By irishmirror, Mirror
London's bustling streets transform into a ghost town in these eerie pre-dawn photographs of the city.
Eager to capture London’s beauty without its occupants getting in the way, photographer Benjamin Graham got up at 2:30am to capture sharp, asymmetrical shots of London’s architecture .
As the capital city is usually crammed with millions of people commuting, working and sight-seeing during the day, choosing when to shoot his photographs was relatively simple.
Benjamin said: “In my head I had this idea of shooting London when it’s very quiet and in order to shoot London when its quiet and at its best - you don’t really want to go out in the middle of the night when the sky and the illumination is very brilliant.
“I prefer to have that moment when the ambient light and the artificial light are much better balanced with each and in order to achieve that you have to be there around about dawn.”
To avoid London’s near nine million population, the photographer had to take a night bus into the city to catch the 4:30am sunrise.
The 56-year-old continued: “No matter how often the alarm goes off at 2:30am you never seem to get used to it. It always seems slightly wrong to be getting up at that time.
“But, once the alarm had gone off and I was out and going across London on a night bus, it just felt amazing to see the city so empty.
“It was a really wonderful thing as soon as I got out, but it was very hard to get out continuously. As with all these things, the harder it is to acquire them the better the results usually are.”
The set - entitled London at Dawn - includes views of a sunset-tinted London Bridge and the geometric patterns of The Gherkin building.
Benjamin had hoped for more vibrant and colourful sunrises, but London delivered its usual grey, rainy days.
Despite the disappointing weather, Benjamin was able to use the pre-dawn light to capture the stark shapes of London’s architecture in beautiful detail.
The West Sussex-based photographer said: “I chose London because it is just a fantastic mix of contemporary and historical buildings that sometimes sit together comfortably and sometimes they don’t.
“They create some really wonderful geometric shapes and shadows. I found myself in so many incredible places and acquired all these lovely asymmetrical shots, which I love doing.”
London's bustling streets transform into a ghost town in these eerie pre-dawn photographs of the city.
Eager to capture London’s beauty without its occupants getting in the way, photographer Benjamin Graham got up at 2:30am to capture sharp, asymmetrical shots of London’s architecture .
As the capital city is usually crammed with millions of people commuting, working and sight-seeing during the day, choosing when to shoot his photographs was relatively simple.
Benjamin said: “In my head I had this idea of shooting London when it’s very quiet and in order to shoot London when its quiet and at its best - you don’t really want to go out in the middle of the night when the sky and the illumination is very brilliant.
“I prefer to have that moment when the ambient light and the artificial light are much better balanced with each and in order to achieve that you have to be there around about dawn.”
To avoid London’s near nine million population, the photographer had to take a night bus into the city to catch the 4:30am sunrise.
The 56-year-old continued: “No matter how often the alarm goes off at 2:30am you never seem to get used to it. It always seems slightly wrong to be getting up at that time.
“But, once the alarm had gone off and I was out and going across London on a night bus, it just felt amazing to see the city so empty.
“It was a really wonderful thing as soon as I got out, but it was very hard to get out continuously. As with all these things, the harder it is to acquire them the better the results usually are.”
The set - entitled London at Dawn - includes views of a sunset-tinted London Bridge and the geometric patterns of The Gherkin building.
Benjamin had hoped for more vibrant and colourful sunrises, but London delivered its usual grey, rainy days.
Despite the disappointing weather, Benjamin was able to use the pre-dawn light to capture the stark shapes of London’s architecture in beautiful detail.
The West Sussex-based photographer said: “I chose London because it is just a fantastic mix of contemporary and historical buildings that sometimes sit together comfortably and sometimes they don’t.
“They create some really wonderful geometric shapes and shadows. I found myself in so many incredible places and acquired all these lovely asymmetrical shots, which I love doing.”
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| The stark architecture of the Tate Modern Museum are lit up by the sun's early morning rays Early morning workers wait outside Kings Cross St Pancra |
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| Tower Bridge is lit up by the sunrise's pre-dawn light |
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| The Gherkin blooms into colour in the early reflected light |
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| The flag flies over a yellow-tinted Buckingham palace |
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| The pink-tinted sky bleeds over the water as the sun rises to meet a new day |
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| The dawn lights up the water across the River Thames |
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| The London eye peeks over greenery in the morning fog |
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| London's skyscrapers reach for the dawn sky as they tower over the camera lens |
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| Early morning workers wait outside Kings Cross St Pancras |
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| City shop fronts are bathed in the early light |
