Sihao Fan

My research aims to develop a new photographic practice consisting of archival photography to express and document the life of buildings (churches as cases). In this context, the term “lives of buildings” (the life of the church) refers to buildings and the human activities within buildings as the non-material parts of their architecture. This new practice of archival photography to express the life of buildings is aimed at breaking the existing shackles of the architect-led pursuit of iconic images in architectural photography and visual similarity, which appear to be the sole aims of current practices of archiving architecture by photography. This study will seek to apply a visual systems practice method to express buildings and their human activities equally. This will combine press photography, which focuses on events, and architectural photography, which focuses on the buildings themselves. These practices will be augmented by an archival process to achieve the aim of archiving. 

Names of Supervisors:  

• Andy Milligan
• Dr Shaleph O’Neill