Sala degli Onori @ Triennale di Milano
Photographing grand interiors is always a test of discipline — a challenge to convey scale, symmetry, and atmosphere without letting the vastness swallow the human presence within it. In this image of the Sala degli Onori, the composition succeeds in balancing the architecture with the people inhabiting it, rendering a space that is both imposing and accessible.
The shot is anchored by a strong central perspective. The converging lines of the marble floor and rows of white chairs pull the viewer’s gaze directly towards the far wall, where the mural forms a natural focal point. The figure walking down the central aisle provides a crucial sense of scale; without her, the hall’s proportions might be lost in abstraction.
Light plays a decisive role here. The bank of tall windows to the right floods the room with soft, angled sunlight, which carves definition into the columns and injects depth into what could otherwise be a flat, cavernous expanse. The exposure is well judged — highlights are kept under control despite the bright daylight, and shadows retain enough detail to avoid losing the hall’s architectural nuances.
The small group of people on the far right acts as a counterbalance to the solitary figure in the aisle, preventing the image from feeling too static. Their placement also reinforces the hall’s function as a space for gathering, despite the current emptiness of the chairs.
Technically, the choice of a relatively deep depth of field ensures that every architectural element remains sharp from foreground to mural, enhancing the sense of precision and order the space embodies. The slightly muted palette — greys of marble, whites of chairs and walls — conveys an understated elegance, allowing the viewer’s attention to rest on form and light rather than colour.
This photograph captures not just a hall, but a mood: a quiet, anticipatory stillness before ceremony or discourse begins. It is a study in compositional discipline, using symmetry and scale to communicate both the grandeur and human dimension of the Sala degli Onori.
