A body of architectural work across sectors and continents may be preserved in drawings, models, digital renderings, films and photographs by institutions and foundations.

Not all practices have the luxury of an archive to preserve the work.

Nonetheless there is a legacy.

With limited time and resources objective editing is a key element.

My life’s work has been with photographs of architecture, my husband Richard's approach to photography has always been consider, understand and edit in the camera. No waste.

We're photographing architecture - not a photo finish of a race - an extreme example.

For a photo finish you'd likely takes bursts of images, dozens and edit later.

This approach may work for site & progress recording but are these the kind of images you'd want your work remembered by? Don't think this is early days in our practice, or we're really small - it doesn't matter - it does.

Each week I have requests for images from publications and scholars researching up to 50-year-old projects many the work of practices that have been forgotten or you've never heard of.

Remember people see and remember the image before they even contemplate reading the text.

Architect or photographer: Shoot and edit with discipline make each image count.

You should never regret seeing an image of your work - that you have personally shot or instigated, being published.

This feature is about imagery and legacy. Earlier this year Michael Wilford died.

Richard Bryant worked with Michael - and James Stirling across time and continents.

A single eye providing a unified photographic legacy.

Here is a tiny glimpse:

Clore Gallery at Tate Britain

Lone Oak Hall, East Sussex UK

Lowry Arts Centre, Salford Quays, Manchester UK


No 1 Poultry London UK


Social Science Research Centre (WZB), Berlin, Germany

Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart,  Germany

State Music School, Stuttgart, Germany

STO - Building K, Stuhlingen, Germany


STO - Building K, Stuhlingen, Germany

Tate Gallery, Liverpool, UK


Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore

UCLA - UCI Science Library, Irvine Campus, University of California, Los Angeles

all images ©Richard Bryant

Thank you WAF for your support.

APA reaches architectural and photographic communities worldwide. Interested in becoming an APA supporter or sponsor? E: lynne@archphotoawards.com or damien.stgeorge@emap.com

Looking at a still photograph is proactive. You decide to look and for how long, to linger and explore the image or walk away. All too often even still images are flashed in front of us momentarily reducing our involvement to a passive onlooker. We are in danger of accepting bad and mediocre imagery as normal, we are looking but not seeing. Photographs of architecture capture more than a building, they create a legacy in time and place.

Lynne Bryant
Founder: The Architectural Photography Awards / archphotoawards.com