In recent years I’ve been hired to photograph plenty of K-12 schools! In 2025, I was hired by architects SHP for a two-day shoot of the Peck Expeditionary Learning School, a brand new building for an existing school in Greensboro, North Carolina. Revington Reaves was the landscape architect. This time I collaborated with Evan Trudeau and Truflix Media for drone/aerial captures. Evan’s a real pleasure to work with and incredibly helpful.
This was a shoot that had its weather and coordination challenges but in the end we pulled it together to make it work. Forms carved playful space and shadows throughout the building.
Timing was key for the roof canopy opening casting patterns on the exterior walls.
Inside offered generous open spaces for learning and interaction.
I don’t have children and each time I capture a school, I’m reminded, “Noooooooooope I’m not doing that.”
Layering in one-point perspective is one of my favorite things to do as an architectural photographer. Here, SHP designed a space for other classes or children to side up to the opening and participate in the class inside. Beyond are the architectural columns in front of the greenery of the woods beyond.
As you can tell, there was a huge focus on providing transparent learning spaces that could extend in and out of the traditional classroom.
I think these are great ways for kids not to feel cooped up in 4-walls all day and still connect to outside even when not in recess.
The portal windows, particular on interiors was my personal favorite aspect of the design, so I honed in on this in various settings.
Maker spaces were designed in a manner to be partitioned by garage door) or kept open as an entire room that extends to viewing into the corridors.
SHP placed a huge premium on natural daylight into classrooms, taking advantage from some of its natural surroundings.
Again and example how the traditional classroom could visually and practically extend into the corridors beyond to create larger, open spaces or use the dividers and garage doors to split them up into smaller units.
Back outside I kept close watch on shadow-play from the canopy openings.
We only had one real solid day of good weather so we made the most of it when clear skies were available!
Another colorful and fun project, more school-related architectural photography blogs to come!
