Los Angeles has always welcomed tradition and experimentation, a notion equally applicable to its architecture. For the longest time, a 140-foot building height limit ensured the progression of its sprawling manufactured landscape, until the ban’s removal in 1956 welcomed skyscrapers into the city. Today, while Spanish Mission Revival and Craftsman architecture are most at home in the City of Angels, renowned architects, both past and present, have reshaped expectations to ensure that everything is to be expected. Awe and astonishment may erupt from viewing the Griffith Observatory’s Art Deco-inclinations or the novel oddity that is the Helios House gas station, adorned with 90 or more solar panels. One way or another, these structures are all worthy of photographic treatment, and we’ve found some of the best architectural photographers in Los Angeles to help out (with more found in our directory).
At Wonderful Machine, architecture photography looks at the inside or outside of a structure, more so than the furniture or decor in or around it. Photographers should demonstrate a high degree of technical proficiency, including perspective control and the ability to handle mixed lighting.
The individuals we’ve located tick the requisite boxes through their creative vision and technical expertise, leaving your upcoming photoshoot in the best hands.
After spending time between NYC and San Francisco for three years, Bethany Nauert moved to Los Angeles in 2006 and began freelancing as a full-time photographer in 2009. She’s an architectural photographer in Los Angeles whose portfolio covers residential and commercial properties. Her photos outline the lifestyles associated with these spaces, visible through the structures themselves and the items contained within and outside. Her compositions are bright and sharp, ensuring the lines and points making a structure are clear as day, helping us appreciate the careful planning that goes into each building’s construction.
Some of Bethany’s clients include Amazon Home, Brooklinen, Hilton, simplehuman, Netflix, and The Landsby Hotel. Her photos have also been featured in Architectural Digest, Country Living, HGTV, Martha Stewart Living, Los Angeles Magazine, Variety, The New York Times, and many other publications.
Light, natural or artificial, is a photographer’s friend at times and a foe during others. When it comes to architecture photography, the friendship or enmity can intensify, since much depends on external factors outside the photographer’s control. For instance, the weather might decide to be fickle one day and ruin an entire photoshoot, or the flash of headlights from passing vehicles can impede the shot you’re trying to take. A good photographer, though, comes prepared for these situations, and that’s what Jonathan Young does.
His portfolio presents structures in a mixture of light settings, during the day and night, from up close and at a distance. He captures the artistry behind numerous buildings through conventional and unconventional angles, unveiling unique perspectives so that we see the subject differently.
Jonathan’s clients include UCLA, Maersk, Sapphire Hill, Metropolis Media Group, Harvest Pack, The Colony Group, RUBICON Engineering, and CBRE Group, to name a few.
Architectural photographers in Los Angeles, or any other city for that matter, have different “Eureka” moments, when their passion for the specialty is first discovered. For Peter Valli, these enlightening moments seemed like mere coincidences at first.
Somewhere along the line, I was drawn to lines and angles. Not that I was obsessive; however, I remember lining up rungs of a stairway to see the pattern change. Other times adjusting my perspective to see an object appear or disappear behind adjacent objects.
This innate fascination began at a young age and grew over time. Today, it makes him a great hire within the specialty. He’d spend hours finding the right shot, balancing the lines, light, and angles within the frame to capture the beauty of architecture. Despite all the effort put in, though, Peter’s goal is to make it appear as if he hadn’t done anything at all.
Peter’s clients include Architectural Digest, The Related Companies, Hilton Hotels, Jenn Air, CBRE, Michael Berman Ltd, Equinox Hotels, House of Bijan, Loro Piana Home, Cozy Stylish Chic, Eric J Smith Architects, Kelly Ferm Home, RAMSA, Ben Soleimani, and KitchenAid.
Ed Carreón has furnished architecture photography for everyone from real estate developers and engineering firms to interior designers and hospitality clients. Ed sees architecture as landscapes, and his photos seek to respect the architect’s vision by prioritizing natural light whenever possible. That’s the light they would have envisioned for the space when designing it, so any artificial lighting or post-production work on his end is minimal, ensuring the architect’s vision is upheld in the photos.
It’s a very faithful approach to the specialty, and one that he has used to capture institutional, residential, and commercial structures. Ed’s client list includes Zachary & Associates Design, Weyerhaeuser, Aristotle Capital Management, Forbes, Fortune, Mortenson Construction, Valspar, USC, UCLA, and more.
Chris Ozer stands out among our list of architectural photographers in Los Angeles for his sublime use of lighting. It’s visible across all the structures he shoots, from homes and offices to bridges and skyscrapers. His approach marries the architecture to its environment, leaning on complementary and analogous color schemes to do so. For instance, the abstract geometric patterns created by a bridge look spectacular against various colored lights from different directions, making the entire landscape seem extraterrestrial. Or a house built of wood may seem at home with grassy lawns surrounding it, much like a giant oak tree, as the setting sun paints its mirrors in a glorious auburn tint. It takes an exceptional talent to bend these elements to his will, but Chris does so wonderfully.
Chris’s clients include Waldorf Astoria, Holiday Inn, Wieden+Kennedy, DDB, GE, Airbnb, Droga5, Samsung, Sony, Toyota, Nordstrom, Wired, PayPal, and more.
Minh T.’s Instagram bio describes him best: as a modern surrealist. Furthermore, a description of his portfolio by Isabel Carmichael, found on his website, reveals the genius behind his work.
A continuous visual narrative runs through Minh T’s images, inspired by architecture, nature, and geometry; they are thought-provoking and romantic, as if each image is part of a prevailing fairytale.
He builds on his background in graphic design and architecture with these narrative sensibilities, telling a story of a mysterious man, usually dressed in black with a bowler top hat, traveling the world and visiting both man-made and geologically manufactured wonders. He is the anomaly on our list of architectural photographers in Los Angeles since, more often than not, clients will buy into his unique aesthetic to suit their commercial and editorial requirements rather than the other way around.
To put it lightly, Jill Paider has been quite busy. She has worked on visual projects of architecture, design, travel, and gastronomy in over 100 countries. In addition, she has won awards for her photography, published 35 books, including bestsellers, while being the first architecture photographer to receive the Fulbright Specialist grant from the US State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Her experience and accolades in the field are rivaled by none.
Within her portfolio, architecture images where a structure is framed in relation to nature stand out the most. Sometimes, Jill does this to highlight the stark difference between the manufactured and natural worlds. At others, it’s to create a harmonious state between the two, where architecture and natural landscapes are symbiotic. Whatever the approach, her talent for creating arresting compositions can’t be questioned.
Jill’s clients include Dwell, CNN Travel, Travel + Leisure, Aman Resorts, National Geographic, Architectural Digest, Modern Luxury, Alila Hotels and Resorts, JW Marriott Hotels, and more.
We hope our list simplifies the decision-making process for your next assignment, whether it involves shooting a residential or commercial space.
Further Reading
See more architectural photographers in Los Angeles using our Find Photographers page.
Learn more about other types of photography on our Specialties page.