University of Michigan Cook Law Library Reading Room

My interior photography project at the University of Michigan Cook Law Library Reading Room began with a series of “before” photographs for the architects. We spent a full day photographing the main reading room from different angles and also photographing the building’s lower level corridor and offices and public spaces in adjacent Hutchins Hall.

When the renovation work (by Lord Aeck Sargent Architects) was completed one year later, my assistant and I returned and spent another day on the interior photography of the beautifully redone space. The transformation was amazing. The magnificent ceiling had been cleaned and new uplighting was installed that illuminated the ceiling. Tables and reading lamps were all refurbished and new high efficiency bulbs were installed in the reading lamps. To ease eyestrain caused by hours of reading, the overall room illumination was raised which lowered the contrast between the ambient light levels and the reading lamps on the tables. Raising the overall illumination also helped reveal the beautiful details in the woodwork and ceiling. Replacing the old cork floor with new cork also helped to brighten the space and return the reading room to its original beauty. As an interior photographer, projects don’t get much better than this! Photography by architectural photographer Curt Clayton. ClaytonStudio.com

University of Michigan Cook Law Library Reading Room