Construction crane on a beach in Ireland (Alan Lavery)
Architectural photography is a style of work that is approachable by all simply because buildings are everywhere. It's what people who find themselves with a camera in a big city do when they look up; it's hard to ignore the many juxtapositions of texture, color, glass and sky. But what about the construction sites that eventually yield these structures? How many photo ops appear in them? Well, as a recent photography contest will show, plenty. While the general public may not be able to access these sites, many construction workers are amateur photographers and have created some amazing work to display.
Helicopter view of storm drains in the making (Wendy Whittemore)
Many of these "construction photographers" submitted their best images to the yearly image contest sponsored by Engineering News-Record (ENR). The images comprise of structures, people, and surroundings in the various stages of the construction process. Winners are selected by a panel of judges within ENR and displayed on their homepage. Submissions come in from around the world, and often, the submitted photographs can serve to highlight how different structures are created in equally different ways.
A crane in early morning fog (Joe Palma Jr.)
There's plenty more of these shots online. See the rest of the photographs here on the Engineering News-Record homepage.
The unlucky end for a viaduct in Italy (Emilio Filippelli)