When I lived in Washington, DC, I was employed by a company that did space planning and some architecture. I was to do their graphic design work. Knowing I had a strong interest in photography, they asked me to do that too. It was a learning on the job kind of thing. When I left that job to pursue photography, I focused on architecture as a means of making a living. I have always enjoyed architecture and might have studied in college had it not been for the calculus requirement. I would later take on an assistant’s job with a DC photographer whose primary client was Better Homes and Gardens. I learned a ton about photographing residential interiors. And it was interesting to see the personal spaces where people lived. When I moved to Seattle, my architectural work shifted to the commercial space. Banks, restaurants, law offices, stuff like that. It was labor intensive work in the analog age. Working mostly through the night, with a 4×5 camera, long exposures, turning lights on and off, gelling windows for color correction. It was a grind, but it was work. I soon gave it up to get a day job and photographing people. Much more fun and paid better too. When digital rolled around, I dabbled here and there with architecture as it was a much easier job to do then. I started doing real estate work at the request of a friend who was real estate agent. It satisfied my interest in the personal space and seeing the views from the high-rise condos we worked in. All of which lead my Above Seattle work. I always had a goal when I did that work. I wanted to make images that spoke to a sense of place and made the viewer want to see it in person. Make Me Want To Be There, was my mantra. If I could achieve that goal, then it would help the property sell. But the work was demanding. I had to photograph every space, even the boring laundry room and I had to turn around the work fast, sometimes overnight. I even had to rephotograph if the pillows weren’t fluffed just right. So, I gave it up. But I still look at the photos architectural magazines and ask myself, would I want to live in that space?
