In this special session, Fabien Charuau enlightens us about the impact of technology and the power of images in architectural photography. Emphasizing on how to show the hidden emotions of a building. From social media to AI, Fabian offers a deeper understanding of how architectural photography evolved alongside technological advancements.

Fabien Charuau is a French photographer based in Mumbai. He founded Studio Charuau, specializing in South Asia’s architectural and interior photography. His work goes beyond simply documenting spaces. He aims to capture the feeling of being in a place, revealing hidden stories and emotions through his images. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for architecture, his photography continues to bridge the gap between physical structures and human experiences.

Key Insights of Session

1. Artistic Vision and Philosophy of Architectural Photography

• Fabien described his approach to photography as emotion-driven and experiential. Further, aiming to capture the feeling and atmosphere of a space rather than sanitizing or hyper-curating images.
  
• His work intentionally avoids artificial lighting. Instead, he relies on natural light and authentic color representation. He emphasized fidelity to how the eye perceives space and mood.
  
• For Fabien, color remains vital, especially in contrast to the increasingly desaturated trends he observes in contemporary Indian photography.
  
• He views architecture not just as structure but as emotional landscape. Also, he sees his role as translating that emotion into enduring visual form.

2. Personal and Professional Evolution

• Fabien’s early influence came from photojournalism and street photography, resisting the dominant medium-format, controlled aesthetic popular at the time.
  
• Despite initial difficulty in establishing his unique visual voice, his commitment to creating “perennial” images. They remain relevant and emotionally resonant decades later, has remained consistent.
  
• He highlighted the rare access his photography affords, from elite Mumbai penthouses to industrial sites and rural streets, offering a unique lens into India’s socio-economic contrasts.
  

3. Image-Making and Digital Culture in Architectural Photography

• He critiqued the passive consumption of images on social media, urging students to move beyond Instagram and engage more deeply with images, on larger screens, with context, and with critical thinking.
  
• His practice extends into generative art, where he collaborates with algorithms to create artworks, often starting from found images and processing them through code to reveal hidden energies within the pixel structure.
  
• His work often addresses themes of intimacy, censorship, and societal shifts, including commentary on public affection in India and how algorithmic visibility affects which images we see.
  

4. The Changing Nature of Photographic Meaning

• Fabien argued that the meaning of photographs is increasingly shaped by algorithms rather than human editors, a stark shift from pre-2005 when image circulation was mostly curated by humans through magazines, books, and exhibitions.
  
• Drawing on semiotics and visual theory, he explored how photographs lose their original context and intent once uploaded online, evolving into autonomous digital entities, “floating” on the internet with lives of their own.
  
• He warned against the illusion of control, noting that algorithms now dictate image visibility, virality, and meaning, which impacts not just aesthetics but also political and cultural ideologies.
  

5. Architecture and the Role of Architectural Photography

• The final part of the talk returned to architectural photography, reframing it as critical documentation in a rapidly changing world.
  
• Fabien called for a more conscious, ethical, and reflective practice in architectural image-making, one that respects the light, emotion, and temporal context of a space.
  
• He posed questions about the relevance and responsibility of architectural photographers in the age of AI and mass digital documentation.
  

Conclusion

Fabien Charreau’s session was a powerful call to rethink photography not just as image-making, but as cultural authorship, emotional translation, and ideological practice. Through personal stories, technical insights, and broader reflections on digital society, he encouraged participants to become more critical, active viewers and creators of visual content. His lecture underscored the urgency of re-evaluating how we engage with photography in an era where technology, algorithms, and AI increasingly mediate our relationship to reality.

Fabien closed with an invitation for deeper engagement, either through extended workshops or institutional collaborations, emphasizing that this short session was only a glimpse into the larger discourse on images, meaning, and modern visual culture.