When a shoot for Brutalism in Colour goes better than hoped for

Although a lot of planning goes into my Brutalism in Colour shoots, I never really know how it’s going to turn out until I get there. Someone may have left a load of internal lights on which may or may not help, the street lighting might’ve been upgraded to efficient, but terribly uniform LED lighting, the list goes on.

I’d planned to photograph this staircase to the side of the Museum of London for a while, no internet sleuthing was needed as I’ve passed it so many times, and was certain of the angle I wanted, but I wasn’t sure what the lighting balance would be like after hours. As it turned it, it was a gift. It’s primarily lit by ceiling mounted fluorescent lighting, but all three within shot were at different stages of their lifespan so had markedly different colour temperatures which gives the finished image it’s variety. I had an inkling at the time that it’d turn out well, but with this project, I can really only be certain once I’m home, and am processing the image in Lightroom, that’s when I knew that I had enough variety in the lighting colours to make something of the image.

I was doubly pleased with this image when nearly three years after I’d taken it, it was featured in the RIBA Journal, March 2021.