Capturing a Confidential Company
He Who Must Not Be Named
Did you catch that reference? Anyone else a Harry Potter fan? Every now and then the owner of a space I've photographed chooses not to be identified. So to keep everyone happy, I title these types of projects "confidential" and take extreme care to not give away a name or location, anywhere! This is the case with the office you see here. A Southern California Confidential Life Science Company that will remain nameless.
A Name I Can Tell You!
The architects: NBBJ. They're the brains behind this epic interior. Designing for one of the world's largest activity-based workplaces, NBBJ incorporated a variety of work environments and social hubs for employees to collaborate and connect. One of the unique details they designed are the ceiling tiles, which were made to resemble chemical compounds. Perfect for a life science company!
Mum's the Word
The extreme confidentiality of this company meant that we had a mandatory escort everywhere we went. We had to pay extra attention to papers, computer monitors and walls of notes with sensitive information on them when setting up our shots. It's always important that my entire team is respectful, polite and attentive while on any shoot location, but especially so for a confidential company such as this.
Flooded With Light
This is my favorite shot from our 2-day shoot! Light completely floods into the entire atrium and casts awesome shadows everywhere! Whenever I have a camera in my hand I actively look for how natural light enhances a photograph and directs the viewer's attention. This element of architecture is called Daylighting, defined as the "illumination of indoor spaces by natural light." This is one of the things that makes this space amazing. Daylighting everywhere we looked!
Different Personalities All Around
Social Space is a huge part of my photography - I love working with people! Day one of our photo shoot took place during regular business hours. Although everyone was given notice, I could tell that some were surprised by my team's presence - and my camera. Even so, the shoot must go on! With so many employees in one place we worked with a full range of personalities. From "let me tell you my life story" people to those who actively avoided eye contact and everyone in between. It was amazing! Thankfully our escort was just as energetic around people as I am and he was able to recruit plenty of people to be models in our photographs.
#SwornToSecrecy
This is usually where I like to show you a fun #BehindTheScened shot while on location, but given the nature of this project, we were not able to take any behind the scenes photos. So instead, please enjoy this unique design of Daylighting I found at the Tate Modern (renovated by Herzog & de Meuron) on my recent trip to London. It was fun to watch people interacting with the light and playing with their shadows!