INFO

From the age of five years old, Alex decided he wanted to become an architect. Always curious and endlessly fascinated with the ephemeral qualities of light and sense of place, Alex studied and practiced the creation of structures large and small for many years before turning to his greater passion of photography. Alex can now be found chasing light around the world, from the Arctic to the Southern Hemisphere, collaborating with many of the world’s most inspiring architects, publications and clients - photographing architecture, portraiture and landscapes. Alex’s photographs have appeared in The New Yorker Magazine, National Geographic, Wired, Wallpaper, TIME, New York Times Magazine, Monocle, Metropolis, Azure, Architectural Digest, among dozens of other notable publications. Alex has also been commissioned to photograph the architectural works of Cecil Balmond, Frank Gehry, Daniel Libeskind, Ole Sheeren, MVRDV, Bjarke Ingels, Gensler, among many others. In 2018, Alex was invited to exhibit his photography in a solo show at the Venice Architectural Biennale by the European Cultural Commission. Alex is also committed to working with lesser known, emerging and underrepresented architects. He regularly contributes his time, craft and passion to environmental and social justice issues worldwide. Once a year, Alex teaches architectural and portrait photography classes at the International Center for Photography in Manhattan.

GREAT COLLABORATIONS – SELECTED CLIENTS AND PUBLICATIONS

Architectural/Design Publications

Architectural Digest, Architect Magazine, Architectural Record, Metropolis, Azure, Monocle, Dwell, Wallpaper, Surface, Domus, Interior Design, Arkitektur N, Dezeen, Arch Daily, Hinge HK, Canadian Architect, Nuvo

Consumer/Editorial Publications

New Yorker Magazine, National Geographic, CondeNast Travler, Trevel+Leisure, Monocle, AFAR, Fortune, Forbes, NY Times Magazine, TIME, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Mens Journal, Newsweek, Apollo, Rolling Stone, Wired, Orion, D2, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Ritz Carlton Magazine, WestJet, Lufthansa, Outside Magazine, Photo District News

Commercial Clients

Landrover, General Electric, PRADA USA, Timberland, Park Hyatt, Banana Republic, American Express, Epson, 21st Century Insurance, Shorefast Foundation, Crown Plaza Hotels, Melissa Galleria, Ultra Fabrics

“INTENSITY OF BEING” – THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS OF ALEX FRADKIN

Alex is deeply passionate about his craft and dedicated to photography’s potential to create imagery that lasts in the viewer’s memory and imagination long after the typical news cycle, or the flip of a magazine page. Alex endeavors to create images that are integral to an emotional process, which can connect the viewer to a more profound awareness - an inherent potential that lies in the core of every one of us. Cecil Balmond, an internationally renowned theoretician, artist and designer, once suggested to Alex to, “hear the music” when photographing his projects. Alex took this as an invitation to slow down, quiet his mind, and to interpret the space through the more subtle place of the heart. Alex now approaches all of his photography by tuning into the emotional rhythms and nuance of the architectural design, seeking out the poetics of light, form and space – the “decisive moment” of architectural photography. Photography is fundamental to a larger narrative that can move us through varying dramatic moments, ranging from the crescendos of emotional highs, to the quieter interludes of poetic subtlety. Like a musical score, or a fine work of literature, the visual story has a beginning, middle and end - a narrative where the viewer is left with the lingering sensation of having been part of an actual experience. We are challenged to no longer simply look, but rather, see and feel in a way that awakens our curiosity, causes us to question what was previously assumed, and helps us feel emotion where there was once ambivalence. Light, “an ethereal presence at the outer limits of material existence with a miraculous capacity to bring things alive at a sensory level and to create, before ones very eyes, a sudden intensity of being.” - Henry Plummer

BIO

Alex’s fine art photographs are collected widely and reside in numerous museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Contemporary Museum of Photography, Museums of the City of New York among several other collections, and has exhibited in galleries worldwide. Alex has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Aaron Siskind Foundation Grant. Alex is currently working on a second and third monograph of his work and has been featured in over a dozen book publications on art and architecture by the worlds most renowned architects and designers. Twice a year, Alex teaches architectural and portrait photography at the International Center for Photography and in 2018 was an invited participant in the Venice Architectural Biennale.