Birds Eye View, The Shard // Photography Journal 18

If you ever want to see London from a completely new dimension I always recommend a trip to The Shard’s Viewing Gallery. For around £20 you can go 800ft up the 1,016ft high skyscraper and see the breathtaking views around. It’s located just south of the Thames in Southwark and walking distance from the London Bridge underground station.

The ideal time would be to go at dusk as you get to see the city slowly change before your very eyes from a bright European city to a dark, almost Blade Runner-esque neor noir metropolis. You have plenty of time to look around so don’t rush the pictures, your Facebook friends can wait. Instead try to see how many famous landmarks you can find with the naked eye and try to take in the view.

My little sister was in town so what better way to impress a 13 year old than thrusting her right into the deep end of a new town. Teens seem to be preoccupied with their mobile phones so I was kinda glad when hers ran out of juice and we managed to grab a few snaps together.

I would consider The Shard my favourite building in the world as in my opinion it’s iconic. It’s a feat of architectural engineering as it has 11,000 glass panels (which equals to around eight football fields) and was only recently pipped by the Russian Mercury City Tower as the tallest building in Europe. I would also consider it iconic as it’s a perfect representation of the time and culture in which it was built and just like the Tower of London across from the river it will stand the test of time.

STYLEGRAM

Make sure to check out my latest post ‘A Mindless Wander‘ and also an interview with the supremely talented Themba Erik in which we talk about urban photography and our creative aspirations.

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