Karl van Es, founder of Avontuura wrote:
“There’s no doubt we’re living in an unprecedented time. Closures, quarantine, and social distancing have become the new normal. While much of the architectural industry has been disrupted by the pandemic, it made me question what life must be like as an architectural photographer right now. The very nature of their job requires them to be outside; to travel across country and capture moments in time – how has their life changed in the age of COVID-19?
I thought it was high time to check-in with architectural photographer Kris Provoost. Kris has been living and working in China for the better part of a decade now. His life has taken him across Asia, photographing some of the most high-profile buildings on the continent. Now based in Hong Kong, I imagined that life for him hasn’t been normal for quite some time now, as, prior to the pandemic, civil unrest was the order of the day with mass protests dominating the news waves in the days and months leading up to where we are now.”
Excerpt of the interview:
“You mentioned that you’re trained as an architect. Your website mentions that you’ve worked for high-profile design firms like Zaha Hadid Architects, Buro Ole Scheeren, and gmp. What caused the shift in your career and how has your experience as an architect shaped the way you think about photography?
I was always very interested in understanding how buildings work. Showing how buildings work was also my approach back when I was still designing buildings across China. Eventually, evolving into architectural photography allowed me to spend time on a variety of different typologies, to try to understand what makes them the way they are. What were the intentions of the architect? In my photography, I always aim to tell that story. How do people use the building, how is it perceived in its context, and how does it fulfill its duty? I fully believe that I wouldn’t be the architectural photographer I aim to be if I wasn’t an architect first. “
Read the full interview over at AVONTUURA
