Part of the Future: Architectural Photographer Ema Peter on Working With the Best and Chasing the Light
By Julia Gamolina
Based in Vancouver, Ema Peter Photography was founded in 2005 to bring Ema’s creative vision to architectural photography. Ema’s training in both the visual arts and photojournalism, with experience at the Magnum Photo Agency in Paris, created the foundations for her approach to lighting and composition.
With over twenty years of experience and shear determination, she has photographed internationally renowned projects and received countless awards. Ema deeply believes that a space has life and she makes it her mission to harness that character in every photograph. In her interview, Ema talks about giving her all to photograph some of the world’s most amazing moments of architecture, advising those wanting to pursue this path to take their time to build their style.
JG: How did you grow up?
EP: I grew up in Sofia, Bulgaria. My father was a film cameraman and with my mum, we traveled with him during the film productions. I remember I used to sleep in vans full of equipment and watch the crews create the most incredible lighting and transform the world around me. It was fascinating the way they used the light.
My dad’s side job was to take portraits in between productions. He used to develop the film in our bathroom at night; black out the windows of the kitchen and turn it into a darkroom. I was about five years old when I was sitting next to him helping him print. I remember that he would put the exposed paper in the developer, and when the image would slowly show up I always thought it was magical. This feeling never changed and he gave me my first camera when I was six. My love for capturing the light and world around me was so strong I never stopped holding the camera in my hands to this day.
ACDF and IBI, Parq Vancouver. Image courtesy of Ema Peter.
Residence by AARobins Architect. Image courtesy of Ema Peter.
You started as a news anchor! What did you learn from this experience that then propelled you towards photography, and a focus on architecture?
The TV for me was a great experience as it got me out of my shell. I was extremely shy and I really pushed myself to be successful at my job which meant, when you are in TV, to be visible to the entire country, something sensitive artistic people always have a hard time doing. It is probably the hardest job I have ever done but what it did was teach me that my voice was heard and little by little I started hearing it too.
How did the focus on architectural photography come about?
After finishing my masters degree in photography in Sofia, I was accepted to be an intern of the Paris bureau of Magnum Photo Agency. I wanted to be a photojournalist and for me to be surrounded by the biggest names of photojournalism was truly a dream come true.
During my time in Paris, I visited Villa La Roche by Le Corbusier. This was the first moment when I truly fell in love in architecture as I felt in his day and age somehow he saw and created the future. I wanted to be part of this future and this drew me to the modernists, the architects that truly push boundaries and create a new reality.
“I was on the road, on my own, 240 days a year. This experience gave me an amazing sense of freedom and self confidence — that I can go anywhere and do anything.”
How did you get your start in architectural photography?
I moved to Vancouver, but no one wanted to give me a job, I knocked at every door possible and three months later I was finally given a chance. I started working for VRX Studios which was the sole provider for hospitality images to Expedia. I traveled all around the world, photographing hotels and resorts. On average I was on the road, on my own, 240 days a year. This experience gave me an amazing sense of freedom and self confidence — that I can go anywhere and do anything. I learned how to create strong interior and architectural shots, and set up and organize entire shoots on my own. The success of it depended only on me. I almost felt like this was the bootcamp of architectural and interior photography and I truly worked endless hours to prove I can create the best images possible.
I became head of photography within two years and ended up doing some of the largest advertisement hospitality shoots all over the world. This gave me also the chance to get to be part of a management team that taught me business and marketing.
How did you eventually go off on your own?
Parallel to my job I started my own firm as well. My biggest pivot point was when I photographed a true architectural masterpiece by AARobins, which was a residential home on one of the Gulf Islands of British Columbia. This home was so unique and so futuristic that arriving on site and saw it, I cried. I gave my heart and soul in photographing it and now this home is one of the most reposted ones in social media and has been published around the world. It was so hard to not want to experience the same feeling again and again. This is where my journey to work with the modernists began.
Another huge moment for me that I feel changed my career so much was photographing a small teahouse by Kengo Kuma in Vancouver. The image won numerous awards and I feel pushed me in the international scene of architectural photographers.
Vancouver House by BIG. Image courtesy of Ema Peter.
Grandview Heights by HCMA. Image courtesy of Ema Peter.
Where are you in your career today?
I feel I have reached a point where most of the international firms I have always admired work with me. Because of this, I am trying to constantly push myself as when the best come to work with you, the stakes are so much higher. They want to see how you will look at their project with your eyes and create an image that people will be in awe of. I feel with most of my clients that I am part of the team. My main goal is not only to photograph but to understand the project, to convey the story. My role is so much bigger than recording.
Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges? How did you manage through a disappointment or a perceived setback?
I have to say being a female architectural photographer is a huge challenge overall. To manage to be on a dawn shoot at 4-5 am and then to work all day including dusk which in the summer months is 10 pm and do this every day and travel too when you have two small children at home is truly one of the hardest things to do. I have done it for 10 years now and it has taken so much strength, passion and determination to juggle both. I am really driven and I want to show that women can do it all that they want to, but to be honest, if you do not have the support network there is truly no way to make this career work. My biggest challenge has been and will be for many years more, how to balance the incredibly long hours with my personal life and my role as a mum.
“My advice to architects is to hire photographers that will surprise them, that will show them angles of their own building they have not seen and will treat the project as theirs. The best collaborations happen when both sides participate and respect each other’s ideas.”
What advice do you have for architects?
My advice to architects is to hire photographers that will surprise them, that will show them angles of their own building they have not seen and will treat the project as theirs. The best collaborations happen when both sides participate and respect each other’s ideas.
Also I would tell them to hire more women to photograph their big commercial projects. There is a huge discrepancy of how projects seem to be distributed; very few females photograph the commercial projects.
Who are you admiring right now and why?
I have and always will admire Henri Cartier-Bresson. He is my constant source of inspiration. Because of him, I try to bring in photojournalism within the architectural shots. I always chase the light and the moments. It is an endless adrenaline rush.
Vancouver Tea House by Kengo Kuma & Associates. Image courtesy of Ema Peter.
Polygon Gallery by Patkau Architects. Image courtesy of Ema Peter.
Cardero by Henriquez Partners. Image courtesy of Ema Peter.
What is the impact you’d like to have on the world? What is your core mission?
I have thought about my purpose a lot recently. One of my biggest goals is to make sure I support female architectural photographers in their journey and manage to help diversify this primarily male field. One of my other biggest goals is to work with architects and designers who not only create the future but also ones that advocate for changes in architecture to create a better world. Architects for whom sustainability, multi-generational living, and a focus on reducing the impact of climate change are important.
Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?
My biggest advice for anyone starting this career is to not hurry to photograph every building in your city to create a portfolio. Be unique, find your style first, and then create a memorable portfolio which will stop people in their tracks. This does not happen overnight. This happens with years of work and consistency in searching for your own uniqueness and niche.
My advice to women is also not be discouraged by seeing that photographers at the top, being hired by the most significant firms are only male architectural photographers. It is time for us to be courageous and to truly create that pivoting point especially now when there is so much attention given to the female architects. This is our time to create a change.