CARLETON CHRISTY

I’m Carleton Christy, a photographer based in Los Angeles, California. I specialize in capturing architecture and the built environment.

My interest in this work began with architecture classes in high school where I was able to design homes and render them as three-dimensional drawings, so that a person could see what it would be like inside the space I had imagined. (This was in the 90s before CAD software took over, much less AI applications.) I learned how to make practical designs and, as an artist, I took pains to make sure my work looked beautiful. Today I attempt to make the most beautiful photographs I can of the spaces and objects I encounter, while capturing the intent of the designers who created them.

I continued in fine arts with undergraduate and graduate studies in painting, drawing and printmaking. As I refined my fine art practice, I found myself ...guess where—at a tilted drafting table making drawings with the same kinds of drafting pencils I used in my early architecture classes. I also made mixed media work that showcase cities with myriad buildings from different eras of architectural history.

Then, in about 2018, I started photographing buildings for a documentation project in southern Utah. I needed the proper lens for that project. That led to the purchase of a better camera, which led to the need for a few lights, which led to a diffuser panel. And ...on it goes.