London Street Photography 2025
Whenever I’m back home, roaming London’s streets with a camera is pure joy. It’s ever evolving, with such an abundance of opportunities for photography. There are people from all walks of life showcasing their styles, cultures and talents, and spaces that are inspiring in their grandeur and history.
I remember travelling to London in the year 2000 and riding the London Eye, and being in awe of the skyline, the skyscrapers, and St Paul’s Cathedral. The landmark still inspires me today.
The above photo was taken a few moments after the below photo. These three orthodox Jews were mulling around, taking in the sights, and I saw the exact photo I wanted from a mile away. Big Ben’s scale never gets old, and lining up these three hats against the tower felt like a gift - I love how the grain texture makes this photo feel timeless.
Riding the Thames Clipper: A Moving Photo Studio
Hopping a Thames River boat from Parliament to Canary Wharf turns the skyline into a floating photo set. This time we rode east from Parliament to Canary Wharf, which saw us go under many epic bridges, and had me running in circles around the boat excited by all the angles and windows.
London has such a special skyline, and this light surely helps it shine. Photo by Tom L A Jones.
Why London’s South Bank Still Inspires My Street Photography .
Both St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tate Modern are regular stops for me when I’m in London - both lend themselves to photography so well! I’ve been enjoying the multiple exposure setting on my Fuji camera a LOT in the last year, and I think there’s some great examples of it here.
A Quick Micro-Tutorial in Multiple-Exposures:
There are two ways I create my multiple / double-exposures:
Directly on my Fuji camera, using the built-in multiple-exposure mode on my X100vi and XT5.
Using the Photoshop app on my iPhone (or on my MacBook later on). Links to download on Android or iPhone.
These are two very different ways of approaching the technique, and they both have their pros and cons (look out for a future post where I break these down thoroughly).
Below is a quick Photoshop-mobile multiple-exposure tutorial anyone can try—no Fuji needed:
First, go out and take some photos; silhouettes, textures, and scenes with high contrast typically work really well. Have fun! Then get your favourites onto your phone ready to edit…
With the Photoshop app on your phone, look for the “Combine Photos” option on the homescreen.
From your camera roll, select your first photo. This will be your foundational / background image, so choose a photograph with a strong shape. Silhouette’s work really well for this layer!
Look for the + button to add a new “layer”. You’ll be prompted to add a second photo here, which will be layered on top of the first.
With your second layer added and selected, hit “Blend”. You’ll be faced with several blend options here, and I suggest you play with them all. I use Screen and Multiply a lot.
To finish, dial down the opacity of the second layer to your desired level.
And it’s as simple as that. Have some fun with it, tell a story with it, and see what you can create!
Tips:
Look for photographs that complement each other or tell a story together. For example, a silhouette of a person holding an umbrella would match nicely with the texture of water on a window pane.
You can add as many layers as you like. Sometimes I’ll add up to 10 layers of images, though be careful not to make the piece feel too crazy (unless that’s what you’re going for).
A view from our apartment in East London, looking out over the Olympic Village.
How can I not shoot these blossoms? Just bursting with colour. Matched nicely with this gorgeous old car…
Our last night in London had us enjoying The Book of Mormon, followed by a stroll thru Soho. I wanted to showcase all the glowing neon lights so threw the multiple-exposure mode on one final time (for this trip) and captured this across 5 exposures.
And I’ll finish here with a photo of my partner Katie and her dad Shawn descending into the Underground on our last evening in London for this trip. I love the curves and softness in the architecture of the Elisabeth Line’s stations, and enjoy the simple energy of this photograph.
I enjoy these photo essays very much, and feel they’re a great antidote to the short attention span of social media. If you made it this far, thank you. Thank you for reading.
Let me know what you think! And if you’re planning your own London photo walk and want a fellow shooter along, drop me a line—always keen to swap vantage points.
