Architecture photography styles

I made a conscious decision to complete most of the projects of the course before looking specifically at styles of experts in the field of architecture photography. My tutor suggested I look at three professional architecture photographers:-
J Collingridge is a UK photographer who has won a number of awards for Architectural photography.
The photographs displayed on the photographers website are a mix of interiors and exteriors of commercial buildings. The photos are generally high contrast, high impact images. They are mostly taken from normal eye-level viewpoint with standard to wide angle focal length. Some images from a series of photographs of empty underground stations has been particularly successful.

Southwark Underground Station by J Collingridge

I have the impression that this image may have been produced using HDR technique (High Dynamic Range) which has reduced shadows and increased textures. To my mind, the symmetrical composition and unreal quality of HDR maximizes the impact of the geometry and lines making an extremely graphic image. The downside seems to be that it is harder for the viewer to imagine themselves in this space.  
Jim Lowe is another UK based professional photographer with a special interest in architectural photography. His website displays a range of interiors and exteriors of commercial buildings and it is clear that many were taken for commercial assignments: magazines, advertising and commercial clients. Whilst he has some black and white images in his web gallery, the predominant impression is of saturated colours, high contrast, eye catching pictures. Some of the photos use strange angles and ultra wide angle lenses to create impact.

Architecture abstracts by Jim Lowe

Koen van Damme is a Belgian based professional photographer who specializes in assignments for architects. The portfolio of work displayed on his website is a complete contrast to the two UK photographers above. He uses an understated colour palette or black and white. His compositions concentrate on profiles and three dimensional forms resulting in simple "minimalist" images. Almost all the photographs seem to be taken with a standard lens and at eye level. There is a strong feeling of aesthetics, for example, there always seems to be a perfectly shaped cloud to occupy any empty area of blue sky in the frame.

Office, St Andries by Koen van Damme

Compared to the other professionals above, he seems to use sunlight, dark shadows and low light more extensively. Light reflections in windows are rarely a significant element in his pictures whereas these are a common feature in the photos of the two other professionals.
Another photographer that came to my  mind in relation to buildings and architecture is Edgar Martins, whose photographs I saw in an exhibition in Paris during the TAOP course. He has produced some very striking nighttime images of airport commercial buildings and equipment.

Photograph from Airport Series by Edgar Martins

 The exhibition also included a series "This is not a house" in which he took photographs of houses in USA that had been abandoned by their owners during the early stages of the banking crisis.

Photograph from This is not a house series by Edgar Martins

Whilst these photographs were clearly intended to comment on the US banking crisis, they did not produce in me a strong emotion or empathy. This possibly was because the houses depicted were relatively grand and  without people, the photographs were rather impersonal.
My own style
The ten photographs that I have produced for Assignment 3 are not in a style similar to these professionals:-

• My intention was different as I wanted to show buildings in use. Hence, my photographs are all interiors of public buildings, mostly with people present. 
• In some cases, I have been able to use sunlight, shadows and silhouettes to enhance the visual qualities of the scene. Koen van Damme would I am sure have done this far more effectively. 
• My photographs are all colour although in most cases the colours are subdued as most of the building interiors were decorated in neutral tones. Where strong colours were present, I generally wanted to minimize their effect so that the viewer would not be fixated by these areas.