Same Building, Different World: Why I Photograph Projects Twice a Year

It was a project that made me think differently. The villa in the Beskydy Mountains by WMA Architects stands at the edge of a developed area inside a protected landscape, on a site where a typical Beskydy timber house from the late 18th century once stood. We photographed it in winter. The landscape was quiet, unified and covered in snow. The building almost merged with it, almost disappeared. It was a strong image, but I knew it was not the whole story.

I suggested photographing it again in summer. The architect agreed immediately. A year later we returned.

Two Photographs, Two Realities, One Building

When you place the winter and summer photographs of the Beskydy project next to each other, you do not see only a change in nature. You see two different atmospheres, two different feelings and still the same building. In winter the villa becomes part of the landscape, recedes into it and breathes with it. In summer it stands out in another way. The greenery frames it, shows its proportions and reveals its relationship to the site.

The point is not which version is more beautiful. Both show the reality of the architecture, only at a different time. That is the essence.

Architects think about how their projects look throughout the year, how they work with light, how they respond to their surroundings and how they change with the nature around them. Yet this transformation is rarely documented. One visit, one set of photographs, one point of view. The work, however, continues to live, change and function in every condition.

Planning Matters

If I had to give one practical tip to anyone considering this approach, it would be this: photograph from the same positions in both seasons. It sounds simple, but it requires intention and preparation in advance.

Comparative pairs of photographs, the same view and a different season, are hard to resist. They immediately show what I am talking about.

It does not necessarily have to be winter and summer. Reliable snow is almost a lottery in our conditions. But late autumn, when trees still hold colour or are completely bare, followed by full summer, works very well. It is about contrast, atmosphere and showing the building in a different light, literally and figuratively.

Why It Helps the Architect

Strong visual material is valuable today. An architect who can show a project in two different seasons has something others do not. That matters when approaching new clients and when communicating with media.

I am convinced that this kind of material has a much better chance of being published in architecture magazines and online media. It is unique. It tells a story. And stories travel.

Yes, it can mean almost double the cost. Two visits, travel twice, time twice, preparing the client twice. But the result is not merely twice as good; it is many times stronger. It is about prestige, depth of presentation and showing your work the way it deserves to be shown.

What Next?

The Beskydy villa has so far been the only project I have photographed this way in both seasons. But the more I think about it, the more I believe it makes sense for every building with a strong relationship to its surroundings and landscape.

If you are an architect and you have a project where this could work, I will be happy to discuss it. No obligation, just my view as a photographer who believes that good architecture deserves to be shown in all its forms.

Architectural photographer Jiří Bednář