Interiors photography in London is at once an intimate affair and a fullscale production. London is a city with a remarkable architectural and design history to be documented. To capture the unique qualities of a space requires careful planning, attention to detail, and technical proficiency. Less recognized, although equally as important, are communication with owners and clients and, above all else, patience. In a city with an abundance of clients, an Interiors photographer in London will never be short of opportunities.
At Wonderful Machine, we consider Interiors photography as a subset of Home and Garden photography (with some auxiliary relations to architectural photography). Home and Garden photography, in our lexicon, is a genre that focuses on all elements in and around built spaces. These design elements give spaces their character. They can include light fixtures, flooring, tile, color themes, as well as other decorations that impart an aesthetic theme. In contrast, architectural photography emphasizes the built environment itself. The materials, the flow of space, and the way light enters a room, for example, are the salient elements of this genre. Both Home and Garden and Architectural photography share aspects of Interiors photography in their own way. However, because the term “Interiors” is more commonly used than “Home and Garden,” we have broadened the scope of our terminology slightly to reflect the tendencies of internet users for our Listicles series.
In this article, we have gathered seven of the best Interiors photographers in London. They each approach capturing the characteristics of built spaces as informed by their unique educations and experiences. All, however, demonstrate technical proficiency as well as the range of qualities, subjects, and contexts that make Interiors photography a genre that can take diverse forms.
Interiors photographer Ingrid Rasmussen has published 10 photobooks. She regularly collaborates with publications like Architectural Digest, Habitat, Elle Decoration, and Vogue Living. In recent years, she has started a blog called The Interiors Edit that is dedicated to documenting the home and work spaces of influential tastemakers. Ingrid’s Interiors portfolio is characterized by deep, rich colors with dynamic contrasts of tone, shade, and light. She utilizes high dynamic range techniques to create images that “pop.” Clean lines and measured composition within her images create a sense of order and structure. Careful and extravagant decoration and styling imbue the space with personality and life. Ingrid crafts imagery that is as bold as the spaces she shoots.
Ola O. Smit’s photography represents the natural, lived-in aesthetic that many Interiors photographers, editors, and publications want to achieve with their imagery. Although born in Poland, Ola has made London her home since graduating from Westminster University with a BA in Fine Arts Photography. Her work demonstrates the technical erudition of her education. She produces imagery that evokes a “lived-in” feeling that is comfortable and homey yet refined. Spaces are interestingly decorated and thoughtfully styled. This careful staging creates visually stimulating images that don’t detract or obscure the space itself. Achieving this balance of refined elegance and lived-in realism requires careful planning, staging, and technical proficiency. In 2017, Ola founded the bi-annual food, travel, and lifestyle magazine, Table, which focuses on food culture and community, with fellow photographers Dunja Opalko and Ariana Ruth. Currently, she is the Director and Creative Director of the magazine, overseeing its look, feel, and design.
Adam Letch is a South African native who established his career in London. He graduated from the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town where he also served as lecturer and department head. He specializes in documenting built environments and interiors with an artistic lens, using his technical expertise to convey the character of a space. Capturing the depth and complexity of a built space is a meticulous and detail-oriented process. Adam’s portfolio of both residential and commercial interiors demonstrates his ability to photograph the subtleties and nuances that architects and designers create. Every space has a unique atmosphere and ambience that he translates into imagery by capturing subtle textures as well as the context in which it is built. Artificial and natural lighting illuminate the grand hallways of impressive homes. While extensive use of multi-exposure high dynamic range enlarges spaces and preserves intricate details.
Astrid Termplier’s portfolio is an example of an Interiors photographer in London whose work is not exclusive to domestic spaces. Restaurants and hotels are also a place for receiving guests and dwelling. Although these are commercial spaces, they express a personality and point of view that the photographer must represent pictographically. Through meticulously staged shots of hotel rooms, dining areas, and lobbies luxuriously illuminated by natural light, the French-born photographer is able to capture the character of each space. Clean light and soft shadows allow details to jump out of the image. Intricate patterns, provocative details, and eye-catching design elements are all put under the spotlight of Astrid’s lens. Warm natural light, on the other hand, is preserved to covey the warmth that welcomes guests into these spaces. Although she works primarily in London shooting remodeled Victorian and Edwardian domiciles that welcome international travelers, Astrid also works with clients both in Europe and overseas.
With a career of 20 years behind him, Jon Day is an Interiors photographer in London with substantial experience working with commercial and editorial clients. His style is decidedly minimalist and understated. Uncluttered spaces and carefully styled rooms reveal subtle intimations of tone, a character of elegance, and aesthetic harmony. Natural daylight is a recurring element in his interiors imagery. Throughout Jon’s interior portfolio, warm natural light is offset by soft cascading shadows and imbues spaces with intimacy. A simple style combined with clean crisp lighting allows spaces to breathe with vitality. He emphasizes modern design elements and themes like clean lines, sharp angles, and patterned composition that create an aesthetic reminiscent of modernist art. Jon works with both still and moving images, regularly collaborating with architects and designers in London and abroad.
Dunja Opalko works with the understated aesthetics of contemporary design. Her Interiors imagery focuses on the subtleties of spaces. She shapes light to accentuate qualities and design elements that aren’t immediately apparent. Clean and dry natural light feels unaltered. It makes space in the image for textures, patterns, and color schemes to breathe. Dunja emphasizes emotion in her photography through cinematic composition and staging. There is feeling and drama in certain images, even if it is a waiting room, office, or living room. Originally from Poland, Dunja has made London her home base for photography assignments. She has worked as an art director and designer in photography studios as far as Hamburg and Shanghai. Although she is currently focusing on independent projects, in 2018 she founded Table, a bi-annual food, travel, and lifestyle magazine that celebrates food culture and community, with Ola O. Smit and Ariana Ruth.
Originally from Dorset, England, Interiors photographer Ben Pipe got his start taking photos with Olympus OM1 and the Jurassic Coast as his backdrop. After countless hours in the darkroom and a first-class degree in photography, Ben is now based in London working as a freelance commercial photographer. His portfolio is a combination of residential and diverse commercial settings. Ben works with a diverse range of clients and crafts images suited to each of their particular needs. Whether on set in a private residence, hotel bar, or cruise ship restaurant, Ben stages spaces and manipulates light to suit his client’s individual requirements. His work embodies a contemporary commercial aesthetic that prioritizes clean open light and soft shadows.
As demanding and diverse as Interiors photography in London can be for a freelance photographer, there is no shortage of extraordinary residential and commercial spaces to keep them busy. Recent trends toward subterranean construction in the world’s financial capital will require more extensive use of artificial lighting elements. The London Interiors photographers highlighted in this article are, no doubt, ready for new and interesting challenges.
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