Architectural Styles for Photographers: From Keralam to Modernism
Written by Abin Alex and Anu Joseph.
Abstract
A guide to architectural styles for photographers: why style matters, vernacular and Keralam traditional houses, Nagara, Dravida and Keralam temples, Indo-Islamic and Mughal buildings, colonial, Indo-Saracenic and Art Deco, and modern and postmodern architecture, with one table.
Keywords: architectural styles, Indian architecture styles, Keralam architecture, nalukettu, temple architecture photography, Mughal architecture, Indo-Saracenic, modernist architecture, architectural photography India
- Why should a photographer know architectural styles?
- What is vernacular architecture, and what defines Keralam's traditional buildings?
- How do you photograph Indian temple architecture?
- What should you look for in Indo-Islamic and Mughal buildings?
- What are Indo-Saracenic, colonial and Art Deco buildings?
- How do you photograph modern and postmodern buildings?
Why should a photographer know architectural styles?
Short answer. Knowing the style tells you which features matter, so you photograph the building as its designers meant it to be seen.
- Good architectural photography looks simple, but it depends on an informed understanding and interpretation of the building (Harris, 2002, p. 8).
- Architecture has three visual aims: composition, the relation of each part to the whole; expression, its effect on the viewer; and its relation to setting, time and human size (Harris, 2002, p. 18).
- Each style has signature features: a sloping tiled roof, a gopuram, a dome and minarets, a concrete grid. Find them before you set up the camera.
- Read about the building, talk to the caretaker or architect, and walk around it before you shoot.
| Style | Key features | What to photograph |
|---|---|---|
| Keralam traditional | Sloping tiled roofs, courtyards, timber | Roof lines, courtyard light, carved wood |
| Dravida temple | Vimana, gopuram, pillared halls | Gopuram from the axis, pillar rhythm |
| Nagara temple | Curved shikhara tower | Tower against sky, carved walls |
| Indo-Islamic and Mughal | Domes, arches, minarets, jali | Symmetry from the centre line, jali light |
| Indo-Saracenic and colonial | Gothic and Indian forms mixed | Towers, arches, decorative detail |
| Modernist | Concrete, glass, grids | Graphic lines, repetition, shadow |
Table 1. Styles at a glance.
Pick one building near you and list its five most important features before photographing it.
Production designers research period architecture the same way before building a set.
Cham tipKnow it before you shoot it.
Cham taskMake a style card for one building: name, period, features, best light.
Check yourself: Why study a building's style before photographing it?
So you know which features define it and can show it as it was designed to be seen.
What is vernacular architecture, and what defines Keralam's traditional buildings?
Short answer. Buildings made by local craftsmen from local materials; in Keralam, steep tiled roofs, courtyards and timber.
- Vernacular buildings were built by craftsmen according to local tradition, using local materials, which gives each region its own character (Harris, 2002, p. 10).
- Traditional Keralam houses have steep, overhanging tiled roofs that shed heavy monsoon rain and shade the walls, with laterite or timber walls and carved wooden ceilings and pillars.
- The nalukettu is a house of four blocks around an open central courtyard, the nadumuttam, which brings light and rain into the heart of the home.
- Photograph the roof lines against the sky, the soft light falling into the courtyard, and close details of timber joinery. Overcast monsoon light suits dark wood interiors.
- Laurie Baker's later brick buildings in Thiruvananthapuram carry the same ideas of local material and climate into modern design.
Photograph a traditional house: one roof-line exterior, one courtyard view, one timber detail.
Malayalam films often use the nalukettu courtyard as a stage for family scenes.
Cham tipShow the roof, the court and the wood.
Cham taskFind a traditional house within reach and ask permission to photograph it.
Check yourself: What is a nalukettu?
A traditional Keralam house of four blocks around an open central courtyard.
How do you photograph Indian temple architecture?
Short answer. Know the northern Nagara and southern Dravida forms, and the Keralam temple, and respect photography rules.
- Nagara temples of north India have a curved tower, the shikhara, rising above the sanctum, as at Khajuraho.
- Dravida temples of south India have a stepped pyramidal tower over the sanctum, the vimana, and large gateway towers, the gopurams, as at Thanjavur and Madurai.
- Keralam temples are lower, with square or circular shrines under sloping tiled or copper roofs, tall lamp pillars and wooden carving.
- Photograph a gopuram square on along the temple axis, show the rhythm of pillared halls, and use the low light of dawn and dusk. Lamps at dusk give warm colour.
- Many temples do not allow photography inside, especially near the sanctum. Ask the temple office and follow the rules.
Photograph a temple at dawn and at dusk from the same position. Compare stone colour and lamp light.
Temple festivals are among the most filmed events in India; cinematographers plan around the same light.
Cham tipAsk first, shoot with respect.
Cham taskDraw the plan of a temple you know and mark the axis and the best viewpoints.
Check yourself: What is a gopuram?
