Introducing their recently-published book, Andrew Higgott and Timothy Wray discussed the uniquely powerful resonance between photography, architecture and cities. The lecture took place on the 4th of October at The Bartlett School of Architecture as part of The Bartlett International Lecture Series.
Synposis:
Architectural and urban form provide the camera with the subject for some of its most compelling imagery, while photography profoundly influences how architecture and cities are represented, imagined and produced. The title on the one hand opposes the medium of photography and the materiality of construction - but on the other can be read as saying that the camera invariably constructs what it depicts: the photograph is not a simple representation of an external reality, but constructs its own meanings and reconstructs its subjects.
Including an extensive range of essays, authored by artists and photographers as well as historians and theorists, their book is the first to reflect critically on this rich territory, engaging with the relationship of the camera to architecture, the city and the evolution of Modernism.
Bio:
Andrew Higgott is an author on architectural history and theory and long-time teacher at the University of East London and the Architectural Association. Timothy Wray is an architect, writer and photographer currently based in Zürich.
