I must admit, when I graced the streets of London on my last visit, I was taken aback by the solidity, diversity and the variety of architecture that adorned its streets. I'm not an architectural photographer by
any stretch of the imagination which, if you look at my images, you'll see that none, if any, are straight - and you can blame that on Mike Berry! You see for me, architecture is all about the shape and how it fits in to its environment.
Should it be there? Does it add to its surrounding? Does it fit without fighting? What's it trying to achieve - and I'm sure many, many more questions can be added to my punitive list and yet 'the monstrosity and eye-sore' that we first see in a new building becomes (20yr down the line) iconic! I remember such a scenario near'ish to where I now live. An early Cold War warning system in the shape of golf balls punched the Fylingdales sky. There was an uproar in 1961 when they were built- hell to pay in the simplest of terms, destroying the most beautiful landscape as far as the eye can see. And yet come 1993 when they were torn down and replaced by a pyramid structure, there was hell to pay!
My take on Lloyds Building here in the heart of London's financial sector is no different to any other piece of 'modern' architecture however, from a photographic perspective, at least in my opinion, it ticks many boxes. It's raw. It's steely. It's stripped naked with no meat and yet can't help grab your attention. My take as an image is probably no different to many before me and others to come. Forging skyward like a Saturn V rocket, there are few sharp edges. A deliberate tilt I felt, gave power and strength. Hard post processing pulled the feeling of steel and yet graceful and deliberate in that take.
Another trip is on the cards and hopefully more iconic and dare I say 'Ugly bits of Kit' to photograph. Personally speaking, I love it! Now I've done it, it will photographically challenge my next visit - providing it's still there of course!
For the techy bit: Canon EOS 5D Mk11, Canon EF 16-35 f/4L IS USM, 1/1,600 @ f8, ISO 500