Contract speaks with New York-based architectural photographer, Edward Addeo, to learn more about the inspirations behind his breath-taking work.
Name: Edward Addeo
Company: Edward Addeo Photography (www.edwardaddeo.com)
Portfolio Sample: W Washington, D.C.
How and why did you get into architectural photography?
I have had a fascination with atmosphere, color, and texture from the beginning. I captured the play of light and texture in a series of photographs of my great grandfather’s old Brooklyn home. This led to interior assignments with The New York Times Magazine, Vogue Living Section, House Beautiful, and Architectural Digest.
What do you consider your specialty in the field?
Imparting luminosity, mood, color, and attitude to interiors and interior objects.
What is the most fulfilling part of your job?
I enjoy it when clients react emotionally to the image and imagine the space with their senses.
What is your favorite type of space to shoot and why?
Intimate spaces in rich, deep colors, and atmospheric natural light.
What is your favorite architectural interior and why?
The Pantheon in Rome, because it embodies and underscores an understanding of natural light and earth’s orbit. The display of the sun’s movement through a fixed opening, the oculus, evokes a primal, elemental scene.
I would not have selected another career. If I had to I would have set my sights on lighting and design for the stage.
What is the best thing you’ve learned in the past 10 years?
Understanding the natural atmosphere of a room and working with it.
A sense of humor is important.
What is the biggest challenge you tend to run into on an architectural shoot?
A beautiful but quick-moving winter sun. Also, missed-matched light sources and fluorescent bulbs.
What advice would you give architects or interior designers on working with a professional photographer?
A photographer’s portfolio gives a client the most information about their style and interests.
Choose a photographer whose work mirrors your passion and stylistic sense.
I began my career with a fusion of two interests: photography and color. While attending The School of Visual Arts as a Photography Fine Art Major I interned at the Design & Decoration building in NYC with a colorist. My passion for photography and color led to a series of interior photographs that would become my BFA thesis. These images led to assignments with The New York Times Magazine, House & Garden, Vogue Living Section and Avenue.
Through the years my fascination for atmospheric interiors, color, and photography has grown. I have five books to my credit by major book publishers: Bullfinch Press, Clarkson Potter, Gibbs Smith and Viking Press.
Recent Book Publications:
- BARRY DIXON INTERIORS, "The Art of The Mix" by Coleman & Addeo, Gibbs Smith
- FARROW & BALL, “The Art of Color” by Brian Coleman; Photographs by Edward Addeo.
