Are computer-generated architectural visualizations art; are they even photography? Alban Lécuyer says they can be and we strongly agree when exposed to his series Here Soon. Consisting of digitally rendered images based on photographs collected from previous works, he examines both his and our own perceptions of cities and cityscapes, of what is viewed positive, and what we rather want to hide.  Lécuyer’s images speak loudly of they apparent need of architects and real estate firms to simplify and beautify our urban environment when trying to promote and sell buildings and developments, and question therein our society and its way of not relating to and feeling represented by the ordinary.

The artist, by using continually certain features of basic computer generated imagery, such as always depicting the same sky and clouds, sunshine, saturated colours and slightly transparent people and trees, is able to make his viewer collide head on with the very consciously chosen disparities, namely the choice of characters.
Whereas in commercially produced images we often do not find multi-generation people (teenagers or the elderly) or diverse ethnicity for example and he makes a point by portraying real people, those who actually live in the buildings, and leaves all visible traces of human consumption intact. He skilfully raises important questions about underlying issues of our social order and community, in a time where normally everything is always “politically correct” on the surface and all people should be equal.

Anna-Pia Lubinus / Heist Photography / March 2014