Architectural Journey
Thom Mayne: Back side of San Francisco Federal Building
Dawn in Paris. I was a teenager. I hitched a ride on a semi-truck. I was heading to the south of France. The driver made a delivery stop at a restaurant in Lyon. He came out and told me I should go in. There was a meal waiting for me. The restaurant belonged to Paul Bocuse. I was a bit disoriented. A story for another time.
When I was reminded of that moment in time, I realized that my eyes have traveled thousands of miles. When my eyes travel I see everything that needs to be seen anew.
Sotto Voce
The tallest person in the room. I stood up. I felt a deep breath. Then sotto voce I breathed “I have something to share”.
In one of the more august rooms of the architectural community: Frank Gehry, Peter Eisenman, Stanley Tigerman, Zaha Hadid among 25 or 30 anchored by Yale University Dean Robert Stern. I needed to share my opinion.
This moment was an Architecture Graduate School Yale Review. It was presided over by Greg Lynn. Greg had invited me for about 5-6 years. He motioned for me to continue. The whole room knew me, but wondered why a photographer was present in an architecture critique. The answer is simple. Why not share how one should see architecture.
I began by addressing Frank Gehry. “You do know that without me, (photographers) you would not be so famous”. Yes, yes, yes there was a hush. Robert Stern placed his hands on my back as if to say “watch yourself”. I was merely addressing the visual truth: great photographs celebrate great architecture and more. Photography that resembles a rendering and a rendering that resembles photography is not the art of photographing architecture.
The students appreciated my insanity. My point was actually simple: architecture needs to certainly address how space is utilized for the betterment of mankind and community. The camera captures the architects design manifestation and reveal. The photographer is paramount. Without a visual narrative the architecture might not be discovered beyond local inhabitants and the august community. John Keats speaks for the photographer: “Beauty is truth, truth is beauty…”
I share the above because the camera is such an insurmountable tool. It allows for the experience with architecture to be embraced. Is there a better love affair than that?
I have experienced many moments that have shaped my vision in the most profound way. Architects have appeared as whispering angels almost every time I stand before the moments. They are the ones who have given me the confidence to explore the way architecture should look.
The Soft Shoe
I have spent decades listening to architects share ideas about exploring the possibilities that may exist for their work.
Paolo Soleri
I spent a few precious hours chatting with Paolo Soleri. He invited me to Arizona to see his Arcosanti Desert Utopia. He told me that he merely wanted to share his journey with my camera. He said, Wouldn’t it be exciting to see what photographs may come from the one on one experience. If you merely listen, I think you will see something special”.
Bernard Tschumi: Florida International University
My heart remembers the cell phone call to Bernard Tschumi. He wanted to walk me via AT&T about his Florida International University shapely colors.
I remember standing on a corner in San Francisco waiting to hear Thom Mayne share some visual priorities regarding his Federal Building. The temperament his words carried became a visual celebration for me. Though my photographs might not resemble his mindset.
Thom Mayne: Morphosis San Francisco Federal Buildin
I remember Richard Meier waltzed me in and around the Getty. He needed to show me what Richard Meier saw. Certainly a welcomed gift. Our strides increased as he felt motivated to show me everything that mattered.
Richard Meier at the Getty 1988
I remember Charles Gwathmey wanted to prepare me for his celebrated client. The architecture experience in Malibu design was paramount. Charlie wanted to make certain that I not only glide through with my best impression of the old soft shoe but continue to slide effortlessly in and around the details.
We always need to dance. My whole life has been a soft shoe experiment with camera in hand. My pictures don’t always coincide with the architects needs. But the experience lives. Most importantly a realization that all architecture needs a camera that lends itself to the par excellence that is deserved.
Par Excellence
Many years ago I spoke to the Indian architect Charles Correa at length. I was trying to organize a portrait session with him. The telephone call was becoming expensive. After sometime I realized he was becoming too cheeky.
Before we hung up, I asked him if it was enough that he was the king of India.
He said that he should have listened to Corbusier. I think Correa meant that he should have adhered to the great Corbusier line, “when I design, the thing to do is see the building against the sky”. If I had met Corbusier. I would certainly share my photographs of buildings against the sky.
So many architects in my life. I have listened to so many voices. Those voices have contributed to the creation towards my own vision. I have learned that I must try to find par excellence in my work or fail.
In the end after all of my photographs are put to bed, I feel quietly like the tenor Enrico Caruso after his final performance as Canio in Pagliacci. The character stands alone. He poses, emotionally spent with a thousand rivulets cascading over every inch of his mind and body.
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