Photographing London's Modern Buildings

This is to introduce an upcoming occasional series of postings on photographing London’s modern buildings. They are often tall and have quickly become part of London’s skyline. They often have unofficial descriptive names, like the Shard, the Gherkin, the Walkie-Talkie and the Cheesegrater. Many have been controversial, and some have given rise to fierce battles at the planning stage. Yet they generally gain acceptance once completed. The famous Lloyd’s building was hugely controversial 30 years ago, yet it is now recognized as one of the key buildings of the modern epoch.

Tall modern buildings can be difficult to photograph in a built environment as crowded as London. It can be difficult to find viewpoints that give worthwhile compositions and allow buildings to be photographed without distortion. London is also crowded with people. Road traffic can be heavy and there can be many parked vehicles. All those things can present problems for the photographer. Light can also be a problem. Large buildings can cast large shadows

Postings will appear on an occasional basis in the Locations section of this website. They will be aimed at amateur photographers without specialist knowledge or specialized equipment, especially visitors with limited time in London. I will select particular buildings and suggest locations where it is possible to capture good compositions of well-known buildings and the best weather, time of day, etc for photography.

London has so much to offer that no-one can take in all the potential photographic locations in a short visit - or even in a lifetime living in London! I hope that this new Locations series can act as a guide to help point you on your way.

Photographing Modern Buildings in London

The Gherkin London