RAMON C CORTINES SCHOOL OF VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS. Image © Miguel Rodriguez

In Focus is Archinect's recurring series dedicated to profiling the photographers who help capture architecture and who make the work of architects look that much better. In this series, we ask: What is their relationship to architecture? How do they work? What equipment do they use? What are their goals when capturing buildings?

For this installment, Archinect chats with Los Angeles-based photographer Miguel Rodriguez. By observing the relationship structures have with light, Rodriguez has found a way to capture the city of Los Angeles from a fresh perspective. By focusing on the design details and textures each building posses, he invites the viewer to look at the city in a whole new way. Fueled by Los Angeles's rich architectural history, Rodriguez aimed to highlight the buildings of G. Albert Lansburgh, Albert C. Martin, and Walker & Eisen. According to Rodriguez, he compares Los Angeles to an "architectural petri dish" where one can see the evolutions of the buildings in a confined space. 

What is your relationship to architecture? What draws you to photographing architecture?

Architecture is one of the most tangible and ubiquitous creations of the human consciousness. Throughout history, buildings have been symbols of cultural achievement, power, and technological progress. They are the reflection of the socio-economic, cultural, and artistic context of their time. Similar to tree rings, they map the evolution of our cities—periods of growth as well as times of decay. It’s through this lens that I photograph architecture.

Do you remember the first photograph you ever took?

I’ve had a camera around me since I was young. My dad liked to record family moments, events, and vacations. Posing for photos wasn’t my favorite activity, so I soon I figured out that to not be in front of the lens, you had to be behind it. I started to help my dad, and slowly I became quite attracted to the art of photography itself. My First SLR camera was a hand-me-down Pentax Spotmatic; and I’ve been shooting ever since.

Could you describe your work process?

After locating a building I want to capture, I need to figure out the best way to do so. I’ll visit it a couple times to sort the elements and angles I want to cover, as well as possible spots to shoot from. I’ll map the location in Google Maps and Google Earth and chart it against the sun's path. I also use The Photographer's Ephemeris app to see the direction and length of the shadows at a given day/time. With this information, I have an approximate idea of when is a good time to shoot.

I usually use two cameras, one for time lapse and one for either stills or a second time lapse with different lens. I'll revisit the same building multiple times to capture it under various light conditions and different points of view. There is a lot of guesswork, and there are always variables you can't control. Weather is a big one, sometimes you want clouds, other times, you don't. A truck blocking your view or shadows not behaving as you thought they would are others. I usually have a couple of back-up buildings just in case. You need to be flexible and adapt to the conditions at hand. There is only so much you can shoot in a day as every shot takes a couple of hours or more.

On the post-production side, I use Adobe Lightroom to edit the photos. For the time lapse, I'll use a combination of LR time-lapse, Lightroom, Adobe After Effects, and Premiere.

As city dwellers, we are surrounded by and immersed in buildings. After a while, they fade into the background of our perception. Blending into the visual cacophony of the modern concrete jungle. My goal is to shine a light upon them.

What are your goals when capturing buildings in photographs?

As city dwellers, we are surrounded by and immersed in buildings. After a while, they fade into the background of our perception. Blending into the visual cacophony of the modern concrete jungle. My goal is to shine a light upon them; to capture the stylistic elements, the design details that give them their unique character and soul.

As a photographer, I focus my attention of the relationship between architecture and light. How the facades, design elements, materials and textures interact with the light, the way they are constantly transformed and imbued with life as the sun traverses the sky.

What's the main difference you find capturing buildings versus capturing people in your photographs? 

Other than in street photography, I’ve never been much of a people photographer. Typically, the subject of my work is landscape and architecture, but I would say the main difference is the time you can take before you have to press the trigger. It’s capturing the moment vs. waiting for the moment.

I realized that Downtown LA was a sort of architectural petri dish. You could clearly appreciate the evolutionary stages of the city through the buildings. Different growth periods with unique styles, techniques and materials, intermingled in a relatively confined space.

What are your thoughts about including people in your photos of buildings? Is it important to photograph a building in use, or by itself?

It all depends of what you want to achieve. What is your goal? If you are looking to capture the structure and space as it relates to human activity, including people is essential. If your focus are the forms, the materials, the design elements that imprint it with character and style, people can become a distraction.

