Evoking Lightness and Balance - Shannon McGrath

With an impressive breadth of work, photographer Shannon McGrath is a renowned name within the architecture and design community. Her intuitive work evokes a sense of balance and calm, beautifully capturing light, space and form.

Consistently injecting a sense of purity through her photography, Shannon McGrath’s work as a multi-faceted photographer and artist spanning her impressive career continues to be defined by a unique sense of balance and lightness. Her architectural and interiors photography imbues a controlled harmony, where restraint and clarity create unique apertures to capture spaces and form. Her own artistic work then becomes an opportunity for more individual expression and a playful curiosity. Shannon speaks to her background in fine art, her early fascination with architecture and interiors and the contributing influences along the way. In describing the initial pull, she says, “I feel I was always drawn to light and how light behaves in space. It was never really for me about being a photographer, it was more in picking a medium that related to architecture and interiors. If I were an architect, then this would be my main driving force – how a place feels and how the light interacts with space.”

Consistently injecting a sense of purity through her photography, Shannon McGrath’s work as a multi-faceted photographer and artist spanning her impressive career continues to be defined by a unique sense of balance and lightness.

Starting out professionally in a more commercial environment, Shannon began her career as a photographer for the Herald Sun’s display home section. Upon reflection, she says, “although the houses were not so aesthetically pleasing, it did teach me how to be efficient and make quick decisions and how to use the light that was available to me in such a short time. It was good training.” Having developed her lens since then, her approach has evolved and developed. Now, she says, “I look for the subtle beauty as well as being true to the space without any distortion. You should feel what the space is rather than what it is not. No illusions with me. When I approach a project, for me really, it’s sensory. Over the years I used to chase the light for both external and internal spaces but now I like to almost do the opposite. I look at where the light is, which determines an approach.”

Her architectural and interiors photography imbues a controlled harmony, where restraint and clarity create unique apertures to capture spaces and form.

Describing the main shift over time, Shannon says, “I started in the days of shooting film. I would say half my career to date was on film and the second half shooting digitally. I am so grateful that my formative years were learning and shooting on film.” Reflecting on how architectural photography has progressed, Shannon speaks to the advancement of digital and its effect on her approach. She explains, “there are so many advantages to shooting digitally over film. The result is immediate you know what you are getting, no more is there an element of surprise. The digital approach is more technical in comparison to the wonder of film. Every image is an art.”

Her own artistic work then becomes an opportunity for more individual expression and a playful curiosity.

After having recently been a client herself with the design of her own home in Melbourne, she says, “I have a whole new respect for architects, interior designers and builders.” This perspective will no doubt continue to influence her immersion into future projects and her depth of understanding of process. Looking forward, her plans(like many of us) are constantly in flux, but there is some certainty, she says. “I do see myself continuing in the field of commercial photography for many years to come but I would also like to bring my art practice more to the forefront.” For those who are familiar with Shannon’s personal work, her further forays into art will no doubt only build upon her beautiful, balanced approach.