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Passing briefly through Hong Kong, the beautiful, blue sky day could mean only one thing…..

Lunch by the water!

Having checked in for the night flight, I could enjoy the relative freedom of walking around town unencumbered by additional baggage. The waterfront redevelopment around the old Star Ferry Terminal was in full swing with massive dredges helping reshape the contours of the island’s shore.

Sitting at lunch on an outdoor terrace at Pelli’s IFC2, we were afforded a rather splendid view of progress on the International Commerce Centre designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, rising across the water. 

When finished, the two towers will face off against each other across the arrow straits separating Hong Kong Island from the mainland. Twin beacons to the continuing prosperity of the Fragrant Harbour.

With the skin now largely complete on CCTV, the striking forms pop out against the otherwise rectilinear skyline.

Setting up the camera anywhere on a public street always seems to attract some degree of attention. From the casual passer-by, puzzled by the odd appearance of the Alpa, to the die-hard enthusiast who’s heard of but never seen these things, it’s a definite crowd pleaser.

So pulling out the MAX on the bankside promenade of the Huangpu River in Shanghai was kind of asking for trouble. With my limited grasp of the local language, these mostly genial gatherings involve a good deal of blank expressions, hand gestures and general shoulder shrugging before everyone loses interest in the crazy foreigner and moves on.

Left to my own devices, I tried a few multi-frame panoramas in an attempt to capture the breadth of the ever-changing skyline across the river in Pudong. Here’s a rough proof of one pass.

Shanghai World Financial Centre opened to the public recently with observation decks, said to be the highest in the world, on the 94th and 100th floors. The building itself is currently the tallest in mainland China.

Oh, no!

Not again.

There’s nothing like traveling half way around the world and arriving just as the weather closes in. If one more person utters “You should have been here last week” as some sort of conciliatory gesture, they’re gone.

Still, nothing like a rainy day to start on all those things you were saving for a rainy day.

Some months ago I was approached by Phase One in Denmark to see if I could come up with an architectural image that would in some way represent the number “1″. Phase One had already completed two “Number 1″ images, both of which were shot in rather controlled circumstances. By seeking an architectural response, I suppose they were hoping to take the idea outside, extend the range a little. I’m guessing they didn’t think I’d be broadening the scale quite to this extent!

When the call came in from Phase, I happened to be on assignment in Beijing. Along with some of the Olympic venues, I’d been photographing construction on the nearby CCTV Headquarters building.

As soon as they posed the question (all the while stressing that they understood how difficult the request was), I knew where the solution lay. It was just a matter of finding exactly the right spot.

The idea I really wanted to get across was the absolute enormity of the scale. This is such a unique project, one that has captured the world’s imagination with its daring. The extraordinary nature of the design (by architects Rem Koolhaas and Ole Schleeren), especially in its final stages of construction, carried with it a certain sense of history in the making. This was a heroic undertaking and I definitely wanted to portray it as such.

In contrast to the controlled conditions of a studio, photographing architecture, particularly at this scale, almost always requires a great leap of faith, trusting only one’s ability to respond positively to whatever prevailing conditions happen to unfold. I must say, this is the bit I find most rewarding about photographing architecture. Actually, photographing anything really…  

So hanging out a window in Beijing, shooting a huge, iconic building over which we had no control whatsoever and having it perform for us, even for just those few minutes, was just remarkable. There is an undeniable sense of fulfillment when you can bring order to chaos, manipulate chance to your own ends and to my way of thinking at least, become one with the Universe.

There can be only ONE!

The Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, designed by Craig Hartman of SOM opened on 25th September.

When photographing the Cathedral early one morning across Lake Merritt, I was entranced by the reflective qualities of the adjacent sunlit buildings on the rippling water. I could have watched that all day.