London Archives - Page 25 of 26 - Ed O'Keeffe Photography

2 April 200729 May 2017

Gherkin behind the Tower of London

Although the bottom half of this photograph is messy and distracting this is a view I wanted to share with you. I took this photograph back in January of this year. I wanted to get some pictures of London Bridge, the Tower of London happened to be between the underground station and the bridge so I took photographs of both. What I didn’t expect was to be able to see the famous “Gherkin Building” from here, on the map it seems to be quite far but being the sixth tallest building in London it could be seen over the top of the Tower of London at certain points. The Tower of London was originally built by William the Conqueror in 1078. In contrast the Gherkin Building, which is actually called 30 St Mary Axe or the Swiss Re Building was designed by the architects Foster and Partners. Construction started in 2001 and the building was completed in 2004. I find it very interesting looking at the difference a thousand years makes to the architectural design of the two “towers”.

30 January 20072 June 2017

Three Tallest Buildings in the UK at Night

This image was also taken on Friday 5th January 2007. Studying this photo I was convinced it was three skyscrapers but after a bit of Wikipedia research I found out this picture shows four skyscrapers. The Bank of America building is much closer to the camera and the Citigroup building is the furtherest away. It is strange how the angle you take pictures at effects the perception of a situation. The height of the Citigroup tower and the HSBC tower is exactly the same, they are the joint second tallest buildings in the UK. The tallest, One Canada Square (commonly known as Canary Wharf Tower) is pictured to the right with what appears to be smoke coming from the top of the building.

29 January 20072 June 2017

Marriott Hotel, West India Quay

This image was taken on Friday 5th January 2007. I was walking back to the hotel after a photo shoot in the Westminster Area of central London. This photograph shows the Marriott Hotel at West India Quay on the Isle of Dogs near Canary Wharf. We were staying in the hotel pictured (the tallest building). It seems extremely large from this angle but it isn’t as big as many of the skyscrapers that you would see if I had turned my camera lens 90 degrees to the left. There appears to be a major construction site on the flat area to the right of the hotel. I wonder what this view will look like in five or ten years?

7 January 20072 June 2017

London’s Tower Bridge on the River Thames

Second and final photo shot for this past weekend in London took me to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge (pictured above). Probably one of the most photographed bridges in the world and definitely a recognisable landmark for London. I must admit there is some Photoshop work on this image. When I photograph something as famous as this I like to study the little details, for example, the two flags on the top of the bridge make a big difference to the overall professional look to the photo, only one of them was real, the other is a copy, but can you spot which is which? (Feel free to comment on this). Waiting for the cruise boat to get into the right position in the water also makes a huge difference without these two little details this photograph wouldn’t be half as good. Again shame about the weather but for a quick look at London I don’t think I did too badly this weekend, more photos will follow soon.