Tell It Slant

Built Environment: Giovanna Silva on photographing history through unexpected architectural interventions

- Giovanna Silva

FOR ME, photographing architecture provides an opportunity to speak about the history of a country, or to tell the story of a specific place and moment in time. I originally studied to become an architect in Milan because I wanted my work to take me around the world. But I soon realized that, aside from the likes of Renzo Piano, very few architects get to travel globally making buildings. So, instead, I started to shoot buildings, eventually contributing to magazines like Domus and Abitare. Later, I decided that I wanted to work in a more creative way, so I began producing books that combined architecture with travel; I also started my own publishing house, Humboldt, that focuses on books related to travel or collaborations between writers and photographers.