Phoenix Arts

Phoenix square

Leicester business and arts venue

Phoenix Square, a mixed use buidling in Leicester’s Cultural Quarter, designed by architects Marsh Grochowski.

Phoenix Square

This series of shots were taken, for promotional purposes, for a multidisciplinary architectural design, project management and quantity surveying practice who acted as quantity surveyors on the build.

Our brief was to show the the design of the building - inside and out - its place in the urban landscape and its use.

The shoot included some difficult spaces - including the (overlooked) courtyard and narrow staircase, with its multiple reflective surfaces.

The photographs of the courtyard were taken on an overcast day - unfortunately sometimes deadlines means we have to shoot in less than optimal circumstances - but on this occasion the weather conditions played to our advantage as the overcast conditions reduced any harsh shadows that would have been present in bright sun. The sense of openness inherent in the space is conveyed - a feeling that might have been lost if the multiple shadows and dark corners created by bright light had been present.

Shooting the staircase with a tilt shift lens allowed our photographer to have complete control over the tricky verticals. Controlling the light - and so therefore the reflections - at the time of shooting with the correct camera settings and careful post production were essential to creating the finished image of the staircase you see here.

The portfolio of photos - taken over a couple of days in varying weather conditions - show perfectly how weather can change the look of a building and how expert processing can enhances these changes.

Black and white images give a distinctly different ‘feel’ to the pictures – particularly when compared to the ‘blue sky shot’ shown first. Keith is an expert in digital black and white photography and uses his additional expertise in fine art printing to create large and striking prints on a range of media.

You can find out more - and see additional examples of our photography - in our Cultural Space portfolio.