Steven Brooke, Vintage Architecture Photograph Rome Italy Steven Brooke Architectural Photo Art

Details

Description

Steven Brooke
Views of Rome
Hand signed and dated lower right
1991
Dimensions 11 X 8.5 inches
Vintage photo printed … Read more Steven Brooke
Views of Rome
Hand signed and dated lower right
1991
Dimensions 11 X 8.5 inches
Vintage photo printed on Kodak RC paper
Taken with an Arca Swiss view 2 X 3 camera
Provenance: Bass Museum, Miami Beach


Steven Brooke is an internationally recognized leader in architectural, landscape, and design photography with a career spanning over 40 years. He is most known for his photographs of Ancient Rome, Italy and Jerusalem, Israel. done on Sepia toned paper. Artist signature and date in pen lower right. He is particularly celebrated for his documentation of historic preservation, specifically the Miami Beach Art Deco District, for which he received multiple achievement medals. Brooke is also a prolific author having photographed over 40 books and and educator serving as a faculty member at the University of Miami School of Architecture.
The Genre of Architecture photography is growing in significance and collectability.
Famous architecture photographers have historically done more than just document buildings; they interpret space and light to define how the public perceives design. Pioneers like Julius Shulman glamorized mid-century modernism by including people in his shots to show a lifestyle, while his contemporary Ezra Stoller was known for "Stollerizing"—capturing buildings with scientific, geometric precision. Modern giants like Iwan Baan have shifted the field toward a more documentary, candid style that focuses on how people interact with urban environments. French pioneers Eugène Atget and Lucien Hervé The preferred photographer of Le Corbusier, Hervé was known for his use of light, shadow, and minimalist geometry. Contemporary Masters such as Iwan Baan and Hélène Binet: A Swiss-French photographer who exclusively uses analog film to capture the textures and "soul" of spaces, frequently collaborating with Zaha Hadid and Daniel Libeskind. Bernd and Hilla Becher: Known for their "typologies," they spent 40 years documenting industrial structures like water towers and blast furnaces in rigid grids.
Stephen Shore: A pioneer in color photography who captured the beauty of everyday, banal buildings across America.
Hiroshi Sugimoto: While an artist first, his Architecture series uses deliberate blur to extract the "essence" of famous landmarks.
Brooke presented an absolutely stunning collection of monochrome photographs depicting typical signature views of Rome and an array of other, less familiar architectural jewels. Divided into three historically significant and culturally distinct eras. These photos capture the unique essence of ancient Rome, Christian Rome, and modern Rome. Brooke, in his presentation, examined the paradigms of six centuries of architectural depiction with applications to contemporary architectural photography practice. In reference to the painting styles of Jan Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch of the 17th century, Giovanni Piranesi and Canaletto of the 18th century, and Edward Hopper, Giorgio de Chirico, and Hugh Ferris, Brooke highlighted the foundation of producing vertical and horizontal alignment for proportional accuracy, specifically edifying the usage of border verticals for exteriors, interiors and streetscapes and proportional methods using visible shapes for architectural depiction.

Major Achievements & Awards
Brooke's work has been honored by some of the most prestigious institutions in the field:
AIA National Honor Award in Photography: Received from the American Institute of Architects for his significant contributions to the profession.
Rome Prize: Awarded by the American Academy in Rome, one of the highest honors for artists and scholars.
Department's Outstanding Faculty Award: Recognized for his teaching at the University of Miami.

He has contributed to or written dozens of books on architecture and design:
Xposure Festival
Architectural Photography and Composition.
Deco Delights: A seminal book on the history and preservation of the Miami Beach Art Deco District.
Regional Surveys: Books covering the houses of Philip Johnson, Carrére and Hastings, and historic homes in Florida and Virginia.
Views of Rome and Miami: A thematic series often compared in exhibitions for their architectural contrasts. See less