The Decisive Moment: Work of architectural photographer Ema Peter on display at West Vancouver Art Museum

Peter studied photojournalism at the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts of Bulgaria before immigrating to Canada. In an interview with Archinect in 2019, she talked about her approach to photography and relationship to architecture. 

“You need to treat the building almost like a human. You need to have this awareness of space, and I do feel that buildings have their own soul and presence,” Peter told our Katherine Guimapang. “Also, when you’re looking through the viewfinder, your state of mind makes a huge deal as well. You have to know the space, the context, especially with buildings.” 

“You have to treat them like your kids almost. You have to look at them in different perspectives, you have to look at them in a different light. You need to find those hidden moments and explore. It’s almost like meeting a person and needing to know everything about them, it’s the same way you treat buildings. You just can’t rush through these shots.”

It wasn’t until she went to France and discovered Le Corbusier’s Villa La Roche that Peter became fully engaged in the application of her studies toward architecture. As she explains:

“This was the moment that I completely fell in love with modern architecture. You know, some of Corbusier's houses have these different levels in them, and to see how different people were moved through these levels, and I thought, 'Wow!' The scale of the people with the building was such a significant thing for me, so this was the very beginning of my interest.”

More information about the exhibition can be found here.