Wylam Brewery in Palace of Arts - Photography Project
Photography for architecture, hospitality and luxury brands
View West Photography creates considered imagery for distinctive buildings, hotels, hospitality businesses and luxury brands. Architectural photography is a core part of our work, we photograph buildings with an eye for their design, materials, setting and the details that give them character. We also create hotel photography, boutique hotel photography and resort photography that helps guests picture the experience a property offers.
Every place has its own story. Our role is to understand what makes it distinctive and translate that into clear, atmospheric images. For an architectural project, that may mean showing how a building sits within its landscape or capturing the quality of its design. For a hotel or resort, it may mean combining architecture and interiors with the feeling of being there. We tailor each shoot to the subject, bringing together the perspectives of an architectural photographer and a hospitality photographer.
View West Photography works with all kinds of luxury property, as well as distinctive venues and businesses. Our services include architectural photography, hotel photography and wider commercial work for clients who value thoughtful, high quality imagery. Whether a project calls for a luxury brand photographer, an architectural photographer or a luxury hospitality photographer, we take time to understand the place and the people it is intended to reach.
We had the privilege of photographing Wylam Brewery at Newcastle’s Palace of Arts. The assignment brought together the building’s remarkable Art Deco architecture, its parkland setting and the energy of a contemporary working brewery. It reflects how we approach our work with close attention to the architecture, the atmosphere and the qualities that make each place memorable.
A building with a story to tell
The Palace of Arts is a Grade II listed building and the last remaining building from the 1929 North East Exhibition. The exhibition was created to encourage and celebrate craft, art and industry, and the Palace remains a striking expression of that original ambition.
Designed by architects W & TR Milburn, whose work included theatres and cinemas, the building was constructed in an Art Deco style. Its confident lines and distinctive presence sit proudly in the centre of Exhibition Park. Today, the Palace of Arts operates as a multi discipline arts and entertainment space, welcoming a new generation of visitors while retaining its architectural identity.
That layered history gives the building a character all of its own. It is not simply a backdrop for events or a home for a brewery. It is part of Newcastle’s cultural fabric, a place where heritage and contemporary life meet.
This is one reason architectural photography asks for more than a record of a façade. An architectural photographer needs to consider how a building relates to its surroundings, how people experience it, and which details communicate its personality. The aim is to make an image that feels true to the place.
More than a working brewery
Wylam Brewery is a working brewery, but it is also much more. Its home at the Palace of Arts brings together brewing, culture and entertainment in a setting that feels unmistakably rooted in Newcastle. The building’s scale and history lend character to the experience, while its present day use keeps the space lively and relevant.
Photographing a venue like this means balancing different qualities. There is the architecture, with its strong forms and historic details. There is the wider parkland setting. And there is the contemporary energy of a destination in active use. The strongest images allow these elements to sit together, giving viewers an impression of both the place and the experience of being there.
That kind of storytelling is central to effective hotel photography and hospitality photography. Guests are not only choosing a room or a table, they are choosing an atmosphere, a location and a feeling. A skilled hospitality photographer looks for the details that make those choices vivid, natural light on a surface, a striking view, a welcoming entrance or the relationship between an interior and its landscape.
The same principles apply across luxury hospitality photography, boutique hotel photography and luxury resort photography. Each property has its own identity, and photography should help express it rather than impose a generic look. View West Photography brings that attention to character to work across the hospitality sector, from individual venues to high end properties.
Photographing the Palace in its landscape
Before taking this photograph, I walked around the building and the space it occupies. I wanted to understand how the Palace sat within Exhibition Park, and how its distinctive architecture related to the wider landscape.
My thought was to create a wide landscape image that happened to include the Palace of Arts. Rather than isolating the building, I wanted the photograph to show its relationship with the park around it. This perspective made the setting part of the story, the open space, the trees, the lake and the building together.
The lake was a gift. Its surface offered a reflection that could bring the composition together, while the sunset that evening added warmth and atmosphere. With the right light, the reflection gave the Palace another presence in the frame, connecting the building to its surroundings without taking attention away from its architecture.
That balance is at the heart of considered architectural photography, showing a structure clearly while also conveying how it belongs to its place. A luxury property or hospitality venue is rarely defined by its walls alone. Its gardens, outlook, neighbourhood and approach all contribute to the way a visitor experiences it.
For a resort photographer, landscape can be part of the invitation. In luxury resort photography, a view or a setting may be as important as the interior. For a luxury hotel photographer, it might be the connection between the property and its destination that sets it apart. The approach changes with the subject, but the goal remains consistent, create imagery that feels specific, composed and memorable.
A considered approach for luxury brands
View West Photography works with all kinds of luxury property, as well as providing hotel photographer and hospitality photographer services. Our work is built around understanding what makes a place distinctive, then creating images that help communicate that value with clarity and feeling.
That makes us a natural fit for brands looking for a luxury brand photographer who can work sensitively with considered spaces and experiences. Luxury brand photography is not simply about making something look expensive. It is about understanding a brand’s character and presenting it with care, consistency and visual confidence.
For hotels and venues, this might mean creating high end hotel photography that communicates a sense of welcome, privacy or place. For an independent property, boutique hotel photography can bring forward the details that make it unlike anywhere else. For a resort, the work may draw on landscape, architecture and lifestyle to show the full experience. Across these assignments, the role of a luxury hospitality photographer is to produce images that feel refined while remaining honest to the property.
As a luxury commercial photographer, View West Photography understands that images have a practical purpose too. They help a property present itself across its website, marketing and other communications. Strong high end brand photography can give prospective guests a clearer sense of what awaits them and help a distinctive venue stand out in a crowded market. A premium brand photographer should be attentive to both the visual result and the wider impression it creates.
The same care shapes luxury lifestyle photography. A place is often remembered through its atmosphere, the quality of the light, the sense of calm, the pleasure of discovering somewhere new. Good imagery helps viewers imagine those moments without losing the individuality of the location.
Creating images with a sense of place
The Palace of Arts assignment brought together architecture, history, landscape and contemporary hospitality in a way that felt uniquely Newcastle. It was a reminder that the most compelling photography often begins with taking time to look, to walk around, notice the light and understand how a place fits into its setting.
For View West Photography, that curiosity carries into every photo shoot. Whether working as a hotel photographer, luxury hotel photographer, resort photographer or architectural photographer, we look for the qualities that make a property worth remembering. The result should do more than show what a place looks like. It should help someone feel why it matters.
Wylam Brewery at the Palace of Arts is a working brewery, an arts and entertainment destination, and part of a landmark building’s continuing story. Capturing that combination called for an image that embraced the wider scene and let the Palace sit naturally within it.
For luxury brands seeking a thoughtful photography partner, View West Photography brings an attentive eye, an appreciation for architecture and a commitment to creating imagery with atmosphere and purpose. From hotel photography and boutique hotel photography to luxury hospitality photography and architectural photography, our aim is to reveal what makes each place distinctive and give its story room to shine.