I recently received a call from Detroit public relations firm Franco inquiring about my availability to photograph the recently vacated Renaissance Center office space of Deloitte. As a result of the COVID pandemic, Deloitte Detroit was reducing the size of their office space and moving to a hybrid work model with many of their employees working at least part-time from home. Their beautiful Renaissance Center offices were now empty and new interior photography was needed by Franco’s client CBRE to market to the space which offers great views of Detroit, Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River, and Windsor, Ontario.
I first photographed these offices in 2012 for Turner Construction. Turner Detroit had just completed the buildout of several floors for Deloitte and at that time we had to schedule the photography for the weekend to avoid disrupting the busy Detroit office. With the offices now vacant and an urgent need for new interior photography for marketing, we planned the photo shoot for my next available day the following week. The only scheduling requirement would be to capture a few photographs between 7:00 am and 9:00 am on the main floor public space of the General Motors Renaissance Center. After that, I would have all day to photograph the now vacant former offices of Deloitte Detroit.
This was a unique shoot. With most interior photography projects the spaces must look beautiful and pristine as the photographs will be used to showcase my client’s work on their websites, in award submissions, and proposals for new projects. I usually have one or two assistants helping to rearrange furniture, adjust computer screens and window blinds and make sure to straighten up or move personal items on desks.
Because the new photography would be used by CBRE for the sole purpose of marketing the now vacant space to potential clients who would be refurbishing the offices for their specific needs, basic cleaning and straightening up of furniture was all that was required prior to photography.
Although the furniture showed some minor wear from ten years of heavy use, It was surprising how little the offices had changed since I first photographed them.
