Gallery

Bertrand Benoit

As long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by the architectural renderings of Hugh Ferriss, but I’d never thought of playing with the style in CG, perhaps because of my slightly obsessive focus on realism and the photographic style.

After a recent trip to New York where I gorged on Art Deco, I thought I might try to combine the Ferriss approach–monochromatism, high contrast, focus on artificial light, industrial-era chiaroscuro–and realism into a hybrid set of images both realistic and abstract.

I settled on the American Radiator Building (or American Standard Building) on 40th street overlooking Bryant Park as one of my favorite Art Deco skyscrapers. And since Ferriss provides the inspiration rather than a strict template, I decided to set the scene in the present day.

While the modeling aims for realism, the lighting is fantastical, with impossible floodlights and gigantic invisible light boxes used to direct the eye towards the point of interest. Heavy fog provides an equivalent to Ferriss’ use of selective blurriness and empty space to channel the viewer’s focus.