Today, August 19th, is World Photography Day.

Indian photography teacher O.P. Sharma first proposed the day in 1988. It commemorates August 19, 1839, when the French government announced the daguerreotype process as a gift to the world. It also celebrates the power of photographs to document, communicate, and help us experience places we may never visit.

Each year brings a new theme. This year’s theme is especially meaningful to those working in residential design.

The theme for 2026 is HOME.

World Photography Day has me thinking about architectural photography and how its role is changing. Designers still use photographs to document what we actually build. But now, we may also encounter photorealistic images before a design takes shape.

The line between a photograph and a generated digital image certainly is blurring.

Your Client Made an AI Image. Now What?

As I write this, my client is sending me more pictures of her kitchen that she created using ChatGPT.

Some of the pictures look like her kitchen, and others look like a completely different house. In one image, the refrigerator appears to be about 20 inches wide. In another, the room has grown substantially to accommodate a huge glass window looking out onto the back porch.

I’m pretty sure she knows her renovation will never look like this.

Photorealistic images can show us designs that will never be built. But what about the other side of that? Photographs can preserve important buildings that no longer exist.

Remembering the “Potato Chip” House

One of the GOATs of architectural photography, Ezra Stoller, was famous for documenting buildings.

His ability to understand how people live, work, and experience a space is evident in his compositions.

Stoller often spent days studying a building before setting up his camera.

His work became so influential that having your building photographed by him became known as being “Stollerized.”

Stoller photographed many famous buildings and homes, including Fallingwater, the Guggenheim Museum, and the TWA Flight Center.

In the spirit of this year’s World Photography Day theme, HOME, one particular image comes to mind. It is his 1955 photograph of the Eduardo Catalano House in Raleigh, NC.

It was sometimes called the “Potato Chip” house because of its dramatic hyperbolic paraboloid roof. Now say that fast three times!

The house that was once touted as the “House of the Decade” later fell into disrepair and was demolished in 2001. Thankfully, it had been “Stollerized,” so we can still experience and remember it today.

Stoller’s photograph is beautifully composed around the impressive roofline and a group of children sitting on a wall in front of the home.

Writing in TIME, Richard Conway observed that if Le Corbusier gave us a “machine for living in,” Stoller used the camera as “a machine for living through.”

But Stoller had a real building in front of him. What happens when there is no resolved design yet, only a client’s vision of how they want to live?

An Unreal Image Can Tell You Something Real

My clients have changed their minds several times now. They initially wanted an addition to expand their tiny kitchen but later abandoned that idea in favor of staying within the footprint.

They have also continued to send me new AI images for every concept.

I’ll admit it. I mostly brushed off my clients’ AI images. The dimensions were inconsistent. The layouts were unrealistic. How could these be helpful beyond getting a feel for their style preferences?

But looking again, I see what is consistent. All of the kitchen images focus on how this space connects to the rear porch.

At our last meeting, after I had redesigned the whole first floor, they changed direction again. Now they wanted to keep the upgrades minimal and put the bulk of their budget somewhere else.

The porch. A three-season room.

Maybe I could have seen it coming. After all, the images often showed the porch more than the kitchen itself.

We can use AI to generate photorealistic images as part of the design process, but what else can we do with images?

5 Ways Images Can Expand Your Design Practice Right Now

Your phone camera becomes a measuring device - use LiDAR and/or photogrammetry to turn existing conditions into measurements, floor plans, and models. Explore: Hover, Twindo, Polycam​

Your photograph becomes a 3D model - with only a photograph or text prompt, you can create a 3D model. I used SketchUp’s AI to recreate an unusual Victorian sconce. Explore: Tripo AI, SketchUp Generate Object, Polycam.​

Your photograph becomes a 3D canvas - Feather (iPad) lets you sketch freely in 3D from scratch or use a photograph, drawing, or satellite image as your canvas. You can see your design in augmented reality or export it as a 3D model.

Your idea becomes an instant image - Designers can use ChatGPT too. These apps also work well for generating photorealistic architectural images. Explore: ReRender, ArchiFine, and Nano Banana.

Your photographs become an experience - PhotoAIVideo adds camera movement and transitions to still photographs. Asteroom uses panoramas taken with a 360 camera or its phone kit to create interactive tours and 3D dollhouse views. Empty rooms can also be virtually staged.

AI and technology will continue to change how we create and use images. But I don’t think these tools will replace photographers. Or designers!

How are images changing your design process?

For me, the next time an impossible refrigerator lands in my inbox, I’ll look at the view too.