An interview with Melbourne based interior & architectural photographer and AP Almanac contributor Veeral Patel

“One of my initial conversations with Mike about AP Almanac was that he wanted the site to go beyond photography and how he wanted it to be somewhat like Dezeen. That suited my own interests as I disliked talking about photography i.e., gear but was more interested in people, processes and inspirations.”

Veeral Patel is a Melbourne (Australia) based architectural & interiors photographer and filmmaker.

Coming from a software engineering background and having worked a number of global Fortune 100 companies, he was eventually bitten by the creative bug. That saw him quit his corporate career on a taxi ride to the airport to pursue photographing cycling in Europe and eventually finding his niche in architectural photography and filmmaking.

He is fascinated by the architectural narrative in how buildings are designed and constructed. Drawing inspiration from cinema and contemporary art, he strives to create ephemeral moments in both still and film representation of architecture.

Veeral also writes and contributes to our friends at @apalmanac

Hi Veeral, I hope all is safe and well with you and many thanks for taking the time to share with our community. 

Can I congratulate you on a superb portfolio, I love the striking impact you achieve in your work and also I'm huge fan of your new website, very nice!

Can you tell us what has been keeping you occupied recently throughout 2020 and what your plans for 2021?

Firstly, thanks for the opportunity to be featured on your Instagram platform.

2020 like for everyone else was a shocking year, especially, for Melbourne with the numerous lock downs. It was one of the hardest points in in my career.

I channelled my energy into cooking because it was one of the most direct ways to boost my confidence of trying something new and thus foster creativity. Also I spent time delving more into video editing using Davinci Resolve and working on my new website.

Working on a design for my new website is what truly got me through the three-month lockdown we had last year.  My previous background has been in software engineering with very little experience in front-end development. It was the perfect opportunity to learn how to build a website based on the new web standards in contrast to what I had used previously.

Can I just say I love the simplicity of your new website…I think Mike Kelley is a fan as he got me onto your work.

2021 was going to be a catch up from 2020 but aside from three lock downs so far, things have been good as I have had the opportunity to work on a few interesting projects including pushing more on the video aspect of architecture. The more I explored the more I realised the various different types of film content that can be created.

That’s great, I’m trying to do as much video as possible, but I continue to keep really busy with the photography. I need to assign more time to explore the editing suites out there.

Could you tell us a bit more about your past, your education, ethos and how you approach your work currently?

Formally, my background is in Wireless Communications Engineering and had been involved in the development of 3G/3.5G chipset design. Later, I moved into enterprise software development mainly focusing on the Microsoft technology stack.  

In my free time I was into photography and cycling as a hobby which took me into photographing Cycling World Championships in Melbourne in 2010.

Umm…let’s just stop right there for a sec and big up that achievement! A man of many talents! Ok…continue…

There I met a Japanese photographer, Kei Tsuji and hearing his experiences of chasing cycling in Europe. That chance encounter was one of the catalysts for moving away from software to take up another challenge and further developing my interests in photography.

I did cycling photography and traveling in Europe for few years. The travels got me fascinated with culture and architecture and back in Melbourne my cycling connections helped me get in front of a few architects and property developers who were fanatical about cycling and the European races. 

Wow, what a journey, I love it.

How do you go about getting work and what do you find is the best solution you've found?

When I had initially started in architectural photography, I was lucky to have the contacts I made through cycling to help me get the initial projects to build my portfolio. Word of mouth helped immensely in that aspect.

Prior to 2020, I used to attend a lot of in-person architectural talks and that became one of the best ways to meet architects as well as to develop my own architectural knowledge. 

Nowadays, I leverage social media in a more tactful manner and engage with firms more strategically. I found LinkedIn to be even more effective as it is one of the most underutilised social media platforms as mentioned by Gary Vaynerchuk.  You can have direct conversations with architects especially those that are more active on LinkedIn than Instagram. 

