Client: Anonymous Home Owner
Project Type: Interior Photography
Space Type: Holiday Home
Location: Goa, India
About the Project
This was a holiday home in one of the quieter hamlets of Goa, owned by a music producer who grew up there and wanted to turn a few family owned spaces into beautiful holiday homes. What made this villa particularly interesting was its old world Portuguese character, despite being designed and built as a modern home.
The vaulted ceilings, high ceilings, arched windows and doors, central courtyard and wraparound balcony gave the space a distinctly Mediterranean feel. For me, the skylights in the bathrooms were one of the most memorable details, adding a beautiful connection between the interiors and the natural light outside.
The Brief
The brief was to photograph the villa as a compelling holiday home that could be listed across homestay platforms in India. Unlike many interior shoots where an architect, designer or stylist already has a clear vision for how the space should be presented, this project was much more hands on.
The owner had created the home with his family without any formal design experience, so there was no established styling direction for us to follow. I had to help shape the visual story from the ground up, making decisions around everything from the composition and angles to the props, flowers and linen, while making sure the final images captured what made the home special.
The Approach
I started by looking for the architectural elements that could naturally anchor each photograph. The vaulted ceilings, arches, wraparound balcony and kitchen gave me plenty of strong compositional opportunities, so the challenge was really about finding the right perspective to let each feature speak for itself.
The villa had beautiful natural light for much of the day, but as we moved further into the space, it became increasingly diffused and some areas, particularly the bathrooms, fell quite dark.
I supplemented the available light with my trusty Godox flashes, carefully bringing up those darker spaces while retaining the character and true colours of the interiors. The result was a set of images that felt natural and inviting while still showing the architectural details that made the villa distinctive.
