Full Moon over the Thames

Slowly, the full moon rises from the city haze, gaining definition and detail against the silhouette of the buildings along the Thames embankment and the majestically lit Tower Bridge behind the museum ship HMS Belfast. One of those rare, mild and dry summer evenings for London draws people out onto the riverside promenades with their pub, cafe and restaurant terraces.

The Southwark skyline on the south bank of the Thames is dominated by the skyscraper “The Shard”, the 310-metre-high, pyramid-shaped “glass shard” which was inaugurated in 2012. As always, there can be much debate about the architecture and dominance of the building, but the view of the city from the observation deck on the 68th to 72nd floors is incomparable.

Many of the offices are lit long into the night, giving the buildings structure and texture in the dark; the open window fronts offer glimpses into the working and living worlds of Londoners. For instance, long rows of desks facing each other, with several workstations estimated at 1.5 m wide lined up side-by-side, are the usual standard. I know this from colleagues and yet I am glad not to have to work in what I consider such cramped conditions myself. Space is simply expensive in London.

More pictures from London in the Great Britain Picture Gallery.