Mike Miriello - Architectural Photographer

Mike Miriello is an architectural photographer located in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Although he's located in Virginia, he frequently travels throughout the U.S. for interior and architectural photography. 

Architectural photography is one of Mike's favorite types of photography - it's a challenging genre based on various compositional guidelines such as symmetry, correctly representing vertical and horizontal lines, color and tonal balance - all guidelines that may be bent or broken at any time to help convey the emotional appeal of a space. An good interior photographer will know when to follow the rules and when to break them - as long as the emotional pull is there and the space is represented appropriately, the photographer has done their job. 

Many people ask about the difference between interior and architectural photography. In short, the difference is the space and what needs to be communicated. Allow me to explain.

The Difference Between Architects and Interior Designers

An architect designs a space - they create an area for a specific purpose. Architects design spaces with people in mind - Who's going to use this space? What might this space for? What makes this space different than other spaces? What materials will this space be constructed with? Those are just some of the ground-level questions an architect will ask themselves when designing an area. A good architectural photographer will try and think along the lines of an architect when shooting architecture.

An interior designer fills a space - they don't create the space, they complete it. Interior designers are focused on decor, color palates, tonal balance, utilizing or diminishing ambient light, edges, textures, etc. Again, that's only scratching the surface of what an interior designer does. An interior photographer will then enter the space - the area the designer filled and enhanced - and shoot the designer's work to bring the space to life. 

Whether shooting interior or architectural photography, the principles are identical: communicate the emotions of the space. 

Let's look at some case-studies to analyze the difference between interior and architectural photography.

Case Study #1: Architectural Photography

First, let's look at a concert hall in a performing arts center photographed for an architect:

Why did the architect create such a large 'belly' to the concert hall on the second floor? Why did he choose a spotlight-esque lighting style on the walls? Why did he make everything perfectly symmetrical? Aside from the obvious answer to the last question, the responses to those questions are less relevant than the simple fact that an architectural photographer is actually asking those questions. Think about it - this space is almost completely bare - with the exception of the piano center-stage, the space is empty. I'm not interested in the dressings of the space because I'm shooting it for an architect, but I'm also not interested in it because there is quite literally nothing dressing it up. We need to focus on the space and simply address the questions being asked: the lines, the curves, the lighting, the symmetry - these are all concepts the architect addressed in his design - now I need to address them in my architectural photography. 

If we were to deconstruct the image, I'd say something like this: 

-The 'belly' is embellished to emphasize its importance within the space

-The spotlight-esque wall-lights are important to capture the ambient feeling of the hall

-The symmetry is a no-brainer for a concert hall - that's why I'm lined-up as close to center as possible (truthfully, buildings are rarely constructed perfectly symmetrical, making it challenging to convey perfect symmetry)

Case Study #2: Interior Photography

Next, let's analyze an interior designers work of a bedroom with an office-area attached.

This space was completely empty before the interior designer got their hands on it - so what did they do and why? Just like with the architect's thought-process, we're not going to attempt to answer the questions correctly, we just need to ask them. For example: why so many pillows? Why a glass-topped desk? Why similar, but not identical lamps? One last question for extra credit - where's the ambient light coming from? An interior photographer needs to think about these questions because the space is quite literally 'nothing' without the interior designer addressing them first. 

Same thing - if we strip this image down to its core, I'd address it like so:

-Most beds aren't dressed up this nicely, we need to make this a focal-point of the image

-The glass-topped desk helps keep the space 'open' through the transparent properties of glass - I want to take advantage of it by shooting low to emphasize the reflections that can be created with it (notice, I could have put a laptop on the desk, but I don't want to because that would infringe on the glass' transparency)

-By keeping the image 'wide', we get to see both lamps - the interior designer chose multiple lamps based on a similar theme, it's important to show both

-There is a great deal of ambient light in this room - that's why I kept the shadows coming from the bed, lamps, and the plant (some interior photographers would argue with me on this point, but that's what makes us all different)

Similarities and Differences: 

Let's do something really interesting to prove the point that interior photography is different than architectural photography: If I were to take everything out of both spaces in the case studies, what would we be looking at? The answer for the architect's space is obvious - we'd be looking at nearly the same thing: a concert hall. How about the interior designer's space? Nothing. Well, we'd be looking at about 96% wall, 1% baseboard, and 3% carpeting. The difference is incredible.

While they are different in what they are telling the viewer, they are similar in the sense that they are images of spaces conveying an emotional response. What does the viewer 'feel' when they see the image? That's really the question good interior and architectural photographers are attempting to answer - and if they are really good, they'll be able to tell the viewer what and how to feel through a single image.

About Mike Miriello

Mike’s passion for becoming an architectural photographer began during his graduate studies at James Madison University. What started as an interest grew into a hobby and gradually became a career. Through a combination of drive and motivation, Mike learned the technical background of photography - he then pursued the art form through practice and dedication.

If you are interested in hiring an interior or architectural photographer - feel free to contact Mike Miriello.