46 THE WORLD OF HOSPITALITY
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Luxury Hotel & Resort Photographer
Antonio Cuellar Interviewed by Lara Flanagan
As someone who has worked with luxury hotels
for most of my adult life, it was a pleasure
to interview Antonio Cuellar. Antonio is a
gifted photographer who specializes in the
most extraordinary photography of luxury
hotels and resorts. After a stint in architecture
and interiors photography, the idea of
photographing luxury hotels and resorts
appealed to Antonio, as this field of endeavour
also managed to incorporate his love of travel
and lifestyle photography. Antonio is one of
the leading luxury resort photographers in
the world who has won countless awards and
is also a regular judge for the Luxury Travel
Guide’s International Awards.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE HOTELS AS YOUR
MAIN FOCUS AND HOW DID YOU GET
STARTED?
I chose to focus on hotels because it combined
two of my favourite obsessions, which are
travelling and creating beautiful images. I
initially started in lifestyle photography, but
most of the jobs I landed at the time came from
my network of friends. Most of them were real
estate developers and, as a result, I developed
some skills in photographing architecture.
After years of improving my skills in this
field and producing a sizeable architectural
portfolio, I decided to focus exclusively on
hotels. I knew the best way to get started and
create a portfolio was by creating a personal
project. The project consisted of producing a
coffee table book showcasing boutique hotels
on the magical city of Cartagena Colombia.
The project received an overwhelming amount
of attention, and I was honoured by the
American Society of Media Photographers
when they selected me as one of the top 20
photographers for that year.
HOW IS PHOTOGRAPHING HOTELS AND
RESORTS DIFFERENT FROM REGULAR
ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY?
That is an excellent question and one that I
get asked repeatedly by other photographers.
There are quite a few differences. The most
obvious one is that hospitality photography
is not only about photographing architecture
and interiors. It can also involve lifestyle and
sometimes food photography. When it comes
to shooting a hotel’s interiors and architecture,
a photographer must possess highly advanced
lighting skills. We have to be able to shape the
light in a restaurant to make it seem romantic
and cosy. Additionally, most hotels like to
feature the views from their suites. Shooting
in such a way often requires us to position the
camera toward the only light source, and this
style of photography can be very challenging
without the proper experience.