Fernando Guerra: Humanising Buildings in Architectural Photography

Fernando Guerra was born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1970 and graduated with an architecture degree from Lusíada University in 1993. He worked as an architect in Macau for five years before shifting to photography full-time. In 1999, he co-founded the FG+SG studio with his brother Sérgio, focusing on architectural photography. Appointed as a Canon ambassador in 2012, Guerra has documented contemporary architecture worldwide over 25 years, including works by architects like Álvaro Siza and Márcio Kogan. Key milestones include winning major awards and donating his archive to the Serralves Museum in 2024. His images feature human elements for context and vibrant colours that highlight material textures.

• Primary Genres: Architecture, Documentary.
• Primary Photography Styles: Straight Photography (dynamic, contextual, incorporating human activity for realism); Expressionism (vibrant, lived-in, emphasising emotional and narrative depth through light and movement).
• Key Message: Guerra portrays architecture as a living entity, capturing buildings in their environmental and social weave to reveal function and vitality. His work humanises structures by including people and everyday moments, transforming static images into relatable stories.

Fernando Guerra’s most common subjects are contemporary buildings in Portugal, Brazil, and beyond, often shown with human interactions like people walking through spaces or children playing nearby. He focuses on aesthetics such as scale, proportion, and texture—concrete, glass, and stone under natural light—to create cinematographic yet authentic scenes. Techniques include using digital Canon cameras with wide-angle lenses for sweeping views, waiting for optimal natural lighting like golden hour or overcast conditions to enhance shadows and highlights, and avoiding artificial lights for genuine ambiance. In editing, he boosts vibrancy and contrast to sharpen architectural lines while keeping the context realistic. Presentation involves publications in magazines like Wallpaper*, books from FG+SG editions, fine art prints, and exhibitions, with his archive now preserved for public access at Serralves Museum.

For intermediate learners, Guerra’s style demonstrates digital photography’s flexibility compared to film, allowing quick adjustments in post-processing to achieve high dynamic range without the zone system’s manual calculations. He blends straight documentation with expressive elements, using tools like wide-angle distortion for energy, which beginners can replicate with entry-level DSLRs but requires practice in composition to avoid unnatural perspectives. His inclusion of humans teaches storytelling, encouraging photographers to time shots for “decisive moments” similar to street photography principles. Guerra’s career highlights the shift from architecture to photography, showing how professional backgrounds inform visual choices; his methods evolved with digital tech, enabling global travel and rapid sharing via platforms like Instagram.

Lessons from this Photographer:

Guerra’s unique approach shows the value of incorporating human elements into architectural shots, teaching photographers to wait patiently for natural interactions that add narrative depth. His use of natural light and wide angles inspires experimenting with timing and perspective to convey scale and emotion without over-relying on gear. By blending technical rigor with storytelling, he encourages mindset shifts towards viewing structures as lived spaces, applying post-processing sparingly to enhance reality and foster a deeper craft appreciation.

Website and Instagram:

YouTube References:

Citations: