Hufton + Crow

The British architectural photography duo proves that working with a second opinion makes for a better end product

- Lawrence Carlos

Photographers, like other auteurs, are usually known and become successful by a singular name. Named duos and partnerships are far less common, but if we think about some of the famous in the visual arts—Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Gilbert & George, Charles and Ray Eames, Bernd and Hiller Becher to name but a few—one thing is clear: the dynamism of both parties produces work that is greater than the sum of its individual contributions. The same can be said of Nick Hufton and Allan Crow, the British architectural photography duo behind the images of highest-profile buildings by all the stellar names in the architecture world today.

There is a high-definition clarity present in their images that conveys architecture in its most pristine manner. Their body of work represents a documentation of how contemporary architects strive for the utmost standards in material finishes and twenty-first century definitions of space. Their hawk-eyed precision offers the viewer a moment in time in which the architecture frames human activity illuminated by the most optimal light. Indeed, some of their compositions are so close to perfection that it’s hard to imagine the architectural scene without its characters. In terms of capturing the crisp freshness of the built project, few do it better than Hufton + Crow. Allan Crow shares with BluPrint what their symbiosis offers their imagery.

What got you into both into photography? Can you tell us how you began individually? Why architectural photography?

Nick and I are old friends. We went to the same high school in Macclesfield, a small town near Manchester, UK. Our friendship began around 1994 when, as young men, we spent most of our time nocturnally traveling around the northwest of the UK clubbing and engaging in general shenanigans.