Interview with Architectural Photographer Rui Cardoso

Rui Cardoso is a Portugal-based architectural photographer making a name for himself thanks to his poetic and considered approach displayed in every project he shoots. A trained architect, Rui worked with the lauded architect Manuel Aires Mateus at his Lisbon atelier for four years. During this period he found himself increasingly drawn to photography before deciding to dedicate his time to the photography practice full time. His first bit of gear was his father’s old 35mm film camera, which he used during university studies in lieu of having to sketch during site visits.

To this day, Cardoso works exclusively with analogue photography – a ‘slow paced’ approach that he credits with keeping his practice dedicated, authentic and unique. Cardoso names the work of Aires Mateus as one of his consistent sources of creative inspiration, along with projects he sought out in Sri Lanka by local architect Geoffrey Bawa, as well as the work of fellow photographer Hélène Binet.

We recently had a chat to Cardoso about everything from his early career, craziest experience on a job, creative inspiration and more. Read on for the goods, and prepared to feel massively inspired. You’re welcome!

House in Time, Portugal by Aires Mateus.

+ Hello Rui, welcome to Yellowtrace and thank you for taking the time to e-chat. Could you please give us a quick introduction on yourself and your background? What lead you to become an architectural photographer?

Hi! Thank you for having me. I’m an architectural photographer based in Portugal. I have an architectural degree and I have worked as an architect with Manuel Aires Mateus for almost 4 years before dedicating myself entirely to photography. It all started quite naively during my first year of university after using my father’s old 35mm camera. There was a huge tradition and respect regarding drawing in my university because of Álvaro Siza and Souto de Moura and my friends would all draw and sketch a lot when visiting a new space. I was never very good at it and never really liked it very much so having my father’s old camera was a liberation from drawing. It became my tool to understand space, to measure, to understand scale and perceive light and shadow. I was instantly hooked.
It was always a hobby until I started working in Lisbon with Manuel Aires Mateus where it got more serious and it became a passion and a desire. I started going to a lot of construction sites and I would always bring my camera. Eventually, I started shooting some projects of the office more seriously in my spare time and I realized that this was what I really wanted to do.

House in Estrela, Portugal by Aires Mateus. See our previous coverage of this amazing house here.

+ What is your main priority when starting a project? Is there something that is fundamental to your practice – your philosophy and your process?

If I have an opportunity before the shooting I always like to spend a day on the space, trying to understand it, visualizing the photos I will take, and the most important, understanding light and the way it changes over the day. I think this is my main focus, the way light and shadow changes your perception of space and trying to convey those perceptions and atmospheres into my photography.

House in Monsaraz, Portugal by Aires Mateus.

+ Who/ what are some of your main sources of inspiration? Other photographers, creatives, or references you are regularly drawn to?

Having studied architecture in Porto and experienced some of their work, Álvaro Siza and Souto de Moura are some of my biggest inspirations. They were huge references during my studies and they are still today. Aires Mateus is always a reference, not only because of their unique architecture but also because of the friends and relationships I have made in the office.
Lately, Cingalese architect Geoffrey Bawa has been a huge inspiration after I visited some of his projects in Sri Lanka. The way he designed spaces, blending exterior and interior, the incorporation of vernacular architectural language and his use of texture, colour and materials, really changed my perception of architecture, it was a touching discovery I wasn’t expecting to have. I’m glad some good friends recommended visiting his projects. Regarding photographers I love Hélène Binet, she is a huge source of inspiration. Julius Shulman, Ezra Stoller, Lucien Hervé, Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, Guido Guidi and Luigi Ghirri are always in my subconscious and are references I am regularly drawn to and revisiting.

Kandalama Hotel in Sri Lanka by Geoffrey Bawa.

+ What do you feel is the most challenging part of being a photographer today?

I think the most challenging part of being a photographer today is remaining true to yourself, to your creativity and beliefs. We live in a society where you have a constant overload of imagery on internet and social media, where everyone, in an instant, can take pictures and be a photographer, where images are consumed without a filter or being questioned or properly seen.
My photography goes a little bit against this trend. I only shoot with film, medium format and large format, and I embrace each picture with tremendous importance and care. I believe this dedication, commitment, and most importantly, slow pace, is very important in the way I perceive architecture and in the overall result.

