Casa da Música

Looking beyond the familiar

Casa da Música is one of Porto’s most recognisable buildings, which also makes it easy to photograph in predictable ways. This project began as a self-initiated attempt to move past the established exterior views and concentrate instead on how the building is experienced from within.

With special access provided by Casa da Música, I was able to work more deliberately through its interiors and pay attention to elements that can disappear in a more conventional architectural overview: circulation routes, changing light, wayfinding, surface treatments, colour, framed views of the city and small functional details.

Architecture through use and detail

The photographs move between broader spatial compositions and more specific observations. Raw concrete sits alongside highly decorative tiled surfaces; large areas of glazing connect interior rooms back to Porto; signage, furniture and everyday objects introduce scale and function. Occasional human presence helps show the building as a place that is occupied and navigated rather than as an isolated architectural object.

For me, the project became an exercise in building a more complete visual vocabulary around a space — not only the images that establish what a building looks like, but also the photographs that communicate how it feels, how it is used and what gives it its individual character.

That approach is particularly relevant to commissioned work for architects, venues, cultural organisations and design-led businesses, where a useful image library often needs to do more than provide a handful of hero photographs. It needs to combine strong architectural views with atmosphere, details, context and the smaller visual cues that help a place communicate across websites, editorial, press and other applications.