An interview with architectural photographer Simon Devitt

“I blame my Dad for my love for photography, he always carried a SLR loaded with slide film. These slides invariably ended up in family slideshows, boring as shit for most kids, I was ENTHRALLED.”

I came across the stunning work of Simon Devitt earlier this year and have been a huge fan ever since.

Simon is a photographer with a strong practice focusing on architecture. He is currently based in Auckland, New Zealand, where he has an established international reputation throughout Australasia and further afield.

He loves people in his photos as their appearance adds a sense of scale and a place in time. He is the author of the award-winning photo-book Rannoch and the All Things Considered series. Photo-books bring together his passion for image, place and language, which started in 2013 with the launch of Portrait of a House, his first self- published photo-book on the Athfield residence in Wellington.

Since then, Simon has started publishing the Ripe Fruit series. His images feature in many books and collaborations including Long Live the Modern (2009), Group Architects: Towards a New Zealand Architecture (2010), Athfield Architects (2012) and Summer Houses (2011); as well as in numerous national and international magazines such as Elle Decor (Italy, UK, Japan and South Africa), Architectural Digest (Germany), Dwell (USA), Habitus, InDesign (Australia), Architecture NZ, Home New Zealand, Urbis, Interior (NZ).

Simon also lectures in Photography of Architecture at the University of Auckland, where he have also had the pleasure of offering the annual Simon Devitt Prize for Photography since 2008.

Currently he is represented by PhotoFoyer in Milan, Italy and his work has been exhibited in both group and solo shows.

Hi Simon, a big thank you for sparing some of your time with us here at M-mode. I know it is summer over in New Zealand at the moment, can you tell us what has been keeping you occupied recently and what your plans for the up and coming months?

Lockdown was an interesting time for everyone I suspect and varying in degree of difficulty. I'd say we've largely had it pretty good down in this part of the world. I lecture at university as well so we had to (very quickly) translate the paper to work (as best we could) over zoom, and it wasn't without its obvious pitfalls but successful none-the-less. Just a lot more work for all involved.

Not being able to travel or to visit projects meant all of the hard fought momentum I had was lost, but believing in making the most of any situation I got busy working on personal projects..

I'm in the middle of two new books so they got more attention than usual and I created an online (Instagram live) version of my Reading Room interviews. Being on line using Instagram (where I'd typically be in someone’s living room) meant I could approach super inspiring people from any country. With Reading Room I interview makers of things (Architects, painters, photographers etc) using their book collection as a way to a broader conversation about themselves. Many of the interviews can be viewed on my IG page and my website.

Since our lockdown in New Zealand ended it feels like everyone is making up for lost time, working hard, clawing back lost momentum and it seems like everyone is really enjoying themselves. Taking nothing for granted!

We've just hit award entry season here for my architect clients and we're entering our summer months so, it’s a VERY busy period! We stop in the middle for Christmas and a break which I'm VERY sure everyone is looking forward to.

In amongst that I'm working on 3 new books, all at varying stages of completion, very exciting times indeed!

I've been a big fan of your work for a while now, could you tell us how your career started and what your background is?

I blame my Dad for my love for photography. He always carried a SLR loaded with slide film. These slides invariably ended up in family slideshows. Boring as shit for most kids, I was ENTHRALLED. I got to see how we all looked and where we went, AS PICTURES!

Perhaps the greatest memory I left high school with was that of a teacher that opened my eyes to how I could view the world through a camera. The impression she left me with caused me to refine and continue to imagine what it was like to see the world as photographs and what it might be like to be a photographer.

I had a curious beginning printing forensic photography.... ...followed by a foray into professional sports photography. While grotesque, the crime scene pictures revealed a story told from minute detail to a much wider gamut.

This storytelling influence, combined with the decisive moment essential to successful professional sports photography has meant a unique approach to the processes I've developed with my work as a photographer of architecture over the past 23 years.

For me, the family photograph sits at the very centre of my practice as a photographer. It's fixed as the foundation and provides the context for everything else I do. I blamed my Dad earlier for provoking in me the curiosity that I now hold so dear and it’s because of the beautiful pictures he made of us as a family. It's not just the pictures he made of just us a family, it's what all family photos represent and what they do that are so important.

It's what they reveal and how we revere those moments and memories they ignite that are so fervent we can almost touch them. Even in the pictures we look at from times past that we may not recollect accurately but recall and remake a memory from our imagined past. And so memory provides again and allows us to time travel, it seduces us from its unreliable route to the present.

I am the author of award-winning photo-books Portrait of a house and Rannoch. Photo-books bring together my passion for image, place and language, which started in 2013 with the launch of Portrait of a House, my first self-published photo-book. Since then, I have started publishing the Ripe Fruit series.

