Richard Bryant - Architectural photographer

I have long admired the architecture of Italian architect Carlo Scarpa (1906 -1978) and find his work inspirational.

He was a man with a unique collection of talents and with a passion and respect for artisans and their skills. Scarpa had the ability to meld modern interventions within an historic context while maintaining the integrity of both.

I first encountered the work of Canova within the context of several historic projects I had photographed in Europe and the US. Having visited the Canova Museum in Possagno near Venice with an extension by Scarpa I was determined to return with my camera.

Thanks to architect Stefan Buzas who utilised his friendship with the Museums Scarpa expert
I was able to do this and I am delighted that the resulting monograph of the Canova Museum
published by Axel Menges has been reprinted for 2014 at the request of the Museum.

Link to buy the book : sales@gazellebooks.co.uk

There is more about my time and photographic experience at the Canova Museum in an interview
with Valeria Carullo, Curator, The Robert Elwall Photographs Collection at the RIBA
British Architectural Library

Link to see the interview : www.ribablogs.com/?p=8774

Having photographed seminal projects for such architects as Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry and David Chipperfield Richard Bryant is now seen less often within the architectural press he once dominated.

With clients that include Armani, Bulgari, Netjets and Pentagram does this mean he has he given up on architecture? 'Far from it', says Bryant, whose accolades include an Honorary Fellowship of the RIBA and an Honorary Doctorate in Design from Kingston University. 'It’s because of my passion for architecture that I have these clients. Armani worked with Tadao Ando and Fuksas, Bulgari with Antonio Citterio and Netjets with Norman Foster, but they each came to me independently. My passion for combining the essence of architecture, light, space, form and detail is the bedrock of my work' says Bryant, 'it is about celebrating architecture.'

It is not only contemporary architecture that Bryant admires; he has a strong leaning towards the past. As a student of architecture he chose to make his final year thesis a mainly photographic essay on the buildings of the Veneto with specific emphasis on Palladio. The draw to Italy endured with a personal project on Carlo Scapa's Canova Museum resulting in monograph of the building which has entered a new reprint, at the request of the Museum, in January 2014. There is a videoed interview about the experience by the RIBA and a commitment by Bryant to return to Italy, this time to capture the essence of Scarpa's Castelvecchio. True to his word and working with the Museo di Castelvecchio there is now a monograph of this seminal Scarpa renovation.

Not all Bryant's personal work is of beautifully finished and appreciated places. Narkomfin in Moscow is a case in point. This Russian constructivist apartment block, once a pioneer as a model for housing, remains standing only because of a strong willed group of creatives, artists and designers who now squat within its rotting fabric.

Bryant continues to develop and shows his diversity within his specialism of the built world.
In movies he is working with award winning, ex CBS cameraman Paul Mottram, and production team, SpaceFramed with clients like London’s Savoy Hotel and the Rothschild Archive.