John Gollings GOLLINGS PHOTOGRAPHY

Why did you decide to become an architect?
Probably ego, buildings are about the biggest thing you can leave behind! Plus an early sense of the ugliness and conformity that modern democratic societies impose on cities. The lowest common denominator rules and I thought that I could design better ways of living!

How did your interest in photography originate?
I loved the magic of the darkroom and I was shy! You could always get invited to a teenage party if you had a camera. The images defined my life and opened successive doors to even more magical worlds.

What is your most treasured possession?
My archive probably. Not just the private images, but the historically important documentation of much of the built environment in many parts of the world.

In your opinion, what personal qualities make a good architect?
Deep sense of humanity and knowledge of history, but also an overwhelming ego and tenacity to overcome ignorance and bureaucracy; Seidler, Hadid, Godsell, Lloyd Wright, on and on!

What building have you most enjoyed photographing?
Renzo Piano's Kanak Cultural Centre in Noumea and Frank Gehry's Disney Hall in Los Angeles.

Best architectural holiday destination?
Angkor Wat in Cambodia, one of the great imperial cities of the world where fantasy and architecture combine to uplift the soul.

What is your favourite camera to use for architectural photography?
My Linhof Technikarden 4x5, I can operate it blind and it's the most compact outfit I could devise without compromising a shot, but it only shoots film!

Digital vs. film?
It's almost a tragedy but I get better results from a digital Canon than the 4x5, at least on a magazine page. Plus the digital cameras enable different images, especially working in dark spaces, where they produce shots unavailable to the bigger slower cameras. However, I have always thought it was disrespectful to a great building to photograph it with a small camera.

Your greatest extravagance?
Doing my own projects overseas without quite knowing what I'm getting into. I trust in the serendipity of each occasion leading to a life enhancing experience. It generally works.

An upcoming international architectural project that excites you is ...?
Further documentation of James Brearley's work in Shanghai and more work in Cambodia and Mongolia.

What are you afraid of regarding the future?
That we won't quickly solve issues in the Middle East.

If you could meet one person alive?
Irving Penn. Across a range of subject matter he still produces the most arresting, simple photographs with no artiface, whilst allowing powerful insights into the topic.

Straight line or curved?
Brilliant question! I think on balance I come down on the side of curves. The mathematics are so intriguing and allude more to the mysteries of the world. The asymptotic line is all about human limitation because you can never get the answer! That's what life is all about.

What photograph do you wish you had taken?
Probably Cartier-Bresson's figure jumping over a puddle. From his book 'The Decisive Moment'. It defined what photography does best, which is to freeze a moment in time.

The greatest hero from the history of architecture?
Pharoah Khufu's vizier, Hemon, designed the Great Pyramid in Egypt. It continues to define the role of successful architecture as symbols of a culture.

The dastardly villain?
Michael Graves. One of the leading proponents of a noble theory that in practice screwed up a lot of buildings with clichéd devices and pastel colours in the 70's and 80's and are still around to haunt us today.

Perfect happiness is ...
Dangerous and delirious! It comes with the price of smug complacency. I never let myself get too happy because I fear an equal and opposite state of sadness and misery. However that's just my way of coping with everything happening around me!

Any advice for the young?
Work for yourself and don't be afraid to go into the unknown, its always easier than you think and infinitely more exciting!