A gilt chandelier hanging before a dark staircase, framed by white columns and a pointed arch

Civic · Downtown, Richmond

Old City Hall Richmond VA

Old City Hall Richmond VA — Commercial architectural photography. Photographed by Dan Price Photography in Richmond, Virginia.

Location
Downtown, Richmond
Frames
30 in this set

Where the new City Hall is all cool geometry, the old one is warmth and ornament, and photographing it is an exercise in holding a huge range of light. The central hall is a cathedral of a room: white clustered columns with carved capitals, pointed Gothic arches, and a plaster ceiling worked with rosettes, all rising over a grand dark staircase and an encaustic tile floor laid in tight geometric blocks. A gilt gasolier hangs down the middle, its etched-glass globes glowing bright against the shadowed woodwork.

Modern elevator doors set into carved wood columns, framed by white pillars and a tile floor

I shot the main stair as a symmetrical panorama, several frames stitched so the whole arcade of columns and the full width of the stair fit one balanced composition — stand dead-center and the building is a mirror of itself. Those bright globes against the deep-toned oak are an enormous range, far more than one exposure can hold, so this is HDR work throughout: bracket for the glass, bracket for the carving, blend until both survive.

Looking up at an ornate brass chandelier, its glass globes glowing warm against a dark ceiling
A carved wood staircase seen at an angle from below, framed by white columns and pointed arches
A row of intricately carved wood posts with a lattice and bead pattern, receding down a hall
Looking up a wide dark staircase between carved wood rails, toward pointed arches and a coffered ceiling
Close detail of an etched glass lamp shade glowing on an ornate brass chandelier arm
Two stacked levels of pointed arches and white columns rising above a dark staircase and chandeliers
Polished steel elevator doors flanked by carved wood columns above a patterned tile floor
A brass wall sconce lit in an alcove beneath vaulted pointed arches and clustered white columns
The carved underside of a wood staircase, its quatrefoil trim angling above a paneled landing
An antique brass mail box on a pedestal, surrounded by carved wood posts and a distant chandelier
A brass chandelier hanging between rows of carved wood posts beneath an ornate plaster ceiling
Extreme close-up of a gilded metal grille, its floral relief pattern repeating into the distance
A repeating pattern of small pointed arches cut into a gilded metal grille
A wood-paneled corridor lit by a hanging chandelier, its vaulted ceiling arching overhead
Looking straight up at plaster molding converging into a pointed arch above a carved column
A dark grand staircase rising straight ahead, a lit chandelier hanging beside carved wood newels
A tall wood door with a frosted glass panel beside a fluted white column and lit sconce
Looking up at a stone Gothic clock tower with a green spire against a clear blue sky
Straight up through a symmetrical atrium of stacked arches and columns to a skylight
A wide central hall lined with columns, its patterned floor leading to a dark staircase and chandelier
The grand staircase viewed at an angle from the hall floor, a chandelier lit at left
A panoramic view of a vaulted hall lined with columns and multiple hanging chandeliers
A symmetrical view of the dark staircase framed by carved wood balustrades and side hallways
A geometric tile floor leading through tiered arches toward a distant glass entry door
Looking straight up through stacked tiers of arched balconies toward an overhead skylight
A symmetrical two-story hall with layered arches, its tiled floor pointing toward a distant staircase
A wide hall centered on a lit brass chandelier above a geometric tile floor
A wide-angle view through carved wood posts toward a distant staircase and stacked balconies above

I gave the antique fixtures their own detail frames too, close on the etched globes and gilt frame. This was the second of three civic buildings I photographed downtown that December day.

See more interior photography, or the rest of the office work.

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Old City Hall Richmond VA