Renowned New Zealand photographer, Simon Devitt, spoke to indesignlive.com about his unique view of capturing architecture through storytelling with his images.

The work of New Zealand architectural photographer, Simon Devitt, has been featured in all the top architectural and design magazines in Australasia. indesignlive.com asked him to talk us through his inspirations.

“I had a curious beginning printing forensic photography followed by a foray into professional sports photography. While grotesque, the crime scene pictures revealed a story told from minute detail to a much wider gamut.

"This story telling influence combined with the decisive moment, essential to successful high level sports photography, has meant a unique approach to the processes I have developed with my work as a photographer of Architecture over the past 11 years.

"While this genre sounds quite specific it offers me the broadest possible view on the world; landscapes, the built environment and people are all treated with the same democratic eye.

"I have not trained in architecture and I taught myself photography. I capture what I see not only as ’an outsider looking in’ but as an outsider ’exposing’ beauty in situations where inherent beauty might be present but not articulated as a dramatic moment or series of dramatic moments.

"The translation of reality to the two-dimensional produces a medium of pure perception. Beauty to me is infinite in its complexities and exquisite in its simplicity. Two of the complexities I love are decisive moments and decay. Decay to me offers the most compelling aspect of beauty; time has to have played out, a space has to have been lived in or used to a degree that the original intention of the design becomes a part of the person or people and vice versa.

"Mostly the appetite in the magazine world is for new-ness and a fresh perspective on design which reveals other aspects of beauty. I’d love to revisit some of these places in 10 years to see how they look."

 

Simon Devitt’s captivating photographic style can be found in Habitus (Issue #001 out now!), Urbis, Architecture NZ, Monument, Wallpaper, and Dwell.

simondevitt.com
simon@simondevitt.com