Your project, Silent Observers, specifically focuses on Los Angeles. Can you talk more about the project and why you chose LA architecture as the subject?

Los Angeles is well known for its post-war Mid-Century Modern architecture, thanks to the work of photographers like Julius Shulman, Leland Y. Lee, and Marvin Rand. But what I noticed after moving to Downtown Los Angeles is that there is a trove of prewar architectural jewels; the result of the economic and cultural boom of the turn of the century, fueled by oil, real state, and Hollywood.

The works of architects like Alfred F. Rosenheim, G. Albert Lansburgh, Albert C. Martin, Walker & Eisen, Claud Beelman, and S. Charles Lee caught my eye right away. Although many of them are muted by decades of neglect and abandon, with just a little effort, the beauty, craftsmanship and dedication poured in their creation could shine through the layers of dirt and grime.

I realized that Downtown LA was a sort of architectural petri dish. You could clearly appreciate the evolutionary stages of the city through the buildings. Different growth periods with unique styles, techniques, and materials intermingle in a relatively confined space.

Nowadays, after various decades of abandon, DTLA is experiencing a rebirth. Once again, it is the center of a cultural and socio-economic evolution. A new developing stage is transforming the area at a fast rate. Silent Observers is a tribute to the beautiful buildings of Downtown Los Angeles, as well as a record of the constant flux of the city.

What made you decide to shoot these photos in black and white versus color?

I want the viewer to focus on the forms, shapes, volumes, materials and design elements without the distraction of color. Plus I really enjoy shooting in black and white.

As a photographer, what was your initial reaction to Los Angeles architecture? 

There is more than meets the eye. It runs deep and rich. The more you look, the more you discover.

Los Angeles First Street Federal Court House time lapse video. Video © Miguel Rodriguez

Your time-lapse work of the city is really amazing. How long did it take you to complete this portion of the project?

Thank you. It’s been years in the making. I started shooting time lapses of DTLA in January 2015, and it continues to this date. Time lapse photography is a craft of patience. You set up the camera, commit to the shot and hope that in the next couple of hours all will go smoothly. It doesn't matter how much you plan ahead, you can't anticipate what will happen. Each shot takes few hours to capture. Add re-shoots due to any kind of unforeseen events, and we are talking of hundreds of hours.

SILENT OBSERVERS video. Music: Abandoned beauties and beasts. by Dasha Rush. Album: Sleepsteps. Sonar poems for my sleepless friends ( r-n 158). © Dasha Rush. http://www.dasharush.info Video © Miguel Rodriguez.

How much would you say light and shadows impact each building as the day progressed?

Immensely. The building you see in the morning is not the same one in the afternoon. As the light and shadows move, different areas and elements stand out. Light starts to bounce from different surfaces; from one building to another, casting reflections and shadows onto each other. It's a dance, an interplay that fills them with life. Day to day, season to season... it never ends.

What are your favorite pieces of equipment to use?

Sturdy lightweight tripods (lots of walking). Prime manual focus lenses. I’m a sucker for them, and you need to be in manual focus to shoot time lapses anyways. A tilt-shift lens is key, as well. Google Maps, Google Earth, The Photographer's Ephemeris to map the sun’s path and shadows. A good book to make those time-lapse hours go faster.

After completing the project, has your view of the city and its infrastructure changed at all?

Oh, this project is not over. I still have a list of buildings that I'm currently shooting as well as other ones I haven't started photographing yet.

I definitely don't see buildings the same way I used to. They are not static structures but are in constant transformation. I walk the streets looking up, always aware of the quality of the light, where it's coming from, and which facades it's shinning upon. It's a beautiful thing to watch.

Miguel Rodriguez is a Los Angeles-based visual artist. Using still and time-lapse photography, the underlying theme of his work is the search for the unseen patterns and constant transformation hidden in plain sight.

With a Bachelor's degree in communications, Miguel works as a commercial artist for the entertainment and advertising industries; a career spanning over two decades that has taken him on assignments to Miami, New York, Detroit, Latin America, Spain, and his hometown of Los Angeles.

Cameras have always been an important part of Miguel's life. On his free time, you can find him shooting photos and time-lapses around Downtown LA or deep in the California Sierra wilderness, pretty much doing the same.