OmoroShoot briefRoll 021Ser.05
Brutalism aesthetic photography reference
RecTC 00:00:00:00

Brutalism

Concrete does not apologize: the body made small against poured, honest mass

Roll 0215 frames0 / 5 shot
Frames00/05
More in Dark & AtmosphericNew WaveCyberpunkGothic
brutalism
SET

The setup

Shoot briefHD[brutalism     ]00:00:00:00Stop ■
Brief Int(brutalism___.BRF)

Brutalism

01 LightHard, direct sunlight at midday brutalism rewards harsh shadow and raking light across raw texture; avoid soft diffusion, which flatters the wrong things here
02 WardrobeMonochrome, structural silhouettes heavy wool or canvas in gray, black, or oxide red; nothing decorative that competes with the architecture
03 LocationBrutalist civic building or university campus
04 Palette
DIR

Director's note

Shoot on a slight underexposure and let shadow go near-black brutalism is a material of weight and mass, and a brightened frame reads as ordinary concrete rather than architecture with intent

All 151 director’s notes, printable: Director’s Briefs, $8 →
VF

Viewfinder

Live

Four controls on the brief's own plate · the meter is real, so you can blow a frame

Brutalism reference frame
Standby50mmf/5.6 · 1/125 · ISO 400

Running the list sets the camera for every shot in turn. Load your own photo to light and expose a frame you actually shot.

LGT

Light the set

3 lamps

Drag a lamp and watch the frame above change. The brief's own note is the preset

KeyThe light that makes the pictureMediumHung high
FillHow far into shadow you can seeHard, closeEye level
BackRound at the front, where it is just another fillOffEye level
On the brief
CS

Contact sheet

00 / 12

Nothing on the sheet yet. Set the camera, then take a frame.

SEQ

Shot list

00 / 05

Tap a pad to mark the frame shot · saved on this device

Wide shot of subject dwarfed by a monolithic concrete facade, human scale as the only softness in framewide24mm
Close detail of raw board-formed concrete texture with subject's hand resting against itdetail100mm
Symmetrical portrait centered in a brutalist stairwell or corridor, converging lines leading to the figureportrait85mm
High-contrast shot at midday when hard sun rakes across the concrete grainsetup50mm
Silhouette of subject against a single deep window slot cut into a concrete masssetup50mmthru glass
Rolling
Take it to set: all 151 briefs as one PDF · $8
LOC

Locations

04
Brutalist civic building or university campusConcrete parking structurePostwar social-housing courtyardUnderpass or pedestrian tunnel with board-formed walls
REF

Explore the aesthetic

Style guideColor palette
DOC

About this brief

How do I photograph the Brutalism aesthetic?

Concrete does not apologize: the body made small against poured, honest mass.

Shoot on a slight underexposure and let shadow go near-black brutalism is a material of weight and mass, and a brightened frame reads as ordinary concrete rather than architecture with intent

Director's note

What shots should I get for a Brutalism photo shoot?

Leave with every frame on this list.

Shot list

  1. Wide shot of subject dwarfed by a monolithic concrete facade, human scale as the only softness in frame
  2. Close detail of raw board-formed concrete texture with subject's hand resting against it
  3. Symmetrical portrait centered in a brutalist stairwell or corridor, converging lines leading to the figure
  4. High-contrast shot at midday when hard sun rakes across the concrete grain
  5. Silhouette of subject against a single deep window slot cut into a concrete mass
What lighting works for Brutalism photography?

Hard, direct sunlight at midday brutalism rewards harsh shadow and raking light across raw texture; avoid soft diffusion, which flatters the wrong things here

Light

Where should I shoot Brutalism photography?

Scout these before anything else.

Locations

  1. Brutalist civic building or university campus
  2. Concrete parking structure
  3. Postwar social-housing courtyard
  4. Underpass or pedestrian tunnel with board-formed walls
What wardrobe works for Brutalism photography?

Monochrome, structural silhouettes heavy wool or canvas in gray, black, or oxide red; nothing decorative that competes with the architecture

Wardrobe

Omoro Studio · Creative System

Generate shoot references in the Brutalism style

Omoro reads your visual references and generates images in your exact aesthetic. Build a mood board before the shoot or create composite references for your client.

Join the waitlist