Tiers of stone fans, each releasing a thin thread of water: Jan C. Schlegel photographed the Cascade in Yerevan not as a monument but as a face. In the series Silent Giants he approaches Brutalist architecture the way he makes his portraits – with soft light, patience and hours of looking, until the building gives up its character. What first appears as concrete and design gradually takes on a human quality: rhythm, tension and stillness.

Schlegel (b. 1965) works with a large-format camera on film and makes all his prints by hand in the darkroom. This work is a handmade platinum print on Arches Platine Rag, one of the most permanent photographic processes, with exceptional tonal richness and material depth. His work has been presented at Paris Photo, Photo London, Art Basel and Art Cologne, among others.