Inside the Music: Photographer Charles Brooks Reveals Hidden Worlds Within Instruments
Who is Charles Brooks photographer? What is Architecture in Music? How does Charles Brooks photograph inside instruments? What camera does Charles Brooks use for endoscopic photography? How are Stradivarius instruments built? What does the inside of a piano look like?
By YEET Magazine Staff, YEET Magazine
Published November 1, 2025
Inside the Music: Photographer Charles Brooks Reveals Hidden Worlds Within Instruments
Australian cellist and photographer Charles Brooks (@charlescellist) has found beauty where few ever look — inside the instruments themselves. Using specialized endoscopic lenses and thousands of focus-stacked images, Brooks unveils the unseen interiors of Steinway pianos, Stradivarius violins, flutes, and cellos, transforming them into vast cathedral-like spaces of wood, metal, and string.
His series, Architecture in Music, has captivated audiences worldwide, showing that even within the silent walls of an instrument, a whole world exists.
“It’s like walking inside sound,” Brooks told YEET Magazine. “These are not abandoned spaces. They’re living — every mark, every layer of dust, every scratch carries the story of the people who played them.”
What’s Inside a Violin?
Brooks’ work reveals details most musicians never see — the makers’ signatures, centuries-old repairs, and natural patina that develops from decades of resonance and vibration.
Inside one Stradivarius violin, he found what looked like ancient vaults, arched and ribbed like Gothic architecture. In a Lockey Hill cello, the camera peered up into the grain of the maple back, lit like a golden chapel.
Each photograph is a composite of hundreds to thousands of shots, meticulously layered to create sharpness across the entire image. The results blur the line between science, art, and acoustics.
Technology Meets Craft
Brooks’ technique relies on endoscopic photography, a process originally designed for medical and industrial use. The camera’s narrow scope allows him to navigate the tight interiors of musical instruments, capturing images that are impossible to see with the naked eye.
“I wanted to show the architecture that sound lives in,” he said. “The inside of a cello looks like a cathedral because it is — it’s a space built for resonance.”
His work has appeared in The Guardian, Smithsonian Magazine, and major design blogs, sparking renewed appreciation for instrument craftsmanship.
Living Sound, Living History
What makes Brooks’ images haunting is their life. They don’t look like museum relics — they feel alive. Dust and varnish, wood seams and glue lines — all testify to centuries of hands and hearts.
A viewer can almost hear the sound trapped inside.
About the Artist
Born in New Zealand and based in Australia, Charles Brooks performed as a professional cellist before turning his lens inward. His musical background gives him a unique sensitivity to the instruments’ hidden stories.
You can explore his full gallery and behind-the-scenes process on his official website: charlesbrooks.info
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