ELLE Decor

There's a lot of random photo snapping going on these days thanks to iphones and other digital devices. You see it on blogs all the time, and I guess for the sake of simply showing what is in a room, it works, but it doesn't capture the imagination or start you dreaming about interiors. There's a reason for this. Everybody in the design business knows what a trick it is to truly capture the beauty of great interiors in two dimensions. Ask any shelter magazine editor.

First, it's someone's home, so you have to get permision to lug tons of lighting and photo equipment all over the premises (albeit in protective booties) and re-style everything from the sofa cushions to the contents of the bookshelves. And you have to do all of this and pack up and get out before the freight elevator closes or the kids come home from school or before you lose the light. Second, you have to find a photographer who understands lighting, composition and the particular point of view of designer or homeoowner for the room itself, and who is patient and exacting enough to shoot something that's precisely lit for the various elements within the frame - the view out the window, the subject of the shot, some detail that's otherwise in shadow - even if it means shooting from the exact same angle several times and layering the variously lit shots together, or creating lighting in a windowless space that makes it appear to be bathed in natural light. It can take forever to get one shot, but when it works, it is a truly rewarding moment.

We just completed shooting our Fall ad campaign for Carini Lang, and we're super-excited about the shots we got. We'll save the surprise for Fall issues of W, World of Interiors and ELLE Decor, but we wanted to say a word or two about our photographer, the astonishingly talented and super-chill Rick Lew. We got lucky that Rick was even in town to shoot with us, because most of the time he is off trotting the globe. Rick’s versatility, flexibility and expertise with light and composition make him a sought–after talent. In his early twenties, Rick wanted nothing more than to be a filmmaker, but an impromptu trip to Southeast Aisa with a borrowed camera changed all of that. Now Rick shoots interiors, still-life and portraits and travels globally on assignment as a Contributing Photographer of destinations and luxury hotels for Condé Nast Traveler, for whom he shot this spread:

All of the images in this post are by Rick, whose work you may have seen in prestigious periodicals from Hamptons Cottages & Gardens to Martha Stewart Living and highbrow newspapers from The Wall Streeet Journal to the London Times. His crisp lighting and thoughtful approach yield architectural and interiors shots like these:

He's won awards for his travel photos, shots like these:

Rick's current passion is a body of long-exposure cityscapes he’s creating for future publication, and we hear he may soon be dabbling in television. For more of his exploits, you can follow Rick's blog. Whatever's down the road for Rick, we can't wait to see it!