LinkedIn has been great for me over the past few years. You really get a chance to see what new projects are out there and like you say, get a chance to chat directly with architects themselves. It seems the cycling circles have treated you well. I’m not sure I’ll be getting out the lycra any time soon.

Where do you see the future of photography heading, not only in our genre but as a whole?

Photography will persist in the future, but I feel that future photographers will perhaps be more multi-disciplined due to how we all consume media nowadays. Videography, Filmmaking and usage of CGI will become more common in documenting architecture and interiors.  Especially, when you consider that social media platforms tend to statistically favour videos over photographs.

I'm a big fan of your articles you write for our friends at AP Almanac, how did you get into that and where do you find the inspiration to come up with new engaging ideas?

When Mike Kelley had initially started AP Almanac, he put a request for writers to join. I didn’t get through the first round then one day out of the blue, I got an email from him about joining the team.

One of my initial conversations with Mike about AP Almanac was that he wanted the site to go beyond photography and how he wanted it to be somewhat like Dezeen. That suited my own interests as I disliked talking about photography i.e., gear but was more interested in people, processes and inspirations. If you listen to Chase Jarvis’ podcast, you will understand the gist of what I am talking about.

As the quote goes, “To be interesting, you must be interested”.

That was the idea behind M.mode. I wanted to get to know more about the people in our industry, however AP Almanac has become one of my favourite resources. It’s just my on my own here….

What is the interior and architectural scene like in Melbourne and do you ever get back to your native NZ? Is this where do you do most of your work?

The interior and architectural scene is excellent in Melbourne; however, Sydney is incredible especially in areas such as Vaucluse, Mosman, Woollahra and Point Piper. Most of my work has been in Melbourne, however I am very keen explore other parts of Australia.

I would love to go back to New Zealand to photograph some projects as the land typology is vastly different to Australia. That gives rise to even more interesting architecture. For example, Patterson Associates and Fearon Hay have designed some of the beautiful coastal homes one can imagine.

In terms who I would love to work with in NZ, it would have to be Rufus Knight (https://knightassociates.co.nz/).  Rufus’ work is exemplary however, who he is as individual is even more fascinating.

I love Fearon Hay’s work….I think our M.mode friend Simon Devitt has been working with them recently.

As a photography community we love a bit of gear talk, could you tell us what equipment you have in your bag and enlighten those who aren't familiar a little bit more about your process.

My photography setup is very simple and consists of Nikon Z7 (mirrorless camera) Z-Mount 24-70 F4 lens, F-Mount 24mm TS-E and 19mm TS-E. Additionally, for the video work I do, I still use my Z7 together with the ATOMOS Ninja V and a Rode VideoMic NTG microphone. I don’t prescribe to the notion of using a gimbal as I love having shaky footage ala Paul Greengrass in Bourne Identity.

My tripod is an old Gitzo 3311GS with a geared column paired with an Arca Swiss Cube. Having a geared column is invaluable.

In terms of software, I use Capture One Pro (Nikon Edition) for the initial exposure and colour balance then I do the rest of the editing in Photoshop. Finally, I will do a final colour grade in Capture One. 

All my video work is edited, and colour graded in Blackmagic Davinci Resolve. Davinci Resolve is a great application to learn editing because their standard version has no trial expiration. Additionally, I have a better appreciation and understanding of colours from Davinci Resolve and how I can apply that to my photography work.

It is all about the colour! I like that you have such a lightweight kit. I’m trying to downgrade quite a bit, I always seem to reach for my 24 TS and 24-70mm.

Do you feel that you're happy with the work you produce?

I am happy with what I produce in the given moment hence why I am commissioned in the first place. However, as a true artist my goal posts keeps shifting and I want to experiment with new ideas or narratives. The latter is what helps me produce more interesting work because of the different forms of inspiration I consume.

I’m beginning to get happy with the work I am producing, however I’m always trying to push myself and learn new tips and tricks. It is all about time for me. If my work flow saves me time in editing I can be out there shooting more on location. My back over recent years has started to give me a bit of jip….too many hours editing in front of the screen.

