Chris Fraikin

The Dutch photographer has just re-published a book of mimimal-styled studies of details. Niall Hampton learns more 'Archtracts', architectural

- Niall Hampton

Chris Fraikin’s photographs of buildings feature strong lines, geometric shapes, and striking colours and call to mind the work of the famous abstract artist Piet Mondrian. Perhaps there’s something in the water in the Netherlands, as Fraikin and Mondrian are both natives of that country. But while Mondrian’s works were produced in a studio, the canvases that Fraikin chooses are outdoors and in the built environment: industrial buildings and factory sites that were designed to be functional, but which on closer inspection often also have a certain amount of visual appeal hiding in plain sight.

Producing photographs in this vein is something that Fraikin has only been doing seriously since 2015, and was a reaction to becoming disillusioned with photographing live music. He was looking for a new creative outlet and eventually discovered it by photographing buildings. As Archtracts, a book containing these contemplative, minimalist architectural works, gets a second printing, we caught up with Fraikin to discover more about this long-form project and how it came about.

Can you describe your photographic style to someone who has never previously seen your work?

I call my works ‘archtracts’: minimalistic extracts of architectural, urban, and industrial objects. I mainly shoot in industrial areas – usually in the Netherlands – where almost all buildings seem to be nearly the same because they are mainly built for functional content rather than beauty. But if you take the time to open your eyes, you will often discover very interesting details in the shape, proportion, or color schemes in these buildings.