Calatrava – Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias

I love Calatrava’s work in Valencia. It’s bat poop crazy. You’ve got eight different buildings. Each one would be insane on their own but as an entire complex they make up the astounding ‘City of Arts and Sciences’. It’s epic and beautiful.

I originally posted these photos back in 2011 but I wanted to revisit them to correct any lens distortion in them and also tweak the processing. I think these are better.

I also think I’ve developed an actual understanding of my photography in recent months, at least in architectural photography. I like a well designed product, like most things Apple do. A beautiful car. There’s a real beauty in the way something is designed. Thing goes here. Light hits in this way. It just works.

Photographers often talk about finding your voice. I do sort of feel like I’ve glimpsed hints of my architectural voice… maybe. My portraiture voice needs a lot of work. I can’t say why I love portraits but I do. You see a face. You have to photograph it. I can’t really explain it more than that. But architecture fits in with my daily love of design. I worry a lot that I should specialise in something. Focus. Find a niche and an audience to target. But I see a number of photographers I respect who do great architectural work and also great portraits too. Jim Stephenson, McCoy Wynne and Tony Ray-Jones. So its ok to be an architectural / portrait photographer with a passion for street. Isn’t it?

Speaking of Tony Ray-Jones. His show opens at the Walker Art Gallery on 13th Feb. I cannot wait to revisit it.

Anyway. Here’s some photos of a seriously amazing place. I would love to go back with a medium format setup one day. Oh and obligatory SPACESHIP!!!