The Art of Architectural Photography: Sharing the Passion

From a personal perspective, I always thought that a passion is something to be shared rather than kept to one's self.  When my children were small, I used to take them to the NYC places I was passionate about and, with a captive audience, I would share my delight in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, the Metropolitan Museum, Central Park and the architectural wonders I love around the city.  Going to Rockefeller Center to see the Art Deco buildings, the powerful Atlas statue and the very beautiful Deco building ornamentations was always a high point for me, as was introducing my children to other marvels.  Sharing my passions about photography, architecture and art with my young children was a wonderful way to express myself to them.  And we still enjoy outings to share; often now that they are adults, I am happy to be included in what my children are passionate about as well as my grandchildren's excitement over their special interests.  New, dynamic and fascinating worlds open up for me as they share their passion for Lego, Minecraft and Skylanders, tennis, ever evolving animation in film, Rainbow Loom art and craft and so many other pursuits.

Years ago I painted from life with a small group in Greenwich Village.  The feeling of sharing our passion for painting during the three hour poses was definitely one of my most significant inspirations.  The sharing of ideas about form, design, composition, color, technique at the level of passion artists come together over a subject is a rare feeling: a tangible expression of ardor towards a shared goal of creating.  Each week we convened to paint a new model with the excitement that had built up for the next pose, the next subject, the next masterpiece we might produce.  Since those days, I have joined other groups of those who are passionate about photography, architecture and art.  The sharing of passions continues and brings me energy and enthusiasm when my own projects seem to need some inspiration.  I come away from a meeting of shared passions and my batteries are recharged: I am inspired to create and renew my work with even more investment of self expression.

Throughout my recent travels in India, I was able to share my passion for photography with people whom I had never previously met but came into contact with in that extraordinarily beautiful country.  The guides and drivers on the trip were excited to show me the places I had determined before I arrived in each new place.  We shared a fervor for each new sight and often guides would use their cell phones to shoot an image to show me how they thought a shot should be taken, a subjected pictured, a focus of a monument or building.  I deeply appreciated these insights because I was learning a cultural point of view: one with which I was unfamiliar.  Too, I met other photographers in India, from Brazil, China, Portugal and, naturally, India.  Conversations flowed easily for we share the passion for photography, of capturing that which we see to each express it in our own way. The shared passion of photography vanquished cultural, language and all other barriers that might have stood in the way of immediate friendships.  We were all immersed in the marvels of India and all experiencing the joy of expressing, through photography, our wonder at the architecture, art, landscape, colors, design and above all the Indian people, who personify centuries of exquisite tradition.

I am delighted to share my passion for architectural and travel photography at Berger Bros. in Huntington, Long Island on January 18, 2017.  I hope you will join me to share your own passion for photography!



For more information please visit:  www.berger-bros.com/classes/january/01-18-17-architectural-travel-photography/