7 Top Women in Architectural Photography

We speak to architectural photographers Ana Mello, Karina Castro, Martina Ferrera, Danica O. Kus, Krista Jahnke, Leana Cagnotto and Rafaela Netto.

Follow the links to read the full interviews with each photographer—where they discuss their craft, influences and camera gear—to discover their work.

Here's what they have to say about working as a woman in a male-dominated industry.

Ana Mello

Instagram: @anamello // Facebook: ana.mello.fotografia

"When photographing interior design, I don’t see much difference between male and female photographers. But, to photograph large-scale architecture, male photographers are still predominant. I believe that this “natural” selection comes from two main factors: physical resistance, as it is very exhausting to photograph almost 12 hours in a row carrying heavy equipment and also because of women’s safety while walking through the streets. To make these great essays possible, I do hire a male assistant to help me. Unfortunately, architectural photographers are still mostly men, but, great female professionals have achieved prominence throughout the years in other fields as well, and this is really encouraging."

Karina Castro

Instagram: @karinacastrostudio

"Gender stereotypes influence very much on people's choices and are barriers to women’s career progress—and so, mine. I still nowadays experience resistance, but it makes me a tougher woman. Women are still underrepresented in different fields. In the media industry, for instance, it is very clear that women architects, philosophers, image-makers and so on still have very narrow spaces to participate and share their thoughts. I think it is important that we as a society encourage and increase women's participation. That is the key to promoting gender equality."

Martina Ferrera

Instagram: @martina_ferrera

"I’m really proud to be a woman working in architectural photography. This is still considered a predominantly male profession—probably because of the heavy equipment to carry around and time to spend alone in the streets at strange hours. But I see more and more female architectural photographers producing beautiful work around the world. I often like to look at architectural photographs and guess who is behind the camera, looking for clues in style between male and female photographers. In some cases, women’s work is more atmospheric, I think and if architecture photography is moving away from the classic empty photographs, focusing only on the shape and monumentality of a building, I hope that the vibrant and dynamic touch of female photographers becomes more and more present over time."

Danica O. Kus

Instagram: @danica_o_kus_photography

"It is a privilege for me to work as a female architectural photographer, which gives me a chance to present an additional view of the architecture compared to male photographers. I think that accessibility to this genre is a question of ability to find the clients and the quality of photography work."

Krista Jahnke

Instagram @kristajahnkephotography // Twitter @krista_jahnke

"Like architecture, photography and more specifically architectural photography has been a male-dominated profession. As times have progressed, women slowly made their way into architecture as they did with so many other fields and today the ratio of women in architecture has greatly improved. A few years ago I volunteered with the Vancouver chapter of Women in Architecture and a lot of the concern (that still exists) is being in a profession that hasn’t accommodated the role of professional women who are also mothers so the result has been women stepping away from their careers to become primary caregivers for children but on the flip side, many were able to become small business owners. They’ve been able to create a situation that allows them to still be architects but on a different schedule that is more malleable for a growing family.

Since becoming an architectural photographer and small business owner, I’ve seen more women enter into my profession which helps broaden representation and shifts the idea away from men as more qualified since that’s how it’s always been. Occasionally I still get an older guy commenting on what I’m doing and how I’m doing it but I usually get the impression it’s because secretly he wished he had my job. I do think that the internet and dare I say, Instagram has helped in bringing more exposure to women photographers while introducing the idea that architectural photography shouldn’t be reduced to a small demographic. What I hope for with the societal shifts we’re starting to see is the inclusion of more people of colour in architectural photography as well as the architecture profession. Bringing more perspectives into the conversation can only strengthen the genre and through that broaden our ideas of the built environment and how architecture inevitably affects our lives."

Leana Cagnotto

Instagram: @leanacagnotto_

"Very often, I am asked this question and just as often I have found myself in situations where I was ‘chosen’ precisely because I am a woman who focused all her work on architecture. I admit that at the beginning of my journey I never thought that a photographic genre could be associated with a human gender, male or female, but then, someone pointed out to me that architecture photography is, in fact, a male-orientated genre. Finding that out came as a surprise and, even today, it is still incomprehensible to me. If architecture is a man then it means that while I photograph I will be a man, no problem."

Rafaela Netto

Instagram: @rtnetto

"I've felt many times that clients doubted my capacity as a photographer for being a young woman. It was nothing openly said—always something subtle, like seeming surprised when meeting me in person or walking around me to see what I'm doing during the photoshoots. I must say that I feel enormous satisfaction when these clients receive the images and say how happy they are with the results. And there's the most common thing to us women in any field: clients choosing a male photographer that doesn't have as much experience as I do."