by Elen Jones
Hélène Binet – LIGHT LINES. (23 October 2021 — 23 January 2022)
An Introduction to Architectural Photography
Architecture
photographer – quite a niche vocation. Few are particularly renowned, despite
their talent, especially in comparison to the reputations which architects can
carve for themselves. Even fewer earn fame outside of the architecture world,
tending to be “more anonymous and invisible to the wider public.”1
Furthermore, many experience the slight contempt of others, wondering what
exactly it is that makes their job so creative and important. Helene Binet is
the exception to this rule. While not as well-known as other exhibitors this
year, the internationally acclaimed, Swiss-French photographer achieved a solo
exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London this year – ‘Light Lines’.
The exhibition encapsulated her unique but varied work over her 35-year career,
as well as a huge variety of buildings – the Acropolis to the creations of Zaha
Hadid. I have collected some of my personal favourites from the display. A
fierce advocate for analogue photography, she believes that “the soul of
photography is its relationship with the instant.”
Binet’s
images introduced me to the work of Peter Zumthor, particularly The Bruder
Klaus Field Chapel (2007). From outside it is a monolithic structure, though on
the inside there remains the imprint of a tapered, but uncut, timber frame,
which was burned away after concrete had been poured over it. It leaves this
negative space – a cavity – with warmth and intricacy in this structural
detail. This juxtaposes the smooth, concrete exterior. There is not a roof, but
a view of the sky which (as the guidebook says) connects “spirituality with the
natural world”2 – something which Zumthor really wanted to achieve
with this project. Binet’s image is particularly powerful due to the contrast
she employs. The focus of the image is the bright, white daylight streaming in,
just beyond the opening in the sky, but your eye remains drawn to the charred
inside walls. I tried to recreate this intensity as I stepped out of the
exhibition, noticing a white, orb of a light above me.
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| The RA, 2021 |
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| The Bruder Klaus Field Chapel (2007) Peter Zumthor |
It is true that photographs can capture even the most fleeting of moments. Some of the images in series that were on display, highlighted Binet’s skill. For instance, these 4 images (below right) show just how shadows can manipulate how a structure appears to the viewer, without anything changing except light. At first it appears to be a prism darting out from the page, but the final image is much flatter, except for the gaping square hole. Called ‘Light Lines’ this collection particularly shows this strength of hers. There is minimal colour, except for her images of le Corbusier’s work, which has striking red and yellow across the composition. A more subtle use of colour is used in the image below (left) again a construction of Zumthor’s creation. This image displays the interaction of the building, with the pool, with the rugged landscape behind. The images it is displayed with continue to show the minimal approach that is witnessed in this image and carry through the same blue hues. With the water casting reflections, the image is distorted, making it hard to judge the real perimeters, except those cast by light. The use of colour in this image is less effective through a screen and at this size, but in real life it carries a subtle vibrancy (if that is even possible), exuding life and warmth against the monochrome studies, even if the colour would appear muted next to a full-colour photograph.
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| Therme Vals, Peter Zumthor (1996) |
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Kreuzberg
Tower and Wings, John Hejduk (1988) |
Binet’s process is more hands on than your usual digital photography. For a start, she uses a mixture of digital and analogue techniques, with the larger studies truly showing the power of method: hand printed black and white silver-gelatin prints reveal little of how she constructs her image, but the stark contrasts she can create, with deeper, richer hues, gives her images their sleekness. It involves formatting the image upside down and developing it carefully in a dark room. I especially appreciated this in her image of Zaha Hadid’s MAXXI – Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo (2009) in Rome, Italy. Incidentally, this is the formative city where Binet studied, lived and developed her style in the early years of her fledgling career. Surrounded by such a variety of Architecture, ancient and modern, it is no wonder that Binet found her passion and drive here. Even if you are not an avid Zaha Hadid fan, the balance of curved and straight lines in this image is visually pleasing and, by the angle at which it is taken, monumental.
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MAXXI
(Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo) - Zaha Hadid (2009) |
Binet grew up in a house of musicians and compares her profession to that of a musician during a very dynamic performance. Both professions capture the present, although personally I found her images more meditative than arresting. I think Binet tries to show us the dynamism surrounding us in our built environment. Any other liveliness comes from the compositions she creates, which imply activity and change, despite being static imagery.
The final image before leaving the exhibition is of Daniel Liebskind’s ‘House Without Walls’, completed in Milan, Italy, in 1986. The architect was initially recognised for his ‘paper architecture’ – he began his career with conceptual processes: drawing, writing and creating installations. His is the least ‘blocky’ of the compositions in the collection, with all the features being sculptural and broken by lines – however, there remains an order. I think it shows the dynamism and movement that Binet always tries to bring to her pictures. Here, once again, light and shadow create further ephemeral forms behind the physical, creating an original image. It is this skill which sets Binet apart. Every time she composes her image, she reimagines the forms before her and gives the buildings in question a new identity and longevity – and a new lease of life.
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House Without Walls - Daniel Libeskind. (1986.) |
LIGHT LINES - THE ARCHTECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF HELENE BINET. RA https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/helene-binet
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