Do you have any advice for aspiring photographers to keep motivated and pushing yourself forward?

To stay motivated, you need to be photographing. That is one of the best ways to push forward as well. For example, look at the work of Pavel Bendov(@archexplorer), he came to NYC from Russia. He was out every day photographing buildings in NYC.  Through that he built a following on Instagram that saw him land some huge commissions across the US.

Additionally, embracing other forms of artwork through visiting galleries. Personally, viewing contemporary art has often unlocked some ideas I had not previously thought about.

I’ll go check him out.

I think we should talk a bit about copyright.....How do you go about educating your clients about listening and is there anything we can be doing better, especially in the UK to inform our clients better?

Copyright is the bane and rite of passage for every photographer. I have had my share of problems, but most can be mitigated through clear communications. For example, I found that clearly outlining a legible set of conditions governing licensing is always a good start and most often photographers do not concisely cover this. I always ensure this is covered in my fee proposals and invoices by asking the commissioning client explicitly their intended use.

Often when I am visiting architects for a portfolio review, I will discuss this with them.

This is one of the reasons why AP Almanac exists, it is a repository of information that can help photographers tackle copyright and other issues. Architects or Interior designers should understand copyright because their designs are no different from photographs as they are individually derived works.

AP A is like the Bible for photographers at the moment.

Where do you draw your inspiration from and how do you go about creating your stylised look? 

I feel my work is more disparate from project to project because I am influenced by so many different entities (artists and mediums).

Partly its due to my life as an engineer that I dislike being constant – I have an insatiable desire to constantly learn new techniques and experiment with different mediums or methodologies to create interesting work for architects or interior designers when the occasion arises.

A lot of my night-time photography work was influenced by films especially Blade Runner 2049, Atomic Blonde, Skyfall, and Spectre.

Recently, I have been seeking a lot of inspiration from contemporary artists such Hito Steyerl and Oliver Laric because of how they used mixed media.

Some great films in there…

Do you have a favourite thing you like to shoot and why?

I would love to do a night-time shoot of contemporary residential interior because you don’t see interior projects photographed in the dark.

I would love to execute it in the same manner as the apartment of  James Bond that was featured in the film, Spectre.

The challenge would be in designing light for each scene/room rather than trying light paint as you never get the direction of light with the former. The styling would need to follow a theme similar to the aforementioned scene in Spectre.

Such an incredible scene, probably the best in the movie……That and Javier’s opening scene. Great Bond movie!

What would say the highlight of your career would be to this point?

Photographing the Australian Islamic Centre of Newport designed by Glenn Murcutt and Elevli Plus has been one of my highlights. As Glenn is Australia’s only Pritzker award winning architect and to be picked by him for this project has been incredible honour. Additionally, this was a very culturally sensitive project and Glenn took a very contemporary approach in designing the mosque. 

The project was published in the May-June 2019 issue of Architecture Australia, one of the preeminent architectural publications.

Do you have any favourite photographers that inspire you and anyone you think we should be keeping an eye out for?

One of my favourite photographer’s is Darren Sylvester. He had an exhibition, Carve A Future, Devour Everything, Become Something, a few years ago at NGV Australia and it completed changed my perception of what defines a photographer.

What makes Darren unique is that he is a true multi-disciplinary artist as his work stretches across photography, music, video, and performance. During his exhibition I was surprised to learn that he taught himself music and produced an album within six months. That was one of the things about him that inspired me to move beyond photography. The highlight of his exhibition was the performance installation he had designed to experience his song, For You, that set my mind and soul on fire.

Lastly, what have you learnt and taken away from the past year’s events?

The pandemic has taught me one very important lesson is that you need to be multi-disciplined. Additionally, you cannot rely on the government to bail you out through relief grants when you can’t work. It is entirely up to; you work out how you need to derive a secondary source of income.

A huge thanks to Veeral for all his time, thoughths and energy over for his takeover and interview. A true source of inspiration for our community.

If you would like to see more of Veeral’s work click on the following links - Website - Instagram