My images feature in many books and collaborations including Long Live the Modern (2009), Group Architects: Towards a New Zealand Architecture (2010), Athfield Architects (2012) and Summer Houses (2011); as well as in numerous national and international magazines such as Elle Decor (Italy, UK, Japan and South Africa), Architectural Digest (Germany), Dwell (USA), Habitus, InDesign (Australia), Architecture NZ, Home, and Here (NZ).

I lecture in Photography of Architecture at the University of Auckland, where I have also had the pleasure of offering the annual Simon Devitt Prize for Photography since 2008.

How great that you get to share your knowledge with your students, lucky them!

As a photography community we love a bit of gear talk, could you tell us what equipment you have in your bag and enlighten us a little bit more about your process.

I use only Canon equipment and like being light on my feet so I'm able to react quickly to moments. So, I never shoot tethered and I have one lens bag, a tripod and my camera. I'm on the tripod half the time and I often have an assistant making me look good. Thanks Hamish.

We trust our eyes too much. The other senses are profoundly important in how we view a scene. In truth, the camera is the mechanism that takes care of the visual element. Its nature is to attempt to capture the real. That is not the challenge for me, my pursuit is to capture the whisperings of an environment, to represent how it feels to be there.

I always spend time being still in the environment I am charged with photographing. I listen as much as I watch. I wait to hear its breath. This is how I find what is really in the space. Perhaps my approach is a dichotomy to what we expect a photograph to provide. I want to strip the image of the artificial and want to expose its heartbeat, I want to hear it.

My work is as much about the landscape as it is the people that inhabit the structures. Nature is a container for these things. It moves around it, underneath it and through it in unpredictable and curious ways. This fascinates me and I would love to revisit some of these sites in 10, 20, 40 years time..

What first drew me to your work was your moody imagery, where did the inspiration come from in creating your stylised look?

I think style is something that is earned. And over time the result (if there is one) isn't the intention rather its the outcome and how the work is viewed. I think we develop ways of working (and critical thinking about our work) over time and so there is a part of my process that has a very rational element to it (the exchange between my clients and I for example). AND I think any successful photographers' process ALSO allows for chance encounter with things known and unknown.

I like to leave room for the unknown by keeping my process very simple. I think this simplicity allows for appropriate complexity in other areas like daydreaming and inspiration.

I couldn’t agree more, I’ve started to keep things simple myself and not over complicate my process…sometimes less is more!

What is like to live in Auckland and what is the interior and architectural scene like out there?

Auckland is New Zealand's largest city (1.5 million). I live on 10 acres 50 minutes south of the city centre. I get travel around our beautiful country a lot so it feels more like I live in New Zealand than Auckland specifically. The architecture and interior scene is very vibrant.

We enjoy an abundance of incredible talent pushing each other (and their amazing clients) to create world class architecture. We have a VERY diverse natural landscape that demands really outstanding solutions, so the sense of place and the spirit of place we call home is center stage.

I was lucky enough to have visited friends last year and what a beautiful country! They live in Nelson on the south island which is surrounded by outstanding natural beauty. It really is a trip of a lifetime, it should definitely be on everyone’s bucket list!

It’s been a hard year for us all but what would say is the highlight so far…?

My career to date feels like an ongoing series of highlights! I'm very fortunate to work with a large number of INCREDIBLY talented and creative humans here in New Zealand and overseas. Without those collaborations and their belief in me, the opportunities I've had (and continue to have) wouldn't happen.

I get to be a photographer, photographing amazing architecture in some of the world’s best landscapes. I get to teach (and be taught) at University and private workshops AND I get to create and publish my own books. Life is VERY VERY GOOD!

It is so great to hear that things are going well and you’re so positive. A good mantra to bring into 2021!

Lastly, I’m forever trying to search out new and exciting portfolios, do you have any favourite photographers that inspire you and anyone you think we should be keeping an eye out for?

When I first started out I didn't look at many other photographers work. I was (then) more influenced by film makers (Antonioni), painters (Bourgeois), sculptors (Keifer) and poets (Neruda). And I still do but also now have a very large collection of photo-books.

There are some very likely candidates in amongst that lot (Eggleston, Atget) but also some lesser known (Ralph Eugene Meatyard) that have had a big influence on me. In my chosen area of photographing architecture there are some AMAZING photographers doing sensational work like Mike Kelley, a Los Angeles based photographer.

My long standing influence and inspiration definitely comes from two main sources: Bill Viola (video artist) and Anselm Kiefer (painter/sculptor).

To see more of Simon’s portfolio visit his website - https://linktr.ee/simon_devitt/