Architecture in Music

Contact: Charles Brooks
Phone: +61 430 042 094
Email: photos@charlesbrooks.info

Lockey Hill Cello circa 1780, by Charles Brooks 2022


Architecture in Music

Photographer Charles Brooks reveals the hidden beauty inside rare musical instruments through striking imagery. Using specialist medical probe lenses and advanced imaging techniques, Brooks captures these unseen spaces with unprecedented sharpness. His intricate process blends hundreds of frames, rendering the interiors as vast, detailed rooms—showing tool marks, centuries-old repairs, and the hidden architecture within.

Brooks selects instruments with rich histories: violins by Amati and Guadagnini, a cello once hit by a train, and a hand-made Fazioli grand piano crafted from 11,000 parts. His meticulous blending of images creates an illusion of grand scale, where a 240-year-old cello resembles the interior of a ship, a century-old saxophone becomes a glowing tunnel, and piano keys transform into a monolithic temple.

About the Artist

Charles started his career as a cellist with some of the world's great orchestras before turning to photography full time in 2016. He was principal cellist of the Shenzhen & Guiyang Symphonies (China), the Orquestra de Camara de Valdivia (Chile), and spent three years with the Sao Paulo Symphony in Brazil. A Lumix ambassador, he is now based in Melbourne, Australia, where he spends his time as a freelance photographer and indulges his other passion, astrophotography.


Media Attention


Architecture in Music has been one of the most published photographic series internationally since 2022. Charles’s photos are now in Museums worldwide, and have been reproduced more than 20 million times in many of the world’s largest newspapers and magazines. They have been featured by the most influential art and photography blogs worldwide, and are in commercial use by clients as diverse as the Paris Conservatorie and the CERN Hadron Collider.

 

In 2025 the series will have its first major international exhibition, running for six months at the Napa Valley Museum as part of the Napa Valley Festival, where the photos will be printed at a breathtaking room-size scale. Smaller exhibitions will also be held in Budapest and Stockholm, and Switzerland.


Quotes


  • Daily Mail (UK): “A new stunning series of photos
  • Der Spiegel (Germany): “What looks like craters, art and bold buildings are instruments from the inside” 
  • My Modern Met: “Stunning Photos Reveal the Architectural Interiors Hidden Within Classical Instruments
  • NBC News (USA): “Striking Photos Reveal the Hidden Structures of Instruments
  • Classic FM (UK): “Artist’s striking photography reveals hidden depths of musical instruments” 

High resolution images for editorial use are available on request:

photos@charlesbrooks.info 

 

All Articles:

This series has received so much international attention that it's difficult to keep track. New articles appear every week in a multitude of languages. The following is a list of the articles and publications that the author is currently aware of:

 
Publication Country Print Circulation (if known) Link
Die Zeit Germany 3600000 Six half page articles over 6 weeks in 2023
Daily Mail UK 1000000 Architecture of Music series explores interiors of musical instruments | Daily Mail Online
The Telegraph UK 1200000 Pictured: Remarkable image shows the 'vast' interior of an ordinary cello (telegraph.co.uk)
Der Speigel Germany 1100000 Fotoprojekt "Architecture in Music": Hier spielt die Musik - DER SPIEGEL
Bild am Sonntag Germany 600000
Lonley Planet Italia Italy 125000
The Red Bulliten International 300000
Domus Magazine Germany 60000 The architecture of musical instruments in the photographs of Charles Brooks - Domus (domusweb.it)
Le Soleil Canada 80000 La beauté intérieure des instruments de musique [PHOTOS] | Le Mag | Le Soleil - Québec
Limelight Magazine Australia 10000
Vi Magazine Sweden 40000
Pop Corn Magazine France 10000
Crescendo Magazine Germany 70000
Dong-A Science Korea 20000
V/Arquitectura Viva Magazine Spain 50000
Department of Alps-Maritimes France
Fapte Romania
CERN Switzerland
exhibition at educational site of FHC (Future Hadron Collider)
Colossal
USA International
USModernist
USA International
NBC News USA
My Modern Met USA
Petapixel International
Classic FM (UK) UK
NRC Netherlands
Fujifilm Podcast International
60 Second Docs USA
Photography Daily Podcast International
Yahoo News International
France Musique France
Radio New Zealand New Zealand
designboom International
Cultura Inquieta Spain
Radio Classique France
Swiss Miss Switzerland
Kobini Arts France
Revista Planeta Brazil
NewsDubai Dubai
Weibo China
GZT Arkitekt Turkey
Radio France France
Hacker News International
Objectsmag Italy
SlippedDisk International
Lark Newsletter USA
Fip Radio France
MOT Times China
Ottmar Liebert's DIary International
Aryan Art News International
Kompass Germany
Topys China
Westart Germany
Archi Objects Italy
Free York
Heromag
GPI Design
Photo Features INT
Damanwoo China
His Russia
RockandPop Chile
Photoblogia Poland
SFK Korea
Lenzark Iran
Tudoporemail Brazil
Papageno Hungary
Alaxon Israel
Above Art Russia
The Epoch TImes International
Viking TV UK
The Cusp Magazine International
Animal News International
dornob
WST Post
Heromag
Brightside Publishing
Arch20 Magazine
Duchetriado
OBT
Business Newspress
BabaMail
DUK News
Viacasinos
Daily Star Post
Intec Studio
BabaMail
BreakingNews Exchange
Creapills
Paris Match France
Collater
QNews
RoeingOaks
boredpanda USA
Archipanic
The Inspiration Grid
Moss and Fog
Topito France
Toxel
Fiof Italy
Genk Vietnam
Samash
Quest Netherlands
Digital Photo Germany
Detik Indonesia
youm7 Iran
L'Important France
Creative by Nature Netherlands
Dotmsr Iran
Design You Trust
Lenzak
ABC Australia
121 Clicks
FYFD
Music Thinking Switzerland
Phototrend France
Tudodobem Brasil
Quest Netherlands
CasaVogue Portugal
saibdadetudo Brasil
Leidseschouwburg-Stadsgehoorzaal Netherlands