#ArchinectMeets is a series of interviews with members of the architecture community that use Instagram as a creative medium. With the series, we ask some of Instagram’s architectural photographers, producers and curators about their relationship to the social media platform and how it has affected their practice.
Social media has undeniably affected the way we perceive, interpret and share opinions about architecture today. While we use our own account, @Archinect, as a site for image curation and news content, we wanted to ask fellow Instagram users how they navigated the platform.
We spoke to Serge Najjar, otherwise known as @serjios. A lawyer by profession, Najjar began his double life as a photographer after seeing minimalist architectural photography on Instagram. Najjar was not only inspired by this work but improved it by developing a form of minimalist photography that combines the hard geometry of architecture with the soft bodies of curious bystanders.
What is your relationship to architecture? How did @serjios begin?
Architectural photography requires a lot of discipline and imagination. I do not show architecture as it is; rather, I add my personal input to each image I produce, whether that means manipulating the perspective or the way I perceive the architect’s work. It is subjective with every image, while my advise for an architectural photographer is to always stay objective and true to the architect’s work.
@sejios began in a very unexpected way. I am a lawyer and doctor at law and was inscribed to a photography class as a gift when I was 37 years old. At the same time I had dowloaded Instagram and so the adventure began. It all started randomly and I was far from imagining that I would be exhibited in galleries and art fairs one day.
How do you produce your imagery? About how long does each image take to produce?
It is really not about how and how long it takes to catch a scene. It is more about perception and the ability to know when is the right moment to snap the shot. It is instinctive and experience can ease the road as it helps you focus on what is essential.
As a matter of fact, I believe that the best way to deliver a message is to focus on a main subject while simplifying everything around it that does not add to the subject. A photographer is able to do so by using his photographic skills and his ability to compose the image in an efficient way. The image has to speak for itself and a strong subject does not need any explanation if it delivers itself naturally.
What have you hoped to communicate about architecture through your posts?
Perhaps bringing architecture closer to my perception of art. I am a geometry lover. Everything that generates geometry is a big source of inspiration to me. Architecture is just a battlefield to me. I use it because the geometry that it generates and the textures that I find through it help me create some art of my own. I somehow use architecture to illustrate my own personal sensitivity towards art.
Has the success of @serjios affected your career outside of Instagram?
Indeed it has. A lot. So much that I now have two careers: I am an active lawyer and a photographer.
Do you post your work anywhere else online? Is Instagram your social media channel of choice?
Today I only post on instagram. It has sort of became my photographic portfolio.
What are some of your favorite Instagram profiles to follow?
I would say that among many people I follow, I am always very charmed by the images of @kristinenor
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