Urban photographer captures stunning images of London’s emerging skyscrapers

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Hatty Collier29 January 2017

An urban photographer has captured stunning images of London’s emerging new skyscrapers.

Ben Veasey, a freelance photographer who lives in Canary Wharf, travels around the capital taking photos of its extensive construction work and changing skyline.

The 50-year-old former graphic designer, began taking the photos in the late 90s and has documented more than 15 years’ worth of construction across the city.

He has recently photographed new skyscrapers under development including One Blackfriars, 22 Bishopsgate and the Scalpel in the City of London.

The Baltimore Tower, Isle of Dogs 
Ben Veasey

Mr Veasey told the Standard he initially started taking the photographs in 1999 with a small camera as a hobby when he was out jogging.

He said: “I saw these buildings go from a hole in the ground to completion.

“I started planning out different routes to run to in order to visit different building sites and began posting the images online.

Under development: 22 Bishopsgate 
Ben Veasey

“It was giving me an aim and a reason for running but as the years went by I really developed a passion for it and the camera started to get bigger.

“It’s not just the buildings I like to photograph but what is going on at the bottom of the tower, whether there is a person walking by or birds flying past.”

Mr Veasey said over the course of the last 15 years, he has seen the most change in east London.

“It’s definitely the east end that has changed the most including Canary Wharf and the Isle of Dogs. Stratford is like a different place to how it was 10 years ago before the Olympic Park was built," he said.

“There are also lots of little pockets of construction in Vauxhall and Elephant and Castle.”

There are increasing concerns over the number of tall buildings being built in the capital.

More than 320 new structures will be built across London in the next 10 years including three new clusters of skyscrapers on the southern side of the Thames, transforming river views from Parliament, the Victoria Embankment and the Southbank promenade.

All of the buildings have already been approved or are under construction across 75 square miles.

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