Kandalama Hotel in Sri Lanka by Geoffrey Bawa.

+ Social media, particularly Instagram, is saturating creative industries and blurring the concept of ‘professional’ photography – how do you feel about social media as an advantage/disadvantage to your work?

Whenever I am shooting I always stay true to my way of thinking and my natural creative process. What I mean is, I do not shape the type of photography I am creating thinking about the platform where they are going to be published. Therefore, despite what I said in the previous answer, I prefer to see Instagram simply as an advantageous working tool, as a way to reach a wider audience in order to promote my work.

Lunuganga in Sri Lanka by Geoffrey Bawa.

+ Is there a particular country/city/place where the architecture really speaks to you?

Definitely! And it could only be Porto, in Portugal! Porto is the second biggest city in Portugal after Lisbon and it has some of the best architecture in the world, I’m not kidding. You have two Pritzker Prize architects living in the city, Álvaro Siza and Souto de Moura and a lot of younger architects, some of them their disciples. You could easily spend a week just seeing the work of Siza and Souto de Moura and it would be totally worth it. If you ever go there I highly recommend you seeing Álvaro Siza’s Boa Nova Tea House, Leça Sea Pools, the Faculty of Architecture or Souto de Moura’s Casa das Artes.
Porto is an utterly beautiful small town with a lot of character, good food and vernacular architecture living in perfect balance with contemporary architecture.

Second Wind in Vejer de la Frontera, Cádiz by James Turrell.

+ What advice would you give to emerging photographers? What has been one of your biggest lessons learned since starting your practice?

If you have the passion for photography I would absolutely encourage you to follow your dream! There is nothing worse than doing what you don’t love, believe me. So, if you truly know what your passion is, just fight for it, take risks, get out of your comfort zone and take a chance. You can’t progress or improve if you are in your comfort zone, so be willing to step out and challenge yourself to be better each time.
I would also advise emerging photographers to print their photos and judge them, trying to understand if they are good or not, if they would take that shot again, and what would they do differently. I think this is very good advice since it allows you to revisit old work in order to progress and not make the same mistakes as before.

Capela Do Monte in Barão de São João, Portugal by Álvaro Siza.

Bruder Klaus Chapel in Mechernich, Germany by Peter Zumthor.

+ What are you most proud of professionally? Do you have a favourite shoot/project thus far?

Having worked with Manuel Aires Mateus for almost 4 years and building a relationship of friendship and admiration with him and the entire office certainly changed me, both personally and professionally, allowing me to understand and perceive his architecture more deeply, and providing me an absolutely ineffable experience in shooting his buildings, that otherwise, I think it wouldn’t be possible. I will ever be grateful for the tips, advice and trust his office always gave me, that in a way shaped and improved my photography.
Regarding a favourite shoot, I think I would have to say Lunuganga, Geoffrey Bawa’s country home that took him almost 50 years to build. I have to choose this project because of the immersive experience and discovery it provided me. I had the pleasure to sleep in one of his suites and spend almost two days perceiving and feeling his spaces and landscape while shooting it. Lunuganga is the epitome of Bawa’s desire to achieve a perfect balance and symbiosis between architecture and nature, between space and landscape, a truly modern paradise among the lush tropical vegetation, and is simply one of the best projects I have ever seen. It was, without question, a life-changing experience.

Casa Do Lado in Porto, Portugal by Miguel Gomes.

+ What’s the craziest experience you’ve ever had on a shoot?

One of the worst/craziest experiences I’ve had on a shoot was a missing film roll from a house in Lisbon that I went shooting specifically on that day. When I returned home and was numbering the rolls I couldn’t find the last one and I absolutely freaked out, I was panicking. I called the owner to see if they could find it, I went there myself and I couldn’t find it. When I was resigned I lost it and I was cleaning and packing my camera gear, I opened the camera and there it was, the missing roll.

+ What would be your dream creative project or collaboration?

Having had the most memorable experience in shooting Geoffrey Bawa’s architecture my dream creative project would be to spend some months in Sri Lanka seeing his architecture and shooting it. That would be, definitely, a dream come true.