These Photos Really Make You Appreciate Tube Stations

Will Noble
By Will Noble Last edited 77 months ago
These Photos Really Make You Appreciate Tube Stations

Photographer Will Scott is in love with the London Underground. His pictures show the very real, and often unusual, beauty of stations we use every day, but often fail to stop and admire.

Here, Will shares 17 of his favourite tube snaps, explaining why each is special to him.

East Finchley: "This station has some stunning details and there is a good shot pretty much anywhere you point your camera. The archer is the obvious shot but I tried to give it some context by including the glass and brick."

Cockfosters

Barbican: "These arches were asking to be shot straight on given the light. It can be difficult catching people looking naturally (i.e. not looking straight at me) when shooting with a tripod but the approaching train helped distract the people in the frame as well as adding a bit of colour to the image."

Canary Wharf: "One of my favourites and thankfully not difficult to photograph (although the hordes of security guards who kept questioning me despite the fact I had a permit didn't help). I don't think any photograph will do this one justice, especially the feeling of coming down the escalator into the main concourse which is pretty special."

Barons Court

Gants Hill: "This station is so good it needed more that one shot to be included here. Although the exterior is about as nondescript as it gets, I got lucky when taking the shot as this couple kissed goodbye right in front of me. I also like the contrast of this image with the grand interior shot. The roundel clock is unique and a great example of the level of detail that went into the design."

Southgate

Oakwood: "One of the very first stations I shot, I knew the interior was going to be good but I didnt know just how good until I actually got there. The sun came out for about 30 seconds and I managed to get a couple of frames in that time."

Perivale: "Just a beautifully proportioned exterior by that man Charles Holden, whose stations I seem to be unable to stop shooting. The shot is given a bit of life and scale by the bird on the roof and the guy sweeping."

Sudbury Town: "Another beautiful Charles Holden station with so many great details, this sign stood out with its typography and colour."

Uxbridge: "Another great signage detail — Uxbridge has incredible detailing both inside and out."

Baker Street: "A busy streetscape restricted the exterior views and the labyrinth interior was also quite tricky to shoot — this detail popped out straight away though."

Canada Water: "I was looking forward to shooting this station but it turned out to be very tricky to get a good view of the famous 'drum'. In the end I managed to squeeze my camera in between a pillar and a very dirty window to get this shot."

Blackhorse Road

Hounslow West: "Possibly my favourite image of the series, I love the balance of the queuing people and the pigeons in flight. There was also actually a plane flying directly over the station but I had to get rid of it in post as it didn't look real!"

Westminster: "Another great station that is very tricky to photograph. The main space is tricky to shoot due to the sheer size of the columns and structure. This view captured the scale of the space - the blurry commuters help with that. Although I was standing on another staircase to get the shot and I could feel my tripod moving as it was so busy!"

Will's images form part of the London Underground Architecture & Design Map, available from Blue Crow Media.

Last Updated 29 November 2017