MPB Meets: Architectural Photographer Jo Underhill

Freelance architectural photographer Jo Underhill has had her work featured in publications including The Architects' Journal, Dezeen, The Spaces and Ceramic Review. Her work focuses on light, material, detail and how people interact with the spaces. A passion for brutalist architecture helped inspire her self-published photography book, Ode to Welbeck. We caught up with Jo to discuss kit choices, advice for aspiring photographers and the process of publishing her own work. Over to you, Jo.

MPB: Could you tell us about yourself and your creative background?

JU: I began photographing when I was 14 after getting a compact film camera from my parents for Christmas. I started going to an evening class at my local college to learn about how to process and print film and instantly fell in love with the magic of photography. In 1998, I went to the University of Wales, College Newport as it was then called and undertook a degree in Photographic Art. We had access to the uni camera store, where you could take out different cameras and I started using a field camera for a project to document the buildings of Cardiff Bay. I really enjoyed the slower process of photographing buildings and interiors so from then on I mainly undertook architecturally based projects for my degree such as photographing Art Deco cinemas around the country. At that time, I was also photographing artists and their studios which was a good mix, I have tried to carry this on throughout my career.

Once I left Uni I carried on with personal projects as well as building up my portfolio to get client work. I was also very lucky to assist some amazing architectural photographers: Dennis Gilbert, Nick Guttridge and James Brittain. It was such a great experience and I learned so much.

MPB: What is your go-to kit setup for your photography? How do you feel the setup benefits your work?

JU: My current kit is the Nikon D850 with a 24mm f/3.5D ED and 45mm f/2.8D ED PC-E (perspective control) lens and a Nikon 45mm f/2.8D ED zoom lens. I always use a tripod, a stable but relatively light one for carrying works well for me. The PC-E lenses are the best for architectural photography to have that control over parallel lines and a tripod really helps me to slow down when finding shots.

MPB: What is it that first drew you towards photography in this genre? What is it about Brutalist architecture, in particular, that you like so much?

JU: I was drawn to being able to get to know and capture a building over time. I love how design, light, materials and people using the space or the absence of people adds another level to the photography. I love trying to capture and show those moments.

I was always a fan of concrete as a material and over ten years ago I started a personal project called Concrete with the aim to just capture details of concrete used in buildings. As with a lot of my projects, the initial seed of an idea evolves as you undertake the project. The first building I photographed for this project was the National Theatre on the Southbank. I completely fell in love with it and this made me research more about the building and the era it was built. So, reading up on Brutalist architecture led me to photograph other buildings built between the 1950s and 1970s, so from just wanting to photograph concrete, the project then moved on to become my Beautiful Brutalism project, which I am still working on ten years later and will hopefully carry on with for the rest of my life. I still have a long list of buildings I want to photograph in the UK and around the world!

I’m so passionate about Brutalist architecture as I think the buildings perfectly encapsulate this amazing period in time after the Second World War when there was a feeling of optimism and architecture was being built for everyone. The buildings were so experimental and bold in their design, and really forward-thinking. Unfortunately, not all the buildings worked well and many weren’t looked after properly so they have become generally hated I feel this has taken away from the great craftsmanship and design of the buildings from this era. I hope in some small way my photographs show how amazing, unique and beautifully designed brutalist buildings are and maybe get people to look at them differently.

MPB: What would be your top tips for aspiring architectural photographers? What are the rules you set out to follow in your work?

JU: That’s difficult but my top tip would be to always wear comfortable shoes. It sounds very basic but there is nothing worse than being on your feet all day in painful shoes! Try and find your own style and voice within your photography, don’t be afraid to make mistakes, they are part of the learning process and an important one. For me, working on personal projects as well as client work really helps as I find they inform each other. I don’t have any rules per se, but over time I have refined my way of working whether with clients or on my personal projects this is always changing as you never stop learning. From every shoot, I take away something that will hopefully make the next shoot better and this is an ongoing process.

MPB: Where has been your favorite location to shoot and why? Any hidden gems you’d recommend for our readers?

JU: I enjoy all the locations I have been fortunate to photograph but some stand-out buildings have been Leatherhead Theatre, an absolute gem of a brutalist theatre, Welbeck Street Car Park, Kastrup Søbad in Copenhagen and I always love working with Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge. The gallery and house have such amazing energy, I find it endlessly inspiring. The curation and design of the gallery are always so beautiful and different so I love photographing the exhibition installations.

MPB: Do you have a particular image you are most proud of or pleased with?

JU: It’s difficult to choose just one image and it also changes after every shoot. There is a photograph I took of the National Theatre and it was chosen for the RA Summer Exhibition in 2012 so that is always quite a special image for me.

MPB: Could you tell us more about your book Ode to Welbeck? What’s the story behind the project and could you tell us about the process of publishing a book of your work? How did it feel to see it in print?

JU: I photographed Welbeck Street Car Park a few times for my Beautiful Brutalism project. In 2017, when plans to give it listed status were denied and demolition was planned, I started to photograph it regularly. I felt the only thing I could do, in some way, to save this really iconic London building was through my photography. My project started in March 2017 and finished in June 2019 when the building was covered and ready for demolition. Since uni, I have always enjoyed making little books of my work for myself and I knew at some point I wanted to make a book that could be published. Halfway through documenting Welbeck, I wanted to turn this project into a book so there was a physical reminder of the building.

When lockdown hit last year, it gave me time away from commissioned work to revisit the project and really work on putting a Limited-Edition book together. I came across their brilliant design work of Emily at Stanley James Press and I reached out to her with my proposal. I found out she was also a big fan of Welbeck so the process of page layout, choosing which images to use and design was so easy as we both had a desire to create a book to really pay homage to it. I had ideas about how I wanted the book to look but Emily came up with brilliant ideas that really pushed the design to another level. I was fortunate to get Barnabas Calder, a senior lecturer in Architecture at the University of Liverpool, who was also a great supporter of my project, to write a fantastic foreword. Obviously, I had my doubts that it was quite a niche subject matter for a book and it wouldn’t sell. But seeing the photographs in print was just so amazing. If I only sold a few then I’d still be happy as I was so proud of the book and the collaboration to get it made.

Once it was on sale, I received so much positive feedback from people who loved the car park and had their own fond memories of it, that I realized so many people were also huge fans! It was very overwhelming that all 100 editions were sold.

MPB: As with the Welbeck car park, many landmarks of that time and style are being demolished, how does that make you feel? And do you feel an extra attraction to capturing these buildings before it’s too late?

JU: Unfortunately many of the buildings I have captured as part of my Beautiful Brutalism project have now been demolished or are due to be. I wish less were being destroyed and more being repurposed not just because they are fantastic buildings but also due to the environmental effect of demolition. I think we need to start becoming more creative in how we can repurpose buildings, and not just Brutalist ones, to give them a new lease of life rather than knocking them down and starting again.

I’d much rather people see my photographs and it makes them want to visit the building and experience it for themselves rather than only be able to see it in a photograph. I am aware that with certain buildings I have either missed photographing them or have a very short period in which I can photograph them, which I suppose does give me more impetus to carry on with this project.

MPB: Do you have any other projects you are working on at the moment you would like to tell us about? What are your plans for the future?

JU: I would like to self-publish another book in the future, as I really enjoyed the whole process. I’m currently in the initial planning phase for this and I also have an ever-growing list of brutalist buildings I want to add to my project. I’m also looking forward to working on future projects with existing and new clients.

Read our MPB beginners guide to architectural photography, our top 4 tips for architectural photography or our interview with architectural photographer Martina Ferrera. Read more interviews on our MPB Content Hub.