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"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."
Benjamin Franklin
A college campus is always in motion. Students move between classes, buildings stay in use, and the schedule changes with the semester, so a good shoot depends on planning as much as on composition. We work out access, timing, and the best light before we arrive, as we did for SSOE on the Georgia Southern University College of Engineering and Research, so the images show each building at its best.
This work is part of our education, library and worship photography. It connects to our K-12 school photography and our library photography, since many campuses include both. For research buildings and labs, see our science and technology photography.
Effective higher education photography
requires more than compositional, lighting, and technical skills. Photographers must be part storyteller, marketer, and project manager. Our challenge is to create authentic, inclusive, visually striking images that accurately represent both the aesthetics and the function of the institution.
Campuses are complex, active, and highly
dynamic locations. The goal of crafting impactful visuals to support the design narrative includes logistics such as these to ensure success.
• Pre-planning prior to arrival on campus
• Permissions and security verification and parking clearance
• Obtaining class schedules to understand academic flow
• Verifying any on-campus drone flight restrictions
Photographers must be flexible
to navigate the ebb and flow of student movement throughout the spaces. Stylistically, we work with our designers to capture their vision in a variety of moments ranging from high energy to the calm of off peak student activity.
Effective architectural photography
is a powerful marketing tool for design and construction professionals seeking work in the higher education sector. Universities and colleges invest heavily in their physical environments. Decision makers evaluate design firms, their experience, and ability to demonstrate successful outcomes. High-quality photography helps firms communicate expertise, value, and design impact.
A friendly fight has been brewing between the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University for almost 250 years, over which one is the oldest in the country. Though it seems as if there would be one clear winner, alas, there is not. It has to do, as it so often does, with the words one uses. Harvard is “the oldest institution of higher education in the United States” while U Penn claims it was the first university, which formed while Harvard was still a college. Add to this the fact that The College of William and Mary was the first college to become a university in 1779, after both of the others were already formed, and hysteria ensues. As with most claims of being the oldest, the brightest, the best, much is left open to the interpretation of the reader. In short, who knows?
Fast forward to today, where over 21,000 colleges and universities on our planet vie for top students and teaching talent, financial stability, and growth. Enter architectural design and construction. The design community provides educational venues which are thoughtful in design, resource and energy efficient, LEED certified, and impactful.
On campus, these learning environments foster creativity and imagination for those who tread the halls, reside on campus, and interface with technology. Reaching farther afield, these higher learning buildings and campuses engage and influence the surrounding community.
In our collaborations over the years with many clients, we’ve yet to photograph ivy-covered walls, not even on the most traditional campus. Rather the selection above highlights our clients’ vision for a dynamic design, filled with color and light, and sensitivity to addressing the ongoing needs of students, faculty, visitors, and the governing boards of colleges and universities.
Creative Sources Photography | Atlanta Architectural Photographers