Recently, we had the opportunity to shoot at the Moody Bible Institute downtown Chicago. After completing the remodel of Culbertson Hall, they asked us to come photograph their newly-renovated space.

In today’s architectural photography world, most professionals generally agree that shooting a space without people is less than satisfactory. Because spaces are designed specifically for people, documenting without them turns the images bare and lifeless. Adding people into photographs also helps the viewer’s understanding of scale and helps them imagine the functionality of the space. 

However, adding people to architectural photographs turns the project into a completely different process. Instead of only focusing on lighting the space, we have to light the people within the space in a complimentary way, which creates a whole set of challenges with positioning and power of lighting.

Because we were scheduled to shoot the week before students arrived, finding people to include in the shots proved difficult. Luckily, we ended up using a couple random students who were on campus early, a few young-looking staff members, and my own assistant, Peyton who “still looks 19” (his words, not mine) in several shots

Desperate times call for desperate measures and the image above reveals the rare occasion where I’m in front of the camera instead of behind it!