Some weeks ago I read about the work of the late photographer Peter Marlow, whose exhibition ‘The English Cathedral’ is now touring the UK. He visited 42 Cathedrals at dawn, making a photo facing east towards the altar, using a large format film camera. This was a sight I couldn’t miss, so my friend Peter and I visited St Paul’s Cathedral last week to see his photos and perhaps make our own photographic record of this dramatic building. The exhibition was wonderful, although it made us realise how few of our ancient Cathedrals have architecture which is truly symmetrical and properly aligned! Given the challenges of building a Cathedral today, never mind several centuries ago, that perhaps shouldn’t be a surprise but seeing these structures together, all photographed in the same way makes it more evident.
After we’d explore Peter Marlow’s photos we spent the afternoon exploring St Paul’s with our cameras, searching for interesting photographic compositions. Ironically, we didn’t actually take any photos looking east like Marlow did!
Sir Christopher Wren’s wonderful geometric staircase, as seen in the Harry Potter and Paddington films.
Photos taken 23 January 2023