by James Balston | Apr 16, 2014 | Design, Exhibitions, Lighting, London, Restaurants
I was secretly quite pleased when I arrived at the Shard early one morning for a shoot, in thick fog. I was there to meet lighting designer, Tom Kirk, to shoot some of his creations in the east facing private dining rooms at AquaShard, and I knew that the weather... 
by James Balston | Mar 10, 2014 | Bathrooms, Bedrooms, Designers & Architects, Homes, Kitchens, Lighting
If you pick up the April issue (out now) of Homes & Gardens, you’ll see the Terraced Home feature I shot, called ‘Time to Reflect’. Elegant and restrained with a few pops of colour, the home was designed by Juliette Byrne. Meanwhile, here is a... 
by James Balston | May 9, 2013 | Architecture, Contemporary, Lighting, London, Offices
By my reckoning, London has 13 railway termini, surely many more than any other city. Many retain their Victorian character with soaring iron and glass vaulted train sheds, and several have undergone major renewals in the last decade. St Pancras, for example has gone... 
by James Balston | Apr 15, 2013 | Apartments, Bathrooms, Lighting, London
How things change. Until a decade or so ago, nobody, at least not in Britain, aspired to live in a tower block. Councils up and down the land had built towers to house those who couldn’t afford the cherished Victorian terraced house, thirties semi, or detached... 
by James Balston | Dec 11, 2012 | Leisure, Lighting
Chances are, if you have a cellar, that it’s used for storage; wine perhaps, or no longer used toys. It’s probably got a damp problem. Few of us are lucky enough to have one of these at the bottom of the stairs. The current fashion for building downwards,... 
by James Balston | Feb 21, 2012 | Home Cinemas, Homes, Leisure, Lighting
Asking how long it takes to photograph a house, is a bit like asking ‘how long is a piece of string?’ Is a single wide angle shot of each room all that’s required? Or does everything down to joinery details and fabrics need to be recorded? For some...