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Hillary Uzomba
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Thames, Late Light

Two walks in September 2026. Purfleet on the estuary, from the sun touching the water to the last blue light, then South Quay at Canary Wharf two days later.

202613 photographsPhotography

Purfleet on the Thames estuary, 14 September, forty-six minutes of light going. Then South Quay at Canary Wharf, two days later, wide open at f/1.8 among the towers. Sony a6700, Sigma 16mm f/1.4, developed from RAW and graded with a film curve, teal in the shadows and warmth in the highlights.

Purfleet by Thames

The sun centred low over the Thames, its reflection a straight column of light down the water
Sun on the estuary, 17:39
The setting sun and its reflection seen between dark vertical railing postsA tall steel ring sculpture over a path, framing a sunlit gable behind hedges
Through the railings, 17:40. The ring, 17:47.
A brick storehouse marked with the number 5, its gable lit orange by the setting sun
Number 5, last light, 17:43
A wooden fingerpost pointing to Purfleet, Rainham Village and Aveley Bay against a dusk skyThe sun setting on the horizon over a curve of estuary shoreline
Three quarters to Aveley Bay, 17:49. Estuary, sundown, 18:03.
Close view of split, weathered timber with moss in the cracksA head-on view of a veranda clad in painted timber boards of orange, red, grey and cream
Grain, 18:14. Cladding, 18:20.
Mudflats and channels at low tide under a fading orange horizon
Blue hour, low tide, 18:25

South Quay, Canary Wharf

A tall curved glass tower rising over dock water, seen in portraitA curved glass residential tower beside a stepped brick block, clouds overhead
The glass column, 16:26. South Quay, 16:25.
Towers of Canary Wharf reflected in the dock, the curved tower at rightA wide view of Canary Wharf towers along the dock under broken cloud
Dock water, 16:32. Skyline, looking north, 16:33.