Floating Sauna by goC studio, Seattle. Image © Kevin Scott

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? And is there such thing as the perfect photo?

For this installment, Archinect chats with London and New York-based photographer Kevin Scott. With his experience as a trained architect, Scott uses his keen eye and spatial sensibility to capture some of the most mesmerizing photographs. Working with an esteemed list of architecture firms such as Rojkind Arquitectos, Zaha Hadid Architects, MAD Architecture, and Olson Kundig Architects, Scott has established himself as a photographer with a penchant for exhibiting cinematic beauty and compelling narratives.

His enthusiasm for the work and dedication to the craft of photography is something that doesn't easily go unnoticed. During our conversation, Scott shares his early experiences with architecture and how his innate curiosity and passion for self-education flourished into a career in photography. 

What is your relationship to architecture? Where did you go to architecture school?

I’ve always been a little design-obsessed. I can remember drawing really awful buildings as early as 6 or 7 years old. But at 13, I went to an architecture camp at Iowa State University where any dream I had of being an architect died when I sliced my hand open with an x-acto knife. It wasn’t until graduate school when computers had taken over the design process that I actually felt compelled to pursue it. Coincidentally, I also did my studies at Iowa State. Not coincidentally, I never made a single physical model. 

I had no intention of pursuing it as a career. It was just an excuse to go somewhere amazing and learn from people who were older and better than me. In fact, that’s still how I look at it...with innate curiosity. 

As a trained architect, when did this switch to photography happen?

It was pretty gradual. I started shooting maybe 14 or 15 years ago as a form of self-education in order to become a better architect. Then I started doing it for my friends. I had no intention of pursuing it as a career. It was just an excuse to go somewhere amazing and learn from people who were older and better than me. In fact, that’s still how I look at it...with innate curiosity. 

Do you remember the first photograph you ever took?

I don't. I have my favorites, but I don't get nostalgic about my images. I think a lot of photographers approach their work from the perspective of trying to capture a really beautiful moment and so the serendipity of that shot makes them live for the next one. I'll do that as well, but that's not really how I approach design imagery. It's a creative process to me that compliments the design—a process in which I've likely done half of it in my head before I even get to the site. As a result, it's just as much a rational exercise as it is an intuitive one, which does allow me to disassociate to a degree. 

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

You can predict how buildings are going to perform and adjust accordingly. You cannot, however, predict when someone will throw a chair at you. Or when a model's smile goes from goofy to Mona Lisa in a split second. Or when the hair and make-up artist absolutely kills it. In those cases, all preparation shifts to the background, and it becomes entirely about the moment. 

...understand design intent because that’s often more important to the architects than what’s built [...] I think a lot of architects make the mistake of thinking that a photoshoot is a series of views closely resembling what they rendered throughout the design process. But shot lists are like sugar—they sustain you but they’re never enough.

The first is to understand and appreciate the design. The second is to understand design intent because that's often more important to the architects than what's built. Then it's on me to tell the entire story of the place. I think a lot of architects make the mistake of thinking that a photoshoot is a series of views closely resembling what they rendered throughout the design process. But shot lists are like sugar—they sustain you, but they're never enough. My goal is to create narratives around a design. When you piece all the photos together, you feel like you know the place and the experience of having been there. I want you to feel like you just had Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's. 

Your photographs do elicit strong narratives. Is this something you come up with before you start shooting, or do you let the subjects create the narrative?

Yes and no. No, in the sense that I do not believe that designers are best served by photojournalism. You really only get one chance to nail a shoot, and these things are incredibly expensive endeavors when you factor in how many people are involved. So while there's always a certain amount left open to chance, the majority is not. What *is* left to chance is weather and quality of light—both of which can determine the direction of the narrative but not the narrative itself.

You really only get one chance to nail a shoot...

Could you describe your work process? Do you have a specific ritual or process to help you capture the right shots?

Oh yes. It's frenetic. It's messy. I don't eat. I barely drink. People worry aloud about my health and well-being. It's completely absent of ritual or process. But it's super collaborative and really fun. Just short of doing lines off my laptop, it is a never-ending work party of adrenaline and creative energy. Then we all crash. Then I do it again. 

I do think there’s a perfect photo for every concept. I have no idea if I’ve ever achieved it...but my belief that it exists is what drives me to continually shoot for it. 

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

My thought is that if you're shooting a private space, you don't want to see strangers. Instead, you want to feel intimacy. But if it's a public space, there's no assumption of privacy on the part of the viewer, and so a lack of others actually translates to loneliness. That said, rules are meant to be broken, and I make a deliberate effort to try and subvert my own (and others') expectations. 

Do you believe the “perfect” photo exists?

I do think there’s a perfect photo for every concept. I have no idea if I’ve ever achieved it...but my belief that it exists is what drives me to continually shoot for it. 

Do you have a favorite or memorable photo/shoot?

I love all my babies equally! I really do. I don’t care if the building is super famous or if it’s a shed in a backyard. When you can tell that someone gave their entire being to this thing...I have enormous respect and admiration for that dedication and will honor it by giving myself in the same manner. 

What is one thing you wish people knew when it comes to being a professional photographer?

That I don’t just show up, walk around, and take some shots. An enormous amount of thought and consideration goes into every single photo—however casually grabbed it may seem. 

Now to get a bit technical, what's your favorite piece(s) of equipment to use?

My TetherTools laptop stand. When that thing gets set up, I’m ready to go. Papa has a new home. 

Are there any photographers you look up to?

I love the work of Tim Walker, Todd Hido, Jeff Wall, Gregory Crewdson, Mert & Marcus, and pretty much any fashion photographer doing editorial work. I purposefully avoid as much as I can, others who shoot design, for no other reason than that I’d rather not know what they’re doing. 

What's the best piece of advice you've been given, and what would you say to aspiring photographers who are interested in pursuing photography as a career?

What I tell beginners, and what I’m sure I read somewhere else, is that it’s not about being the best. It’s about being different. Nothing else matters. So keep your day job. Build up a portfolio that is truly representative of the kind of work you can and want to do. And then take the leap. 

Kevin Scott is a photographer and visual artist based in London and New York. Formally trained as an architect, his image work focuses on the physical and visceral response to the built environment where concept and story are defining elements.

Known for his minimalism, meticulous use of natural light, and views which mimic the perspective of everyday inhabitants, Kevin’s work embraces atmosphere and imperfection in order to find the emotional center of a place. As a result, his photographs are as cinematic as they are documentary, and project a humanist spirit whereby people, whether in frame or out, are naturally visible.

Kevin's architecture and interiors photography appear regularly in design periodicals around the world while his concept work has been featured in television, theater, advertising, and print, as well as independently commissioned as artwork.

Kevin was a 2012 TED Speaker and Fellow Finalist, and winner of the 2011 KROB Architectural Delineation Competition, architecture's premier prize for illustration in design.