Chris Ofili’s design looks like snow

Posted on February 9, 2018June 1, 2018 by photograph

Chris Ofili’s design looks like snow

The Stephen Lawrence Trust is transforming into a co-working hub for architects, designers and creatives and I have been documenting this building process.

As you have no doubt seen from my previous photos of the week, the introduction of orange is very significant to the new design for the Centre. On my most recent

visit, the strip of lights under the balcony edge were on, turning this little corner so warm and vibrant it made Chris Ofili’s beautiful window screen look like snow in the background.

You can find out more about all the great things that the Stephen Lawrence Trust does here, a link to the new co-working hub website here and more of my photographs from this site here.

A working portrait

Posted on February 2, 2018June 1, 2018 by photograph

A working portrait

I think I should set up a page on my website just for photographs of workers and builders because I find them continually interesting to shoot. This would not be about the specific locations they are working in, glamorous or not. It would be about the skill, the craft and the graft required to work in the building trades. I will let you know when I have set it up. In the meantime, this photo is a candidate for it. Set in

an old cellar in Lewes, the single light casts soft shadows across a room filled with the warm browns of old wood and the cool blue of new plasterboard. Often I am rushing to catch photographs of extreme action on building sites, but here is a different energy of concentration and focus. Until I set up this new gallery page, you can find many photographs of builders working on site in my architectural documentary photographs and more working portraits here.

New oranges and yellows

Posted on January 26, 2018June 1, 2018 by photograph

New oranges and yellows

I was back at the Stephen Lawrence Trust again this week where things are getting very colourful indeed. The yellow that was being refreshed is the original colour of the stairwell. The orange is new and is now filling the corridors that link the front of the building with the back, bringing a shaft of light and life through the heart of the

Centre. This is part of a larger plan of creating a beautiful new co-working hub for start-up businesses working in the built environment. You can find out more about all the great things that the Stephen Lawrence Trust does here, and more of my photographs from this site here.

New orange corridors

Posted on January 19, 2018June 1, 2018 by photograph

New orange corridors

The Stephen Lawrence Trust Centre building works have taken a colourful turn with new orange corridors. A couple of days ago I was back at the Centre photographing the changes since my last visit. The Trust will soon be launching an exciting initiative that will provide a creative co-working hub for start-ups in the built environment,

and the interior of the building is going through a transformation to make this possible. The key colour to the new design is this vibrant orange that will line the corridors, linking the front of the building to the back. You can find out more about all the great things that the Stephen Lawrence Trust does here, and more of my photographs from this site here.

Brighton Corn Exchange window

Posted on January 12, 2018June 1, 2018 by photograph

Brighton Corn Exchange window

I wanted to start the year off right with a photograph of the glorious Brighton Corn Exchange. I am documenting the redevelopment of this iconic building, a process that is adding new visitor facilities and restoring long-lost heritage features to this historic performance space. The Corn Exchange has the most beautiful

windows that I come back to over and over again, trying to capture their grace and elegance in photographs. On my most recent visit, this window was misted over, giving solidity and definition to its shape. The sunlight on the buildings across the courtyard reflected a warm glow onto the grid of glass panes.

My 100th photo of the week

Posted on November 30, 2017June 1, 2018 by photograph

My 100th photo of the week

This is a rather momentous photo of the week for me because it is my 100th!

I am pleased that my 100th photo is of the Stephen Lawrence Trust Centre. The Centre was designed in 2007 as both a place of inspiration for young architects and a memorial to Stephen Lawrence, murdered in 1993 in an unprovoked racist attack when he was just 18. It had been Stephen’s dream to become an architect himself.

The Centre is currently undergoing a transformation, both of the physical interior of the building and as a change of use into a co-working hub for up-and-coming

architects from disadvantaged backgrounds. I am very excited to be involved in documenting these changes.

I first photographed the site in March. When I returned last week, I had a very different experience of the building. The altered angle and strength of the sun meant that as light filtered in through the exterior mesh cladding, it created a distinct pattern of shadows that played across the interior space. The effect was unexpected and dramatic, and a reminder of how, in photography, light defines and changes everything. Nowhere is this more true then when shooting architecture. Photos from this project can be found here.

Category: architecture and renovation