Where Sky And Structures Meet: New Architectural Photography From Denmark

Scale And Simplicity Are Compressed In This Series Of Structured Tranquillity

Kim Høltermand is the award-winning and Copenhagen-born photographer who builds careful compositions from the shapes and lines offered by urban architecture. Picking up photography in 2007, Kim’s work has been included in a broad selection of publications from D-Mode to Dwell, growing both in popularity and into the “eerie and desolate” style he describes his images as having today.

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Kim’s sharp focus on shape and the structure of a whole stands in stark contrast to his alternative work as a fingerprints expert with the Danish National Police; and yet, this contrast between the two professions belies a broader unity. His is a body of work that focusses principally on found shapes and structures; as such, the predominantly architectural focus sometimes – and in such a way as to draw encouraging parallels – admits of natural formations. From modernist architecture to a single gathering cirrus, we spoke to Kim to explore the process and inspiration behind his newest offering: ‘Architectural Dreaming’.

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The Plus: What attracted you to the buildings you’ve featured in this series?
Kim Høltermand:
I think that the whole feel of the series has this space architecture feel, like every building and structure has a little bit of sci-fi in in its DNA. They all look “spacy” and I love that.
And I also have a very weak heart for sci-fi which also filled a lot of my childhood, watching sci-fi series and movies at home, playing with my Star Wars toys, or building spaceships from LEGO. That has had a big influence on my photography.

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TP: Why ‘dreaming’?
KH:
I dreamt this series one night and that transformed into the title – but I also dream of architecture or new series a lot, and concepts. The series also has this dreamy tint to it, hence the clouds in the beginning of the series. Like you are floating away into architecture heaven.

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TP: What has made you take architecture as the subject of so much of your photography?
KH:
In 2008 I moved into a house which belonged to two landscape architects. They had several architectural magazine subscriptions which they failed to end when they moved from the house. I started reading them, and boom – architecture exploded in my mind and I thought, hey, why not try to shoot architecture.
I have an excellent eye for details and patterns from a creative background in graphic design and architectural photography quickly became my thing.

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TP: What are the problems you faced getting the photos for this series?
KH:
I had no problems at all shooting this series – it is a collection of architecture from Copenhagen and Barcelona that I put together, as I thought it worked great as a whole.

TP: There is a lot of patterning and geometry – did you consider a career in anything else before you chose photography?
KH:
Either graphic design, or illustration. But I also draw and have worked in 3D, so I am thinking creatively 24/7.

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TP: Do you have a favourite building – or structure – that you have visited?
KH:
One of the most amazing structures was the abandoned Valby gas silo (now sadly demolished) just outside Copenhagen. I had the chance to step inside this behemoth, and as my eyes slowly got used to the darkness I looked up and I felt like being in a mix between a spaceship and a cathedral from hell with oil running down its sides.
I remember dropping my keys on the floor and the echo resonated for several minutes. My jaw also hit the floor (laughing). But I have already had the pleasure of visiting so many beautiful places, buildings and structures, and hopefully it doesn’t end here.

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