British magazine Monocle commissioned me to photograph the newly-open Swiss Embassy in Seoul for their Summer Weekly Newspaper. The Embassy opened in May 2019 and I went to photograph it at the end of June.

I found out on the morning of the shoot that the writer had taken ill and couldn’t board the plane from London. I also didn’t get instruction about what to photograph from London due to the mishap and time difference. It was clear I had to improvise.

The Swiss Embassy is an architectural marvel, inspired by Hanok, Korean traditional house, and Swiss efficiency. His Excellency Dr. Linus von Castelmur, Switzerland’s Ambassador to South Korea, kindly took his time to pose for portraits. He personally showed me around the building, before rushing to get on a conference call with the writer.

The building is designed to be eco-friendly, recycling heat and energy. Dr. von Castelmur took me to the basement where engines and machines were working hard behind the scenes, and the sneak peek was the highlight of the day.

In the end, everything worked out and one of my photos ended up in A1.