Architectural Wanderings: Photographing the International African American Museum in Charleston

I was helping a friend photograph a wedding in Charleston, South Carolina last weekend - not something I often do as an architectural photographer and designer - but for this particular friend it is always so much fun and she is SUCH a good photographer that it is always a pleasure. I wasn’t needed at the venue until 2PM, which meant I had some time in the morning to do what I really love to do: walk around a new area/city/neighbourhood/building and take photos. I decided, rather spontaneously, to explore the exterior of the International African American Museum, designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, a New York based architecture firm. I would love to go back again to actually visit the museum, but there simply wasn’t time this trip. The building sits on a culturally significant site, Gadsden’s Wharf, which was the port of arrival for nearly half of all enslaved Africans brought to America. I’d like to do a photographic study on the materiality and deeper meaning of the design of the building in relation to its site, but that is not what this blog post is. It is simply my photos from a quick visit to the grounds, to capture the building from the exterior from the point of view of an architectural photographer.

The Photos

My favorite - or at least second favorite - of the day. I love the visual split straight down the middle caused by the building floating above. The architect decided to raise the building off the ground with these columns in order to respect the hallowed ground below. There are so many little moments of awe and contemplation walking around the structure, I think it’s been thought out extremely well. The Tide Tribute is seen at the bottom of the image, an extremely powerful depiction of the inhumane transport conditions on the ships, which changes with the tide. 

View of the museum from the front as you arrive. 

The opposite end of the building looking over the Tide Tribute, stretching out towards the harbor. 

Walking underneath the structure towards the entrance. There are 18 cylindrical columns propping the building up, clad in oyster shell tabby. I loved how the light spilt in beneath the building. 

Looking from the harbor-end of the building towards the entrance stairs. 

I’ll take a brief second here to introduce the next set of photos - which includes one of my all time favorites. If you go up the stairs in the photo above (which I did not, as I did not have time to actually buy a ticket and visit the museum) you travel up the stairs in a sort of atrium space, at the top of which you enter the front door of the museum. I wandered around to the other side of the stairs where I was able to perch on the exit stairs and photograph this space. Thank you to the security team for allowing me to post up with my camera and tripod and literally stand there for almost an hour taking photos - some places, whilst public, can be iffy with that, so it was a nice experience to be left alone to take my time to photograph this beautiful space. The following shots took up the remainder of my time here, as the changing light was so wonderful I just couldn’t leave. I’m really happy with a couple of these, but one in particular made. my. day. And that’s this one:

Entry stairs to the International African American Museum, Charleston. 

Looking at this shot again as I write this, it just makes me smile. *Side note: My wife and I used to live in New York City, and my favorite thing there was to go on photo walks with no real plan. Just follow the light - which sounds extremely cheesy, but I’m adamant it’s the best way to plan a photo walk in Manhattan. There’s so much incredible and iconic architecture obviously, but one thing I loved was having access to so many people to insert into my compositions. If you wanted a particular subject in your photo - let’s say someone in a long flowing yellow coat - and you waited long enough, someone matching that description would probably enter the frame! It made taking photos so much more fun and honestly, easier! Anyway, this was one of those moments that I haven’t had in so long, it just made me so happy! If I was commissioned to take photos of this building for the museum or the architect, and they wanted a hero shot of the lead designer or head curator or something, THIS is the shot I would setup. I just love it - the space, the light, the (many) leading lines, the lone figure at the top of the stairs - I think it’s a very satisfying image . Meanwhile, this is a random man (I suppose he could be the lead designer or head curator but that would be a complete fluke and brilliant timing) who exited the museum and stood in this position for about 5 seconds whilst he waited for his wife to come out of the revolving door to the left. I honestly think my mouth was open in shock whilst I took this photo. People were coming and going up and down the stairs in waves as I took photos, but no one really stopped like this, in such a contemplative way. Then out of nowhere came this man, who slowly drifted towards the railing, planted both hands on it, and looked up. He is PERFECTLY centered. I don’t think he could be more centered! What are the chances?! A photographers dream. To be completely honest, I had taken a few shots (that are below) of this space already with people going up the stairs, some blurred, some not, and they were fine, but I decided that the people distracted too much from the extremely clean and geometric composition. So I was waiting for a shot with no one in it, no disruptions. Then this man came and stood dead center with a perfect pose. This was my shot of the day, and it has become one of my favorite shots I’ve ever taken actually. Not to say it’s perfect, and not to say everyone will love it, but to me, I love it and am proud of it. Here’s the remaining shots of the day:

A detail looking upwards at a corner above the entry stairway. 

Entry doors to the museum. 

A vertical shot of the entry, with a woman climbing the stairs to the left, the sun shining perfectly through the windows above. 

The North side of the building, with landscaping in the foreground. The landscaping was designed by Hood Design Studio. 

That’s all from my first visit to the museum grounds and garden - hopefully I’ll get to visit again soon. I hope you enjoyed the images that I shared, please leave any comments you may have down below. Thanks for reading this far, and look out for the next post soon!