Architecture Awards Submission Photography in Madison, Wisconsin

A design award is decided by a jury of architects looking at photographs, not a building. What they see has to prove the design decisions the same way the building itself would.

One 09

• A framework image that reads the whole parti in one frame — not a flattering angle, the angle that explains the decision.

• Corrected verticals. A jury reviewing dozens of entries notices convergence immediately, and it reads as unpolished even when the building isn't.

• Context. A building's relationship to its site and skyline is part of the argument, not scenery around it.

• Restraint. The strongest submission sets aren't the longest ones, they're the ones where every frame is doing a different job.

What a Jury Actually Needs.

A set built for a jury holds up as marketing photography too — the discipline just runs the other direction. Marketing photography is built to be liked. Award photography is built to survive being compared, frame by frame, against every other entry in the category by people who design buildings for a living. Clear that bar and the leasing site, the awards board, and the firm's own portfolio all get the same set.

Not instead of marketing photos.

Architecture firms with a recently completed project worth entering, or a submission deadline already on the calendar. Also useful for a firm that's never submitted a project before and isn't sure what the photography needs to prove.

Who this is for.