(View the full “Captured London” conceptual London photography series)
PART 1: THE NARRATIVE
2020 was already a difficult year… now London is being invaded.
London’s skyline has been taken-over by bright mysterious triangular shapes hovering above and across the capital.
Exactly what are these ominous shapes? Intergalactic life-forms? What else would they be? Are these “triangles” organic, living beings or some kind of spaceship?
Their structure is visibly flexible as some were seen “wrapped” around structures such as bridges.
Their extreme variance in size would indicate they have a range of functions or can be sub-divided into groups.
Not limited to the skies, the smaller of their kind are able to penetrate far within the city, as deep as London Underground platforms, possibly giving them a much deeper insight into our daily activities if observation is indeed is their aim.
They emit no sound or apparent vibration whether static or in motion. They do not seem to be attempting to communicate with us or among themselves and yet seem strangely coordinated and strategically positioned.
There is no explanation for their aqua coloured neon-like glow other than it being some form of energy field. It may be related to propulsion and/or worse… weaponry. Their observed speed is far beyond anything humanly possible.
Whilst their aqua glow is indeed stunning, some reports suggest that they may have hypnotising effects on people if observed for a prolonged period of time.
Their numbers are thought to be increasing across London through what seems to be an ability to multiply via some form of meiosis or cell division. One becomes two and so on…
Their intentions remain unknown.
PS: If you think I may have lost my mind, imagine if someone told you that a future killer virus transmitted to people who eat bats would lockdown the entire planet for months, that people would fight over toilet paper, that you would not be allowed to hug your parents…
PART 2: HOW “CAPTURED LONDON” CAME ABOUT
This new series came to life at the end of Summer 2020.
Triangles have always held a strong symbolic meaning. One of particular interest to me is the representation of a trinity, the one I’m interested about is past, present and future.
2020 has not been the kindest of years to most people, myself included.
So in September I decided I had to do something to turn this around and put it in the past, I needed to be in the present and create a new body of work which I could then look back at, in years to come, and see that in fact some positive did come out of this train wreck of a year.
Past, present and future.
This body or work is a bit of a merge of a few different areas of photography I have focused on in the past decade.
To begin with, some of you may be familiar with my Minimal London Architecture series. It captures London in a minimal way, in square format on an aqua coloured sky. It has been for long one of my best sellers in particular for office interiors and hotels.
Secondly I have always had a fascination for the idea of a futuristic London. What would it look like? Back in 2013 I created a vision of future London in my London 2313 series. Looking back at it now, my vision of the future was a little grim and definitely a post apocalyptic one but it was popular and ended up published by The Guardian and The Londonist among other features.
Another area of my early work which seems to have gained popularity among A-Level and GCSE students is my selective colour photography which many seem to be interested in nationwide. It was something I focused on very early in my photographic career. Just last week I was asked if my selective colour work could be included in a future teacher training resource / manual, to which I of course agreed.
And finally, I love London and its landmarks. Urban landscape photography was my first love alongside Graffiti and Street Art photography, it is what encouraged me to become a professional photographer. Back in 2009 I captured an image of the London Eye which was noticed and became the image for the advertising campaign of the lens I used at the time to capture the image. I’d only been serious about photography for a year and seeing my photo printed and published in all major UK photography magazines gave me a sense that I could actually make it by following my passion. Now I know it sounds cheesy, a bit like a motivational Instagram quote, but it is what it is.
I therefore feel this new series merges of all three genres mentioned above. A view of London’s urban landscape with a futuristic twist and a hint of colour on a black and white background.
As for the narrative… let’s just blame my over-active imagination, a passion for science fiction and of course the pressure photographers have to come-up with a “story”.
Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check the full Captured London collection.
Nico