The fields of photography and architecture have long been closely linked: photography provides a powerful way for architecture to be appreciated from a distance, and the camera lens alters and enhances buildings so that they can be appreciated anew, even by those already intimately familiar with them. Concrete: Photography and Architecture explores this deep and often complex relationship, with particular attention paid not only to how photography influences the perception of architecture but also the very design itself. Beginning with the invention of photography in the nineteenth century, this volume presents iconic images of urban architecture and townscapes that are organized thematically rather than simply chronologically. The editors have assembled over two hundred images from numerous notable photographers, including: Georg Aerni, Adolphe Braun, Balthasar Burkhard, Lynn Cohen, Walker Evans, Lucien Hervé, Germaine Krull, Stanley Kubrick, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and William Henry Fox Talbot. Originally published to coincide with an exhibition celebrating the Fotomuseum Winterthur’s twentieth anniversary, Concrete: Photography and Architecture is an exhaustive investigation of architectural photography and is as beautiful as it is informative.  

Daniela Janser is a research assistant, Thomas Seelig is curator of the permanent collection, and Urs Stahel is director at the Fotomuseum Winterthur.