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.”

Lorena Darquea Schettini is an Ecuadorian architect and photographer graduated from ITESM, who began exploring the field of architectural photography while attending a Visual Arts workshop held at Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland, in 2009. After getting involved with the career, in 2018 she accomplished a Low Residency in the International Center of Photography in New York.

In her work she seeks to transmit through the lens the diverse sensations provoked by architecture with an honest and unpretentious language. Inspired by contexts, texture contrasts, and the incidence of light, especially daylight; the photographer pursues the spatial qualities in their most unaltered form. Convinced that careful observation and extensive knowledge of a project are of vital importance to achieve images which reveal the true essence of architecture; Lorena achieves a continuous discovery of the many facets of architecture manifesting the true identity of each project.

She participated at the Venice Biennale 2016 as part of the Time Space Existence exhibition. She was selected for exposing her work PLANOS in the 2019 BAL (Bienal de Arquitectura de Latinoamérica). Her photographs have also been displayed within various architects’ projects at the BIAU ( Bienal Iberoamericana de Arquitectura y Urbanismo) and BAQ (Bienal Panamericana de Arquitectura de Quito).

Her work earned publishing in ArchDaily and Elle which talked about the inclusion of women and the challenge for the gender in the architectural field, as well as a publication from Architectural Digest, that also intends to portray the impact of her photography in a Latin-American context.

Other magazine, web and book collaborations include:T Magazine – New York Times, RIBA Journal, Arquitectura Viva, Arquine, Archdaily, Divisare, Architectural Digest, Architectural Record, Rizzoli, among others.

Hi Lorena, first of all a huge thanks for your takeover a few weeks ago, I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did our community. I’m always slightly overwhelmed when the photographers I ask agree to give up their time for M-mode so for that I am eternally grateful.

Can you tell us how life has been treating you recently and what your plans for 2022 and beyond?

Last year and this year, have been quite a ride. With everything going on I had the opportunity to work on editorial projects, so I look forward to more of those in 2022.

I am grateful for having a great year so far, with that in mind I want to focus on more personal projects that are schedule to start this winter. The light in winter is essential for this project, so I am excited for what is coming in the next months. Additionally, for 2022 I am exploring print projects of some of my personal projects.

That sounds exciting and we can’t wait to see what your winter personal project looks like.

I’m still undecided on mine. I’ve been very luck too with having a rather busy year. With winter being a little bit of a slow patch over here I better get my thinking cap on and creative juices flowing. I guess watch this space.

Could you tell us a bit more about your past, your education, ethos and how you approach your work currently?

I am an architect, I studied architecture in ITESM in Monterrey, Mexico. I’ve always had an interest in photography, at the beginning I took some courses in Ecuador but my first approach to architecture photography was in Aalto University in Helsinki. Working in several architecture firms in different countries, I realized there was an important niche for architecture photography, and I had an advantage, I was an architect.

I started my own photography studio based in Mexico (mostly) and Ecuador.  By 2018 I needed a change of perspective, and I was eager to grow as a photographer, I enrolled in a Low Residency Program in ICP in New York. Since then, I’ve taken different workshops with ICP and Strudel Media, it helps so much to learn from another perspective of other photographers who are not in the architecture field.

My approach changes according to the project I am on and my objectives in that time and place, that’s what I love about shooting architecture, the creative experience nor the requirements are ever the same.

Me too, I love that about our line of work. Not one single day is the same, with different objectives on every shoot.

You seemed to of had quite the career to this point, with much experience in both fields of architecture and photography. Could you tell us how you go about getting work and is the best solution you've found?

At the beginning of my career, I reached out to different architecture firms and interior designers who I really liked and enjoyed their work. It was important to have a strong portfolio, so I developed a strong website to showcase my work.

Early on, I realized how important is to build a strong relationship with my clients and I think that’s the best and smartest thing you can do, and it paid off hugely last year.

I couldn’t agree more, forming close and long lasting relationships with your clients is key. I feel a strong foundation of trust allows for more creatively on the shoot.

Where do you see the future of photography heading, not only in our genre but as a whole?

This is a complicated question and I always think about it and different things come to mind. I believe technology is moving fast and it’s giving the opportunity for everyone to become a photographer. It amazes me that now you can find different ways to capture life; you can do it with a phone, a film camera or digital camera, you just need the drive to go out and shoot.

Sometimes I worry where I’ll be in five or even ten years time within the industry, but other times I get excited at where the industry is going. We have some fantastic ambassadors within our field, yourself included.

What is the interior and architectural scene like in Guadalajara, is this where you do most of your work?

Before the pandemic, I used to travel a lot in Mexico specially and Ecuador, but most of my work right now is in Guadalajara or cities nearby.

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.

It sounds incredible. I’ll have to come and visit and you can show my wife and I around. Mexico has certainly been high on the bucket list of travel destinations for us.

As a photography community we love a bit of gear talk, could you tell us what equipment you have in your bag and enlighten those who aren't familiar a little bit more about your process.

I currently shoot with Canon and Fujifilm. My camera is Canon 5DSr and recently bought a Fuji X-T4, intended for personal projects.