The large gateway tower of a south Indian Dravida temple.
What should you look for in Indo-Islamic and Mughal buildings?
Short answer. Domes, arches, minarets, jali screens and gardens laid out in strict symmetry.
- Indo-Islamic and Mughal buildings use domes, pointed arches, minarets, inlaid stone and pierced stone screens called jali.
- Mughal tombs such as Humayun's Tomb and the Taj Mahal stand in formal gardens divided into four parts, with water channels on the main axis.
- Symmetry is the key. Stand exactly on the centre line, keep the camera level and use one-point perspective so both sides match. See the perspective guide.
- Jali screens throw patterns of light; photograph them from inside when the sun is low.
- Water channels and pools give reflections; shoot early when the air is still.
Photograph a symmetrical building exactly on its centre line, then one step to the side. Compare.
Directors use the same centred symmetry to give a scene order and grandeur.
Cham tipFind the centre line.
Cham taskFind a jali or pierced screen and photograph its light pattern at two times of day.
Check yourself: Why is the centre line important for Mughal buildings?
Because they are designed in strict symmetry, which only reads correctly from the axis.
What are Indo-Saracenic, colonial and Art Deco buildings?
Short answer. Nineteenth and early twentieth-century public buildings that mix European and Indian forms, and the streamlined Art Deco of Mumbai.
- Nineteenth-century architecture in Britain often copied past styles indiscriminately (Harris, 2002, p. 10). In India this produced Gothic Revival buildings and the Indo-Saracenic style, which mixed Gothic and classical forms with Indian and Islamic domes, arches and chhatris.
- Examples include railway stations, courts, colleges and post offices across Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, and churches and government buildings in Keralam.
- Mumbai also has one of the world's largest groups of Art Deco buildings, with streamlined curves, stepped forms and decorative motifs.
- Photograph whole facades from far enough back to keep verticals straight, then move in for clock towers, carved capitals and stained glass.
- Many are working public buildings. Ask before photographing inside, and check any restrictions near railway, court or defence premises.
Photograph a colonial-era building three ways: full facade, one tower, one carved detail.
Period films set in British India rely on these buildings as locations.
Cham tipWhole, part, detail.
Cham taskList the oldest public buildings in your town and their dates.
Check yourself: What is the Indo-Saracenic style?
A style that mixed European Gothic and classical forms with Indian and Islamic domes and arches.
How do you photograph modern and postmodern buildings?
Short answer. Modernism follows function with concrete, steel and glass; postmodernism brings back ornament and play.
- Modernism holds that form follows function. It was spread by Le Corbusier, who called a house 'a machine for living in', by Mies van der Rohe ('less is more') and by Walter Gropius, who founded the Bauhaus in 1919 (Harris, 2002, pp. 10-11).
- International modernism spread high-rise, slab-sided buildings across the world; by the 1970s and 1980s people wanted buildings richer in form and detail (Harris, 2002, pp. 10-12).
- Postmodernism is a mix of movements that value complexity over simplicity, from the hi-tech work of Norman Foster and Richard Rogers to neoclassical revivals (Harris, 2002, p. 12).
- In India, Le Corbusier planned the Capitol Complex at Chandigarh, and B. V. Doshi and Laurie Baker developed modern Indian architecture rooted in climate and material.
- Modern buildings suit graphic treatment: strong shadows, repetition, close abstract crops and bird's or worm's eye views (Harris, 2002, p. 20).
Make five abstract frames of one modern building using only lines, shadows and repetition.
Science fiction films use modernist buildings for their clean, graphic look.
Cham tipLines, light, repetition.
Cham taskFind one modernist and one postmodern building in your city and compare them in two frames.
Check yourself: What does 'form follows function' mean?
A building's shape should come from what it is used for.
Questions beginners ask
Why should photographers learn architectural styles?
Because each style has defining features, and knowing them tells you what to photograph and from where.
What are the main features of traditional Keralam architecture?
Steep overhanging tiled roofs, courtyards such as the nadumuttam of the nalukettu, laterite and timber walls, and carved wooden ceilings.
What is the difference between Nagara and Dravida temples?
Nagara temples have a curved shikhara tower; Dravida temples have a stepped vimana and large gateway gopurams.
How do you photograph Mughal architecture?
Stand on the centre line, keep the camera level for symmetry, use reflections in water, and photograph jali screens in low sun.
What is modernist architecture?
Architecture based on 'form follows function', using concrete, steel and glass, associated with Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and the Bauhaus.
References
- Harris, M. (2002) Professional architectural photography. 3rd edn. Oxford: Focal Press.
Further reading
- Langford, M. and Bilissi, E. (2011) Langford's advanced photography. 8th edn. Oxford: Focal Press.
How to cite this guide. Alex, A., & Joseph, A. (2026). Architectural styles for photographers: A guide for photographers and cinematographers. Creative Hut Academy. https://creativehut.org/library/architectural-styles-for-photographers/
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