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PHOTOGRAPHERS OF DESIGN

>>> Matt Winquist, Phoenix, Arizona

From the age of 12, Matt Winquist knew that architecture would be his chosen profession, but, as a young man, a second art form caught his eye.

"I was working at an architecture firm in Detroit," explains the Michigan native. "I would go out on the construction sites to record the progress, and I wanted to make the most of the photographic process. Before long, I had the most beautiful construction shots of any construction administrator. I realized I could find beauty in the mundane."

Still working at the architectural firm, Winquist became intrigued with the concept of architectural photography. He apprenticed with two Detroit-area architectural photographers, Glenn Moore and Balthazar Korab, the latter known for his elegant black-and-white images of works by Eero Saarinen, Frank Lloyd Wright and other architectural giants. Winquist spent the better part of three years working evenings and weekends for the two photographers, doing everything from color correcting to assisting on shoots.

The PTE Building in Phoenix, a live/work adaptive reuse project by merzproject.

Nonetheless, architecture remained first and foremost with Winquist, who opted to complete his education at Arizona State University, receiving his bachelor's degree in architecture in 1998 and his master's in 2000. "I didn't do photography for a while," admits Winquist, who worked for Architekton and Gould Evans, two Phoenix-area architectural firms, after he left ASU.

Eventually, though his photographic trigger finger became itchy — and Winquist found the perfect place where he could pursue both architecture and photography. He joined merzproject in Phoenix, a forward-thinking architectural firm formed by acquaintances from his ASU graduate-school days. "We all bring something different to the table," says Winquist, who joined the firm in 2005 as a project manager. I'm the photographer and graphics person, in addition to doing architecture."

Merzproject's PTE Building.

At merzproject, Winquist has been able to get back into photography, shooting both merzproject work as well as projects by other designers. He shoots all digitally now, and does "go in with a tripod and all the equipment."

However, he believes, the best images come from the simplest approach, utilizing the available light. "I've always considered myself a minimalist, in both architecture and photography," Winquist says. "I try to compose with the light that's there, with a little bit of tension to draw the eye into the image."

The interior of a residential addition in Phoenix, also by merzproject.

Winquist used two different approaches shooting recent merzproject works. For The Roosevelt, a neighborhood tavern in Phoenix, Winquist used a hand-held camera and made the most of the bar's low lighting and movement of people to create soft, inviting images of the space that "capture the concept" of the hospitality project. For a spare, angular residential addition, Winquist used a sharper, clearer approach, focusing as much on the empty spaces as the structure and furnishings.

"I think being in architecture, I understand the toil and rigor involved in a project when I photograph it," Winquist says. "I understand the simple details and can extrapolate the key points in a building."

Matt Winquist, (480) 330-4864 or winquist@merzproject.com.