As a photographer, or as a living being I suppose, we are attracted to things of beauty. There is nothing to be ashamed of, I believe it is an innate aspect of the human character. Without this desire to seek out beauty, art might not exist at all.
Having said that, I think that for anyone who is visually curious, it is important to find beauty in unconventional places. In fact, a lot of modern photography focuses on the dirty, grungy, unloved and overlooked often more than it does on pure forms of beauty. As a photographer, it is important to be able to bring out the best of any subject. Or maybe not the best, but at least the true essence of what the subject is. I’d venture to say that truth is one of the most beautiful things that can be captured.
I recently had a project for a company who wanted to take photos of some of their completed projects. For an architectural photographer, this is more or less the normal routine. The reason this project was a little bit different was because this company was an engineering firm and their completed projects consisted of pumps, sewer plants, retention ponds and weirs. Not only that, but they wanted to have some of them blown up for display in their main lobby. I was up for the challenge and I think it turned out very well! I was able to “convince” my client that the displayed photos should be more artistic rather than straight project photos. When they were hung, everyone agreed that was the perfect way to go! Here are a few of the project photos as well as the finished wall display. Thanks to G&H Printing in Bonita Springs for a fantastic print job.
Before
After
