A new series of stunning shots show London looking like a ghost town – without a tourist or commuter in sight at its famous landmarks.
The eerie snaps, by French photographer Genaro Bardy, were captured at a rare moment when the capital’s streets were empty and the usual hotspots weren’t teeming with crowds.
London appears to be an abandoned city in photos of Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Tower Bridge and other sites that were all snapped last Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
French photographer Genaro Bardy captured incredible shots of Buckingham Palace and other sites without any visitors or cars
Bardy’s eerie snaps of tourist sites such as Tower Bridge taken at a rare moment when the capital wasn't teeming with crowds
Piccadilly Circus is one of the most crowded junctions in London, but it was abandoned when Bardy snapped his photos
The freelance photographer captured the images late on Christmas Eve and early on Christmas Day (pictured: Harrods department store)
There are very few moments during the day when tourists aren't snapping selfies or buses or taxis aren't crossing Westminster Bridge
Bardy’s series, Desert in London, is the second part of a long-exposure night photography project called Desert in the City.
The first photo series focused on his current home city of Paris on Christmas Eve in 2014.
Bardy, 39, said the idea came to him when he was thinking of ways to reproduce the photos he snapped in New York just before Hurricane Irene made landfall in 2011.
He said: ‘So I asked myself, how could I shoot an empty city? Without people, without cars, without tourists, and still magnify the city of love.
Desert in London is the second part of a long-exposure night photography project called Desert in the City (pictured: South Bank)
Bardy got the idea after he snapped photos of New York's empty streets before a hurricane in 2011 (pictured: National Gallery)
More than four million people visit St Paul's Cathedral every year, but it was devoid of tourists when Bardy photographed it
Before photographing London, Bardy's first series focused on Paris (pictured: the Walkie Talkie skyscraper from Monument station)
This snap shows the Corinthia Hotel and Northumberland Avenue, which runs from Trafalgar Square to the Thames Embankment
While thinking of ways to photograph an empty city, Bardy realised the best time would be early Christmas Day (pictured: Bank)
‘It turns out there is a moment in the year when streets are totally empty, when people are home or away, when nobody is partying all night long.
‘That moment is Christmas.’
Last Christmas in London, Bardy walked more than 12 miles from 11pm to 6:30am – snapping photos of everything from an empty London Bridge and vacant Trafalgar Square to a quiet St Paul’s Cathedral and an abandoned South Bank.
Bardy spent a week scouting locations and preparing, and said he felt as though he had the entire city to himself during the ‘magical’ photo shoot.
Last Christmas in London, Bardy walked more than 12 miles from 11pm to 6:30am snapping photos, including this shot of the Shard
Bardy spent a week scouting locations and preparing before he walked for nearly eight hours to places such as St Paul's Cathedral
Bardy said he felt as though he had the entire city to himself during the ‘magical’ photo shoot in Carnaby Street and other locations
Bardy said there is a time when the streets are empty, people are away and no one is partying all night long: ‘That moment is Christmas’
Before 4am, Bardy said it was hard to find 20 to 30 second slots without any cars in central London (pictured: Piccadilly)
The photographer, from Paris, said London 'was truly asleep' while he walked around the capital (pictured: Golden Jubilee Bridges)
Bardy said: ‘Between London Bridge and Piccadilly Circus I saw no one, no cars. The city was truly asleep.
‘Very long exposure could erase people walking, although imperfectly, but car lights would ruin any picture. Between 11pm and 4:00am it’s pretty hard to find 20 to 30 seconds slots without any cars.
‘But starting at 4:00am it’s truly magical, almost no one is in the streets.’
Bardy hopes to show his work at galleries in London and Paris, and publish a book with photos from the series.
He said the project will feature cities around the world and will likely take him to New York next.
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