Interview Amy Bonifas
Photography James Burns
Music Simeon Walker

But beyond capturing high-rise and rooftop vistas, he is driven by a love of the city’s diverse musical culture. For his latest project, Concrete Sounds, he’s creating “a musical map of London”, layering some of the city’s most iconic tower block scenes with locally-inspired tunes. It was his looping one-hour shot of Kestral Tower in Islington, set to ‘Original Pirate Material’ by The Streets, that captured our attention and, as we gradually figured out a way to work together, inspiration struck …

“It's only under highly inspired circumstances that I send emails on a Sunday morning,” James wrote in February. “So apologies for the out of hours, but I've just seen your latest post on Instagram: Keeling House IX. Stunning building that I have never captured the view from, and I happen to live only 10 minutes away …”

Three days later, James got on his bicycle and introduced himself to homeowners Ben and Frances, who provided access to the balcony of their tenth and eleventh floor apartment in Keeling House (exterior shot captured below). James set up his cameras and captured the above “holy grail” timelapse – so-called because of the challenge presented when shooting a scene under changing light conditions. “Finally” – wrote Ben when he saw the result – “someone has managed to do this view at sunset justice.”

When did you realise that photographing London’s skyline was your passion?

It started with music. Growing up in north London as a teenager, I’d fallen in love with drum and bass, jungle and garage music. These were ‘London things’. Almost every guy I knew listened to pirate radio – it was like the Internet before the Internet. It was a community and it was where you learned about new music.

I knew that pirate radio stations were operating in nearby housing estates and post-war-era buildings. I saw this as musical architecture. These broadcasters were essentially creative communities using the resources they had. I felt like it made London the most exciting city.

Because I’m a very visual person, I wanted to interpret these stories, scenes and cultures visually. So documenting was a big part of it. My method is exhaustive – I wanted to cover the whole city. I’ve spent years cycling everywhere, just taking pictures, exploring buildings, finding places with views and capturing it all. I’ve got a map of the city in my head – a bit similar to how London cabbies have ‘The Knowledge’.

Tell us about some of the images you’re most proud of capturing.

Trellick Tower (top left image below) and Balfron Tower (bottom left image below) are two amazing buildings that I have captured well but it's the unsung places such as Tottenham's Broadwater Farm (top right image below) that I feel most pleased with. When you go up high, you get a new angle on these buildings – it's just the best way to photograph them.

I'm super proud that I can still do this and represent my city. When I post photographs and see all these people responding, in love with the same places I am, it’s beautiful. My work then becomes a hub for people to share their pride in their surroundings. We need that, the city needs it. It’s like spreading love.

I'm also proud of my method and the lengths I’ll go to get a cool picture. I put in blood, sweat, tears and lots of thought – I just want to create the strongest, most powerful image of a place.

Like last night, I heard they were demolishing a place in Poplar called Robin Hood Gardens (bottom right image below). It’s a very controversial demolition, lots of architects signed a petition to try and prevent it from happening, but they failed to get it listed and saved. I was there trying to get the best (and potentially last) shot.

What are your reflections on London’s changing skyline?

I often compare now to the last time London went through a building boom – the high-rise boom in the 1960s after the war. With this most recent boom, it’s like a cash grab. I don’t think we’ll realise how many mistakes we’ve made until much later.

I think there’s a lot of really uninspiring architecture and there’s such a high volume of change. There are parts of London that I don’t enjoy photographing as much as I used to. It’s quite homogenous.

Another concern I have is that during the 1960s, the motive was to build houses for ordinary Londoners. It was a necessity – the massive housing crisis following the war meant we needed to build everything back up for our locals.

We have a housing crisis this time around, but we’re not prioritising building for the same group of people – it seems to be pushing out the ordinary Londoners. There’s a different motive here these days and I think it’s altering things in a way that’s not necessarily enriching the city.

Where did the idea for your latest project, Concrete Sounds, stem from?

I love exploring the musical connections across the city. For example, a key element of the early 1990s Jungle scene emerged from a cluster of neighbourhoods and housing estates in Hackney. There’s also the grime scene that emerged in Bow and I could go on and on.

Certain areas have more musical energy. A lot of artists come from places like Tottenham and Hackney, and a lot of radio stations popped up in places like east London and found themselves at home in working-class neighbourhoods. I'm trying to link all these things together – technology, memory, music and culture.

Concrete Sounds was born as I began creating a musical map of London, using these very well-known and distinguishable landmarks – the towers and blocks where ordinary Londoners have lived over several generations, where several different musical genres have emerged.

People of different backgrounds with different musical tastes relate to these places. I love asking ‘What does that place remind you of music-wise? Or does a tune remind you of a certain place?’ I'm trying to tap into that.

I’ll be working on this project over the next few years, and I want people to contribute and make suggestions. This has already started and it’s so much fun. People send me messages and tunes and I’ll try and tally it up with the visuals. I think it’s going to be a fantastic hub, like an artefact, as part of something bigger to represent a piece of London’s history.