In early May I was contacted by Deutsche Bank in New York about providing architectural photography of the Town Center complex in Southfield, Michigan. This is a landmark complex in the Metro Detroit area and with it’s reflective gold glass and distinctively shaped office towers, it’s impossible to miss the Town Center complex as you head north on the Lodge Freeway from Detroit. Located 10 miles north of Detroit, the upper floors of the office towers afford a good view of the Renaissance Center to the south and the surrounding Detroit suburbs. The complex consists of 5 office towers totaling 2.2 million square feet.

Being involved in the purchase of the Town Center complex by 601 West Cos. from Blackstone Group, Deutsche Bank wanted good quality architectural and interior photography but they did not have the luxury of waiting for ideal weather. Deutsche Bank told me that they need 3 -5 exterior photographs and 1 or 2 good interior photographs of the large atrium.

One shoot day the sky was cloudier than I would have liked, but do to my client’s schedule I had to shoot. As Deutsche Bank was not looking for sunrise or sunset photographs of the exterior, I began shooting shortly before 9:00am. I photographed the exterior from various locations throughout the day and then moved inside to photograph the atrium when the late afternoon sunlit was steaming in through the large glass wall. The final photographs of the day were a couple of exterior photographs taken from a Lodge Freeway overpass north of Southfield Town Center.

Then next day I posted 25 proofs online for my client to review and by 5:00pm had delivered high-resolution digital files of the six photographs that they selected

The results of the day were some nice photographs of the complex and a very happy client. Also encouraging was word that the new owners, 601 West Cos. are planning on spending between $40 and $50 million on upgrades to the complex.