MPB Meets: Architectural Photographer Danica O. Kus

Architectural photographer Danica O. Kus speaks to us about her work, camera gear and online exhibition as part of the London Festival of Architecture.

MPB: Can you tell us a bit about how you got into photography?

DOK: I started my photography when I moved to Belgium in 1999. I studied photography at RhoK Academie, and later in Ecole des Arts d’Ixelles in Brussels.

MPB: What was your photography journey, did you start out with a specific type of photography that eventually led you to a more architectural style?

DOK: In the beginning, I was interested in portrait and landscape photography. I was especially excited to work in the darkroom when the image came out of the chemicals. Working with analogue cameras, developing black-and-white film and making prints in the darkroom, was very important for me in the process of learning and understanding photography. Later on, I got the opportunity to work for a Slovenian architectural magazine, where my work had been published. This has been a great motivation for me, and I became totally devoted to architectural photography.

Nowadays, I am drawn to photograph architecture, which is innovative, sustainable, and in harmony with nature. Since 2018 I have been participating in the London Festival of Architecture (LFA), which takes place in June every year. This year, LFA Digital was launched due to the coronavirus. I’m taking part, in my exhibition A Vision for the Future: Sustainable Buildings. In this exhibition, I present a sustainable office building, 7More London, the PwC building by Foster&Partners. LFA team has just announced that the physical festival is going to take place from September to December this year.

Besides photographing commissioned projects I also explore architecture as space and as poetry. With my personal projects, I like to present the space as an emotional experience. I photograph mostly contemporary architecture, but I am also excited to photograph the architectural heritage, industrial architecture, historical buildings, process of restorations and construction.

MPB: There are plenty of angles and organic shapes in your work. Is that a deliberate choice? 

DOK: I am aware that I always look for light, how light falls into space, and how creates new shapes and forms. I also pay attention to sound, temperature, smell, and material. I’d like to explore the atmosphere of the space and bring it to my photographs.

MPB: What has your kit journey been? What do you shoot on?

DOK: I have used different cameras and lenses—Nikon, Canon, Pentax, etc. Currently, I work with a DSLR, the Canon EOS 1DX. I use different Canon lenses, as well as tilt-shift lenses. I prefer working with the available light and rarely use artificial light.

MPB: Is there anyone whose work you draw inspiration from?

DOK: Many great photographers from the last century—contemporary artists, and architectural photographers—have inspired me. I would like to mention, among others, a few. Edward J. Steichen, Josef Sudek, Julia Margaret Cameron, Masao Yamamoto, and Bauhaus artists. I admire their work because of their originality, new vision, composition, and poetry.

MPB: As a woman, what's your experience of being an architectural photographer? How accessible is the genre?

DOK: 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 the ability to find clients and the quality of photography work

Read more interviews with the top women of architectural photography.