Johnson Architecture | Tri-cities Christian Academy

Tri-Cities Christian Academy was my first collaboration with Johnson Architecture, based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The school, located in Kingsport, had a welcoming atmosphere and a design that brought new and existing materials together in a thoughtful way.

Our focus included the basketball gym, staircase, main corridor, and student kitchen. The main corridor contained many of the project’s key design elements, including new lighting, seating, and a range of supporting wall materials. The student kitchen also introduced new design elements that complemented the existing color palette and character of the school.

Before the shoot, I was informed that student privacy was especially important and that no student could be recognizable in the final images. Knowing those requirements in advance is incredibly helpful because it allows me to plan compositions and activity around them from the beginning.

Kelly and I started the day with a brief walkthrough. During that time, I’m paying close attention to the direction and angle of the sun, how the light is moving through each space, and which areas should be photographed first. That initial assessment helps us move efficiently throughout the day, and we were able to capture everything we needed by about 3:00 p.m.

In the main corridor, Kelly wanted two versions of a similar composition. One would show the energy of students moving between classes, while the other would include only a few students so that the architecture remained the primary focus. That gave us two different ways to communicate how the space functions while still emphasizing the design.

The gym presented one of the more technical challenges of the day. A very large window was casting a strong patch of direct sunlight across the center of the basketball court, including the large “T” in the middle of the floor. I carry a range of diffusion materials for situations like this, but with a ceiling roughly 30 feet high, controlling all of that light physically wasn’t practical.

I was able to diffuse enough of the sunlight to protect the center of the court, then use information from another section of the floor to composite and remove the remaining highlight in post-production. Tools like these give me much more control over difficult lighting conditions and allow me to create a cleaner, more balanced final image than would have been possible years ago.

We also incorporated several students into the gym photographs to bring a sense of life, movement, and energy to the space while keeping the architecture and design at the center of the imagery.

If you're looking for photography that showcases the design, function, and human experience of student housing, I'd welcome the opportunity to collaborate. Let's connect and discuss how we can tell the story of your next project.