My canon lenses are TS 17mm, TS 24 mm, TS 50mm, 100 – 300mm, 17-40mm, and I have an extender of 1.4x.

My fuji lenses are 35 mm and 50 mm for the moment, also bought a Viltrox speedbooster to use with my Canon lenses. For the tripod I use a Gitzo and recently purchased the Arca-Swiss Cube. To gather all that equipment, I use a Pelican Air.

For an architecture or interiors shoot I use Canon 5DSr and normally I mostly shoot with TS 17mm and TS 24mm, depending on the project I use the 17-40 mm or 100-300 mm for details.

Currently I am experimenting in my travel and street photography with the X-T4.

Great bit of kit, nice and compact in some ways.

I myself have a Fuji XT2 from a few years ago. I love the smooth tones and colour balance, it goes everywhere with me when on my travels. I’ve only heard good things from the XT3 & XT4 owners.

I’m really excited about the Nikon Z9 that has just been realised, perhaps this will persuade me finally to go mirrorless full time…as daunting as it is.

Do you feel that you're happy with the work you produce?

I am happy but aware that there’s always room for improvement. I think everybody deals with this in its own way and I believe it’s helpful to have this feeling, to keep evolving and searching for new ways to showcase your work. I would find problematic to be 100% happy and not question my work.

I’m always thrilled to hear it is not just me that goes through the highs and lows of every shoot.

Do you have any advice for aspiring photographers to keep motivated and pushing yourself forward?

My advice would be to have the drive to shoot as much as you can. As photographers we get the opportunity to learn and grow in each assignment we take. It wouldn’t be helpful to get the best equipment without getting into the habit of shooting and learning from it.

Great advice.

Equipment can be so seductive, just look at the Apple iphone. They release one every year and so many people go flooding to get one but do they necessarily need one?

Another thing in regards to updating equipment, I think we all need to look individually at ourselves in regards to equipment consumption, especially in light of the COP26 summit. I’ve been looking at ways as a small individual business how I can improve my carbon footprint and perhaps this is one way. Buy more secondhand gear, reduce my bag to only the lenses I use on a regular basis and perhaps electric travel….These things are just as important as talking about sustainable architecture etc…

If not now then when…..?!?

I think we should talk a bit about copyright.....How do you go about educating your clients about licensing and is there anything we can be doing better to inform our clients better?

The best way to educate your clients, it’s to first educate yourself regarding copyright.  

I didn’t have much information at the beginning, but later with other architecture photographers who had the same questions, we created a group, where we hired a lawyer who explained us everything related to copyright and our work as photographers.

What a great idea…perhaps I should do that here in the UK.

Where do you draw your inspiration from and how do you go about creating your stylized look?

I try to get my hands in as many photography books and articles as I can, from different eras, countries, and styles. I also like to keep up to date by following the accounts of architects, magazines, artists and photographers.

I can lose hours in magazine shops here in Bath. It is like being in a sweet shop and wanting everything or looking at all the different fashions styles. You want everything but not every glove fits as they say. It’s a bit of a Catch 22 situation as a photographer that we have to creative style that we are know for and stand out from the crowd. I use to shoot things so bright and white but have started to embrace the more darker, richer and moody. I don’t know if this is me evolving as a photographer or just being indecisive.

Do you have a favorite thing you like to shoot and why?

Every project its special in its own way, I really do enjoy photographing projects in natural surroundings or in small towns. The approach is different, you get to disconnect from all the rush of the city and responsibilities in your life. You are there with the project and that’s all that matters, it creates an amazing bond with the place and the area.

What would say the highlight of your career would be to this point?

I’ve had a lot, but I can speak of the most recent one. When all the world was closed in May 2020, I was approached to shoot an assignment in Mexico City for T Magazine – New York Times. It was one of the best experiences and being able to experience Mexico City empty, was unbelievable.

Awesome! I knew we were in the presence of greatness.

Do you have any favorite photographers that inspire you and anyone you think we should be keeping an eye out for?

I really love to look back at the work of Lola Alvarez Bravo, Luigi Ghirri, Lucien Herve, Berenice Abbot, Julius Shulman and Helene Binet.

Their work is so inspiring and mesmerizing, it gives me chills every time I see their photographs. Currently the photographers I really like and everybody should keep an eye out is Annika Feus and Stijin Bollaert, their work, aesthetic and approach to architecture its really good.   

Some great inspiring photographs there, and lovely to see Annika inspiring you. I love her work so much and was thrilled when she agreed for a takeover and interview this year.

Lastly, what have you learnt and taken away from the past year’s events?

It will sound so cliché but live in the present.

Before COVID I was always thinking of the future, and I didn’t enjoy the present as much as I would’ve liked. Now I try as hard as possible to be as conscious as possible of my day to day and enjoy every moment of it.

There is nothing cliché about that….

A big thank you to Lorena for not only all her time and efforts with her takeover & interview but for supporting the M-mode community.

If you wish to see more of Lorenza’s work click on the following links - Website - Instagram