My favorite photo stop from my last trip to Toronto was the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre. Such clean, minimalistic design by Fumihiko Maki and Charles Correa in collaboration with Toronto-based architectural firm Moriyama and Teshima, makes photographing easy. I loved focusing on the various angles of the exterior, isolating segments of the building to create geometric compositions.








And, can you believe it, a relatively wide shot showing the majority of the building! About as commercial as I get, but pretty compelling with this clean design, reflecting pool and lack of environmental distractions.

After wandering around the exterior I stopped inside for a visit. Typically, there are often great architectural elements to photograph inside, and this building was no exception. Great details and a courtyard to focus on.


Inside there’s a glass wall with this intricate design etched on it, as I walked up the stairs to the second floor there was a marble banister reflecting the design. Below is the result of playing with depth of field and the reflection on the banister melting into the glass wall. An example of looking for reflections in unexpected places.

Onto the courtyard and a more obvious way to play with reflections.

Also from the courtyard you can see the Ismaili Centre that is on the other side of the reflecting pool. Loved the layers created by shooting through the courtyard, the interior of the museum, the reflections and onto the Centre. Kinda has this futuristic vibe.

As I mentioned, across the reflecting pool is the Ismaili Centre, equally as interesting to photograph with more geometric play. While I edited both the museum and Ismaili Centre in color and black & white. I think most of the shots of the Ismaili Centre I prefer in color.



The one shot from here I preferred B&W.
Would love to get back here for a couple more visits. First, the Aga Khan because there’s this amazing interior staircase that’s only accessible during the museum’s architecture tour. Then the Ismaili Centre because there is this incredible ceiling detail inside…might need a trip back for Doors Open Toronto (similar to our Open House Chicago).
As I mentioned above, each location was edited in both color and black & white. To see more of Aga Kahn, click here. For more of the Ismaili Centre, click here. Thanks for taking a look 🙂