Striking aerial images show how London skyline has changed in a decade

1/10
Eleanor Rose22 July 2017

These striking aerial pictures taken by a photographer with nerves of steel show how London’s skyline has transformed drastically over the course of a decade.

The photographs, captured by Jason Hawkes on some of his weekly helicopter trips over the capital, show the metamorphosis of a city now swamped with luxury high-rise projects that ten years ago would have seemed like fiction.

At just shy of 310 metres, the Shard juts from the city centre in all of the pictures taken since its 2012 completion.

Although its stark aesthetic divides opinion, Mr Hawkes’ photos of London before the Shard was built make the city's skyline look bare in comparison.

Other iconic, newer skyscrapers such as the Walkie Talkie and Cheesegrater are absent from the images taken in the early 2000s.

In one view of the Thames and Southbank from more than 17 years ago, even the London Eye is missing.

In other amazing pictures, the Razor, the Heron and St George's Wharf - all built over the past few years - are not yet in place.

Mr Hawkes gets his snaps using the terrifying method of leaning out of the chopper door to get the best views of London from high above the rooftops.

By now author of more than 50 books and a multitude of ad campaigns, he photographs the city from above most weeks.

Mr Hawkes said this gallery results from “chance matches in composition and light that show the amazing changing face of London”.

More of his work can be seen on his website or by following him on Twitter.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT