For our first portfolio event of 2015, Jillian, Alexandra and I bundled up to brave a windy, snowy Manhattan day. We had some great meetings lined up to showcase the work of more than 20 of our architecture, hospitality and lifestyle photographers with SHoP Architects, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 360i and Gensler.
Alexandra, right, and I walk through the city to our first location.
Alexandra and I unloaded the portfolios on the sidewalk while Jillian raced to find parking. Once we were all together again, we moved quickly to make it to our first meeting. SHoP‘s office is located inside the historic Woolworth Building, the tallest in the world from 1913-1930. The building has been nicknamed the “Cathedral of Commerce” with a beautiful gothic-style exterior.
The beautiful exterior of the building that houses SHoP Architects.
Once inside and on the 11th floor, we walked into an equally impressive office teeming with creative energy, fun details and architectural savvy. SHoP focuses on contemporary architecture and started as a small, boutique firm. In just a few years time, SHoP is now tackling big commissions worldwide. We met with marketing manager Allison Dolegowski, marketing coordinator Karen Zabarsky and Kate Colabella from public relations and business development.
From left, Karen, Allison and Kate chat with me and Jillian about WM services.
They were excited to learn more about our search by location tool, since they work on projects around the globe and are always looking for international photographers. Although all of the architectural photographers that we showed them struck a cord, they were especially receptive to the clean and crisp images in John Muggenborg‘s architecture portfolio.
John Muggenborg’s architecture portfolio
For our next meeting, we headed to Wall Street to meet with senior marketing specialist Alicia Koledin and images coordinator Lucas Blair Simpson at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). Founded in 1936, SOM is one of the largest, most influential architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban planning firms in the world. Both Alicia and Lucas were enthusiastic and eager to share their vision for the future of photography at the company, which greatly helped us understand their needs and tastes.
From left, Alexandra, Alicia and Lucas look through Frank Herfort’s book.
Alicia and Lucas enjoyed the portfolios and even knew a few of our East Coast photographers. Prior to our meeting, Alicia and Lucas weren’t too familiar with Wonderful Machine so they were happy to hear more about the variety of services we offer to assist clients.
Frank Herfort’s unique portfolio, Imperial Pomp, a 175-page hardcover book featuring architectural images of post-soviet high-rises, was a hit at all of the day’s meetings, but Alicia was especially fond of it (she even asked to have Frank send her a copy to keep). Books from James Leynse and Joel Lassiter also left a strong impression.
After a thorough portfolio review, Alicia gave us a tour of the SOM gallery. Through the gallery, we were able to explore the past, present and future of SOM. It was incredible to see photographs and hear the history of SOM’s first buildings in the 1930’s to the present day One World Trade Center and the first net-zero energy school in Staten Island. We can’t wait to see what they come up with next – and we hope Wonderful Machine photographers will be along for the ride.
Up next, we headed to 360i, an award-winning digital agency that specializes in search engine marketing, social media, mobile marketing and web development and design. We were thrilled to find parking right across the street and Alexandra did an amazing job navigating our huge cart over snow banks and around puddles.
Jillian and Alexandra push our cart filled with portfolios through the Big Apple.
A gathering space at the offices of 360i.
When we arrived at 360i, we were greeted by a colorful and friendly office, complete with a basketball game set up! There we met with senior art producer Dana Eisenberg and associate director Jean Wolff. We discussed the best way to save money while traveling, some of the campaigns 360i is currently working on and of course, the work of our photographers. Dana and Jean’s favorites included a sophisticated book from Michael Piazza and Naoko Kakuta‘s playful and creative portfolio. Take a look through both of their books below:
After finishing up at 360i, we headed to our last meeting at Gensler, a design and architecture firm with offices around the globe. Design strategist Holly Murphy made time to meet with us at the end of her day. Holly was looking for lifestyle photographers that she could potentially work with to soften up the architecture and create a more personable approach. Julia Vandenoever‘s warm, candid style stood out, as well as Eli Meir Kaplan‘s environmental portraits and lifestyle images. Holly was also happy to learn about our stock tool.
Holly, right, and Alexandra, left, talk about our architecture and lifestyle photographers.
After a long and successful day with barely a moment to eat, we treated ourselves to some well-deserved cupcakes, french fries and ice cream for the ride home. It’s safe to say that 2015 is off to a good start. See you soon, NYC!
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