The AA’s Current Exhibition, ‘Bad Language’, is Featured on Wallpaper*

Bad Language, an exhibition of photography by Max Creasy, opened last week at the AA in the Front Members’ Room. The exhibition questions the relationship between architectural photography and the snapshot, posing the question: where is contemporary architectural photography heading?

Wallpaper* interviewed Creasy during the exhibition’s opening week and the resulting discussion can be read here. Creasy explains the reasoning behind the exhibition’s title, linking the snapshot to a type of profanity in the context of formal architectural photography; he also mentions that the actual inspiration comes from a conversation with architect Job Floris (of studio Monadnock) who shares the phrase ‘keep up the bad work!’ with David Kohn.

Much of Creasy’s work explores casual relationships between people, clothing, street furniture, buildings and objects, to name just a few. The Australian-Norwegian artist plays with spatial composition as much as camera position and the use of flash – which, as Creasy says – suggests ‘presence and our understanding of intimate family pictures’. These are just some of the techniques he uses to formulate a ‘more humane aspect to architectural photography’.

The creative team behind the exhibition includes photographer Max Creasy, curator Guillermo Fernández-Abascal and graphic designer Wayne Daly. It is accompanied by a handout containing an essay by architectural historian Frida Grahn which delves into the historic and contemporary links between the AA and ETH Zurich (Switzerland).