Outdistance: Derek Swalwell's Solo Exhibition

Prominent Melbourne-based architecture photographer Derek Swalwell‘s solo exhibition ‘Outdistance’ launches later this week, showcasing ten photographic scenes from Italy‘s famed design locations, exploring the interplay of light and design in architecture.

Gratifyingly utopian the photographic scenes reveal the leaps in the design of the postmodern era through the work of prominent architect trio Carlo Scarpa, Aldo Rossi and Carlo Aymonino‘s famed sites Brion Cemetery, San Cataldo Cemetery and the Gallaratese complex.

“Unlike my previous two series, ‘Outdistance’ is a study more so of the detail and intimate presence of architecture,” says Swalwell. “Architecture has always been a fascination for me and I think one of the contributing factors was my time travelling. Being able to experience these significant architectural structures in person, seeing historical structures in their context and full scale became part of my travel agenda.”

Focusing on the detail of these buildings, Swalwell probes into the way light traverses the structures. This striking series takes an intimate and probing look into architecture by contributing a refreshing new narrative around historically significant architectural locations.

“The idea with this series was to show the building in detail, as for me the power of Brutalist architecture resides in its detail. Scarpa’s concrete features, for example, and the curves and bold silence of Aldo Rossi’s and Carlo Aymonino’s work compelled me to document them from each angle, many times over until the composition revealed something new, both in the structure and my perception of it,” says Swalwell.

Derek Swalwell’s ‘Outdistance’ opens on 27 September 2018 at Modern Times in Fitzroy, VIC.