Paul Raftery

Paul Raftery is a photographer of the built environment with an international reputation who has been shooting around the world for more than 30 years. Architecture is shown at its very best in his striking work. With an ever expanding global portfolio, he applies the same visual intelligence to every project. His work has been exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the Gagosian Gallery in New York and at the French National Architecture Centre in Paris.

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Over the last three years, since the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Paul Raftery has visited sites of political protest, shooting them all at dawn, the beginning of a new day and the beginning of a political era. Raftery’s evocative photographs are a meditation on memory, democracy and place, and how this manifests itself so powerfully in public spaces. 

Whilst the events differed at every site ­– from protests in Timișoara’s Opera Square to collective singing at Estonia’s Song Festival Grounds – the one thread that combines them is the desire for democracy. His films (made with Dan Lowe) have been shown in numerous galleries and festivals, including the New York Architecture Film Festival and the city’s Gagosian Gallery.