SPRING 2026
Before choosing where to publish a new project, there is a quieter and often overlooked question worth asking: how are the images that represent your work being cared for? In today’s design-driven market, photography is no longer a final record of a space. It has become one of the most decisive tools in professional positioning. Yet, it is still frequently treated as an operational step rather than a strategic choice.
Studies in emotional design, such as those explored by Donald Norman, reveal that perceptions of value and trust are formed emotionally before they are processed rationally. Research developed by institutions like the MIT Media Lab, along with analyses published by the Harvard Business Review, reinforces the same principle: visual impact shapes judgment long before words are read.
In practice, this means that the first encounter with an architectural project rarely happens in the physical space. It happens through an image. When photography fails to communicate concept, scale, and intention, even strong projects risk becoming visually generic. To treat imagery as strategy is to understand that every frame expresses a decision including the decision of who is invited to tell the story of a project.
— GISELE ESPINDOLA
PHOTOGRAPHY: GISELE ESPINDOLA