London From Above with the Agfa Record iii

The view to the City of London. The Shard towers over all other buildings in the city. If you look carefully towards the bottom left corner you can see The Monument. 1/50s 105mm F5.6 Ilford Pan F+ 50.

Previous readers of this blog know that when I visit somewhere new, I like to get up high for an aerial view, but surprisingly I’ve rarely taken that opportunity with the big city on my doorstep – London. This Spring and Summer I finally scaled both The Monument and The Shard to get two very different looks at London that originate from two very different periods of time.

Looking down the Thames from The Monument. Surrounding skyscrapers block much of the historical view but it’s still possible to clearly see the river the city is built on. 1/100s 105mm F8.0 Kodak Tri-X 400.

Looking the other way down the Thames from The Shard. From such an elevation you can see for miles and miles and miles. 1/50s 105mm F8.0 Ilford Pan F+ 50.

Built over six years and finished in 1677, The Monument to the Great Fire of London was constructed to mark a devastating a moment in the city’s history. The Shard was built under much happier circumstances, opening in 2012 in time for the Olympic Games. Though it almost fell through due to the global financial crash of 2007/2008 before foreign funding stepped in to save the project. As the tallest building in the city by some distance (and not taller only due to air traffic related restrictions) and once the tallest building in Europe, The Shard certainly gives a unique perspective as it is the only place in London you have a completely unobstructed 360° view.

Towards the base of The Monument are the written and artistic tributes to The Great Fire of London. Due to human error this photo was several stops underexposed, but helped by the excellent exposure latitude of Tri-X I managed to salvage the image. 1/100s 105mm F8.0 Kodak Tri-X 400.

The view of The Shard from The Monument. The fact is doesn’t even fully fit into frame indicates its true scale. 1/100s 105mm F8.0 Kodak Tri-X 400.

Once upon a time this would also have been the case for The Monument but centuries later much taller skyscrapers have sprung up around, partially hemming you in. It’s amazing to think how much things have changed over that time and the history that has been witnessed, including the devastation of the Blitz. But despite being dwarfed in some regards, you still have a good view down the Thames and into the city along King William Street, and being on a more equal footing to the City of London’s skyscrapers comes with its own charm. What may not be quite as charming is the seemingly endless numbers of spiral stairs that one has to traverse until the top. But there’s no harm in good bit of exercise.

Looking down King William Street from The Monument. My old office is in frame. For years I worked in its shadow and yet it was only this year I climbed to the top. 1/100s 105mm F8.0 Kodak Tri-X 400.

No such requirements for The Shard, which wizzes you towards the top in two different lifts, the only stairs being the last couple of floors to the highest viewing platform, which is actually open to the air. There’s plenty more space and things to do at the top of The Shard, from food and drinks to an entertaining talk by a comic duo of guides to digital telescopes that give you more information on key landmarks. It doesn’t come cheap, but even if you suffer from vertigo, it’s worth the money to go at least once. You can also stay as long as you want, and I took full advantage of that.

Full time window cleaners work to clean the vast amounts of glass on The Shard. It takes them several weeks to go from top to bottom and then they immediately have to start all over again. 1/50s 105mm F8.0 Ilford Pan F+ 50.

On both occasions I took my Agfa Record iii 6x9 medium format camera that I wrote about in last week’s blog (https://www.gregoryowain.co.uk/blog/agfa-record-iii-review). Unfortunately, I was slightly limited by being unable to use a tripod at either location and so careful technique was required to shoot the camera at 1/50s and 1/100s. Closing the aperture down to F8.0 gave the best balance between image quality and camera usability. Ideally, I would have liked to have shot at F16 or F22 but it simply wasn’t possible. Going on a duller day, a roll of Kodak Tri-X 400 was the choice for going up The Monument. Whereas brighter conditions (and being up in the clouds) meant I could use a roll of Ilford Pan F+ 50 with much less grain for my time up The Shard.

The view towards South London from The Shard. At this height every building in view is below the horizon line. 1/50s 105mm F8.0 Ilford Pan F+ 50.

The Shard is built on top of London Bridge station which is one of the biggest stations in the capital. The large amounts of track snake away into the distance. 1/50s 105mm F8.0 Ilford Pan F+ 50.

I am really happy with what I managed to commit to film, the only downside with shooting at The Shard is shooting through glass, which although certainly not dirty as you can see with the hardworking window cleaners, does degrade the image quality that little bit. But once you get over the pixel (or should I say grain) peeping, it’s great just to admire the retro looking views.  Make sure you don’t miss out on experiencing two pieces of London’s long and storied history.

Meandering down the Thames to Canary Wharf. Seeing the city from so high up gives you a completely new perspective and one well worth buying a ticket for. 1/50s 105mm F8.0 Ilford Pan F+ 50.

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