Reading Architecture Through Photography: Investigating the Effects of Light, Framing, and Perspective on Spatial Perception in Selected Historic and Contemporary Iranian Architecture

AMIR ALI NAVADEH SHAHLA¹

1) Master of Architecture and 3rd Degree in Photography

IOI Code : ABFG-ACZCEH
Publication : 12th.international Congress on Civil Engineering, Architecture, Art and Urban Development(12icsau.ir)
Abstract :
    Abstract Architectural photography is not merely a means of recording the physical form of a building; through the selection of viewpoint, framing, lighting, camera distance, and perspective control, it can organize the way architectural space is perceived. This study examines how light, framing, and perspective transfer aspects of three-dimensional architectural experience into a two-dimensional photographic representation and distinguishes simple visual recording from analytical spatial reading. The research adopts a qualitative, descriptive-analytical approach and employs a comparative study of three cases: El-Goli complex in Tabriz, Azadi Tower in Tehran, and the Avicenna Mausoleum in Hamadan. The cases were selected because of their differences in scale, geometry, spatial organization, relationship with landscape, and architectural expression. The findings indicate that light reveals volume, texture, and depth through contrasts of illumination and shadow; framing creates visual hierarchy through selection and omission; and perspective provides depth cues through converging lines, overlap, and changes of scale. At El-Goli, the relationship between water, reflection, and the visual axis is central to image construction; at Azadi Tower, geometry and urban scale influence the reading of form; and at the Avicenna Mausoleum, the rhythm of columns, verticality, and voids strengthen visual movement and depth. The study concludes that, when photographic decisions are consciously aligned with architectural characteristics, architectural photography can move beyond visual recording and operate as a method for analyzing, interpreting, and communicating spatial experience.

Keywords : architectural photography spatial perception light framing perspective iranian architecture