brilliant learning curves, I left with my images published in their magazine and guidebooks, which ultimately was the tipping point/kickstarter to the beginning of my commercial photography career.”
An interview with award winning architectural photographer & filmmaker Shoayb Khattab
“My goal is to enjoy what I am doing, I rarely get bored from photographing architecture and interior. In fact, if you were to ask what I would love to do during my free time, I would say explore and capture architectural buildings and elements.”
An interview with architectural photographer and previous Hedrich Blessing apprentice, Tom Harris
“I think it's important to do justice to the building no matter what the design, budget, material, or my personal opinion on whether or not the building is aesthetically or functionally beautiful. There are people whose careers have all led to the completion of the project, and to write it off because it doesn't have a high budget or a flashy spiral staircase isn't fair to the people I work for.”
An interview with top Australian commercial photographer, Sharyn Cairns
“Inspiration can come from so many places, for me travel was a huge one, seeing how different cultures live, eat and dress. Likewise, it can come from the simplest things, like a scene in a movie, an Instagram image, the way late afternoon light falls through the trees or shadow play on concrete walls.”
An interview with South African photographer, lecturer & hero of mine, Adam Letch
“I started teaching photography, working my way up to head of photography at the Ruth Prowse School of Art in Cape Town. Things are a little foggy, but I think I lectured full-time until about 2013, so for about 15 years or so. With a waning enthusiasm for a career in education and a deep seeded need to shoot, instead of teaching, I started freelancing.”
An interview with Dubai based commercial & architectural photographer Ruksana Hussain
“The interior and architectural scene like in UAE is thriving, I would say. We have a great mix of local, home-grown designers and architects, both foreigners as well as Emirati. As a result, I would say the scene is quite cosmopolitan, and it is a very close-knit community of supporters as well.”
An interview with London based architectural & interiors photographer & filmmaker Ståle Eriksen
“ Growing up in Norway was great. The seasons are very intense weather wise, so it’s never boring! My family always spent a lot of time in nature, which is something I feel very grateful for. As children we would go on week-long fishing trips in the mountains in the summer, equipped with tents and on long cross-country skiing trips in winter.”
An interview with Mexico City’s up and coming interior & architectural photographer, Ariadna Polo
“I think that there is so much talent in Mexico, there are a lot of factors that are contributing to making Mexican architecture richer in terms of experimentation. Many young architects are doing incredible projects with innovative solutions and low budgets and sourcing local materials. Many offices do great work on different scales, from public pavilions, houses, buildings to public architecture.”
An interview with interior & architectural photographer & M-mode 2020 finalist, Annika Feuss
“I've always enjoyed working with pictures. As a teenager, I used to cut out pictures from magazines and see how they could be combined. I still like to do that today - I want all the images from a series to work perfectly next to each other.”
An interview with architectural & interiors photographer Alexander Bogorodskiy
“I am fascinated by natural light. So I am trying to capture it at its best, without artificial lighting or heavy post production. The rest is up to the project.”
An interview with architectural & commercial photographer Peter Molick
“During the earlier days of trying to fine tune my skills at photographing structures, I spent countless hours exploring downtown Houston, where I live, finding rooftops and other interesting vantage points to create cityscapes and images of iconic buildings here.”
An interview with Lagos based architectural & interiors photographer & founder of RubysPolaroid, Tolulope Sanusi
“Light, shadow, lines & texture is what I like to explore. Bringing out what I see through the edit is always a fulfilling feeling and is why I've been on a black & white streak on my personal projects recently.”
An interview with architectural photographer & documentary filmmaker Jim Stephenson…aka ClickClickJim
“I spend some time watching how people and light interact with the space then I follow that around. I usually work slowly and a lot of my photo and film shoots become almost meditative.”
An interview with M-mode 2020 Award winner Andy Macpherson. We get to know more about Andy, BAAM podcast and hear more about THAT photo!
“It's great to have the M-mode Awards; they're a positive contribution to our industry. There were so many amazing photographers and images so I am in disbelief that I won.”
An interview with Gillian Hayes, founder of Dapple Photography
“I am drawn to details, textures, colour, proportions and light. It could be the textures & light on a tree bark or soft winter light hitting timber cladding next to the rough textures of hand cut stone.”
An interview with Tõnu Tunnel, photographer of the built environment
“I've probably owned 40-50 different film cameras in a decade, they all have so different characters and flow to shooting.”
An interview with Chicago based fine art & commercial photographer Angie McMonigal
“I appreciate dramatic, bold, minimalistic and moody perspectives on spaces. Since so much of my focus is on those details to sometimes abstract interpretations of a space, my hope is to make the viewer reconsider the spaces they're in and appreciate those elements that can so easily get overlooked in wider perspectives.”
An interview with interior & architecture photographer, retoucher and PRO EDU tutor Barry Mackenzie
“I spent the next week hanging around and rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in the photography industry — Rob Grimm, Aaron Nace, Monte Isom, Mike Kelley, Peter Hurley, etc. It was fucking surreal. I also may have slept on a baby mattress in the garage after being locked out of the house one night.”
An interview with architectural photographer Simon Devitt
“I blame my Dad for my love for photography, he always carried a SLR loaded with slide film. These slides invariably ended up in family slideshows, boring as shit for most kids, I was ENTHRALLED.”
An interview with Tasmanian interior & architectural photographer Anjie Blair
“Don’t be afraid of the dark….” - Anjie Blair 2020
An interview with renowned writer & stylist Ali Heath.
Ali Heath, a UK based interior writer and stylist, has over 14 years experience of working with top UK and international print publications including Homes & Gardens, Livingetc, Elle Decoration, Elle Decoration Country, House & Garden, 25 Beautiful Homes, Country Living, Modern Rustic, Country Homes & Interiors and YOU Magazine to name a few.
Photo by Emma Lewis
An interview with Zoomed In Festival creator and young talent Luke O’Donovan
He certainly got everyone talking a few weeks ago with his online festive curation of some leading photographers discussing interior & architecture. We talk to Luke O’Donovan about how he pulled it off, what to expect from him in the future and will there be Zoomed In 2?
Photo - www.doublespacephoto.com
An interview with Nikon Gold Prize winner Jason Parnell-Brookes
Photography Jason Parnell-Brookes
We talk to the internationally award-winning photographer, educator and writer based in Frome. We discuss favourite equipment, keeping inspired & creating new content when working for multiple magazines, an adventure in Iceland and more.
An interview with stylist Caroline Davis.
Renowned stylist Caroline Davis has worked with some of the countries best known and loved magazines with clients including Homes & Gardens, House Beautiful, Marie Claire and Marks & Spencer to name a few. She shares stories from her past including her education, tips and tricks, advice for apprentices and her relationships with photographers on set.
