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Stadium with a ribbed steel sail structure against cold blue light, Tianjin, China
Photography / Architecture

Architectural photographer, Melbourne

Commercial architectural photography for architects, developers and builders. Based in Melbourne, working anywhere.

Blain Crellin is a commercial architectural photographer based in Melbourne, available across Australia and internationally. Since 1992 he has photographed buildings for architects, developers, builders and cities: inside and out, at the hour their designers dreamed them. Australia first, then a decade in China as the country built itself at full speed: stadiums, towers, pavilions, freeways. Large-format patience, brought to digital.

Stadium at dusk, Tianjin, China
Stadium at dusk · Tianjin
Stadium with ribbed steel sail, Tianjin
The sail · Tianjin
Aerial view of glowing triangulated glass pavilion in snow, Beijing
Pavilion in snow · Beijing
Water Cube bubble facade beside Bird's Nest lattice, Beijing
Water Cube and Bird's Nest · Beijing
Faceted blue glass facade with snow
Faceted glass · Beijing
The Seed Cathedral, thousands of white acrylic rods, Shanghai Expo
Seed Cathedral · Shanghai Expo
Elevated freeway interchange at night with light trails, Shanghai
Interchange at night · Shanghai
Rooftop pool at dusk between towers, Hong Kong
Rooftop pool · Hong Kong
Architectural commission by Blain Crellin
Commission
Architectural commission by Blain Crellin
Commission
Architectural commission, Shanghai
Shanghai
Architectural commission by Blain Crellin
Commission
Melbourne · 1999

CityLink, three years

Commissioned across the entire construction of Melbourne's CityLink - the project that became an exhibition, and a quarter of a century later became the opening frames of this site's film.

The CityLink sound tube glowing at night from the empty freeway
The sound tube
Red wall with vertical steel strips and tilted floodlights
The red wall
Leaning orange beam over black water at night
The beam, at night
Red beams angled against a blue sky
The gateway
Red pylons before a gold wall with blue uplights
The gold wall
Aerial view of the ribbed sound tube curving through Melbourne
The tube from above
Commissions

Working with Blain

Based in Melbourne. Available anywhere in Australia and overseas, with three decades of shooting in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the USA behind him. Recent commission: the Queenscliff Ferry Terminal, Victoria, 2026.

01

Completed architecture

Exteriors and interiors of finished buildings for portfolios, awards entries, publications and marketing. Dusk, dawn and the light the design was made for.

02

Construction and progress

Long-form records of a project as it rises, in the tradition of the three-year CityLink series for Transurban that became the exhibition 'An Urban Road'.

03

Interiors and hospitality

Hotels, restaurants, offices and designed rooms, lit the way their makers meant them to feel. See the interiors work.

Clients have included Transurban, CBRE, Lendlease, Multiplex, COX Architecture, Denton Corker Marshall, BVN, PTW, Peddle Thorp, Studio505, Luigi Rosselli Architects, Banyan Tree and URBN Hotels. Work published in HINGE, Architecture Australia, Qantas Australian Way and Porsche Christophorus, and profiled in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Full client and publication list.

"An imaginative photographer who understands the creative process and can execute the logistics of an assignment regardless of location."

Carlo Carello · Director, Peddle Thorp Architects

"A beautiful architectural photographer who manages to capture the essence of the design idea."

Anthony Charles · Head of Design, Turner Construction, Dubai and Abu Dhabi

How it works

  1. Email the project, location and what the photographs are for.
  2. You get a reply within two days with an approach, timing for the light, and a quote.
  3. Shoot, edit, deliver: high-resolution files licensed for your use.
Enquire via Gmail Use my mail app

Or write to blaincrellin@gmail.com

Blain has also written about the craft: the eye and the spirit of the view, the photographer as creative project manager, and who decides a commissioned image has succeeded.

Next: Interiors →