The go-to photographer for starchitects like Herzog & de Meuron, Rem Koolhaas and the late Zaha Hadid, Dutch-born Iwan Baan captures some of the best and brightest buildings around the globe.
He’s especially celebrated for his aerial photography, shooting from a helicopter above ancient structures as well as contemporary cities — including NYC after Hurricane Sandy. His work has been shown at MoMA, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, LA’s Perry Rubenstein Gallery and the Venice Biennale.
Now Baan, 41, shares with Alexa the digits that keep him snapping.
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Cameras he owns, including two Canon EOS-1D X DSLRs and 12 collectibles kept “for nostalgia’s sake.”
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Age when he received his first camera (an Agfa Clack) from his grandmother.
$2,000
What Baan spent to get the last Hertz rental car in town the day after Hurricane Sandy — later dropping more cash for a helicopter — so he could take 2,500 aerial shots of the destruction for New York magazine.
His prize-winning image, showing half of Manhattan cast in darkness, is now iconic.
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Solid-color shirts he keeps in his suitcase at all times, along with A.P.C. jeans and Italian boots. “I’ve had this same sort of uniform since high school,” he says. “You don’t want to make too many decisions when you’re living out of a suitcase.”
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Windows in his late-18th-century house in Amsterdam — but Baan is only home to enjoy the views about two days each month.
150
Minutes his shooting sessions in a rented Robinson R44 helicopter (above) usually take — any longer and the fuel tends to run out.
100+
Architectural projects he’s shot so far this year, including Bjarke Ingels’ new VIA 57 WEST apartments (in Hell’s Kitchen), Herzog & de Meuron’s Switch House (at London’s Tate Modern), Rem Koolhaas’ Fondazione Prada cultural center (in Milan) and Frank Gehry’s Fondation Louis Vuitton (above, in Paris).
