Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith

 


The Building

The theatre was originally a music hall dating back to 1888 before being twice renovated before reopening in 1895 as the New Lyric Opera House. The theatre was saved from closure and demolition in 1966, instead the auditorium was dismantled and reinstalled piece by piece in its current location before reopening in 1979.

This picture shows the redeveloped box office and entrance, designed by Rick Mather Architects and opened around 2007. Work has continued to redevelop and the theatre was nominated for RICS Awards in 2016.

The Photograph

This was taken back in February 2024 but was only processed this week. I like buildings with a good mix of contrasting shapes, and this is certainly one of those with multiple angles and the prominent curved wall.

My main aim when processing this picture was to emphasise the bold, standout sign but also showing the entrance and box office plus the side windows.

From a technical point of view, I used a shift lens to ensure that all of the angles stayed "true" in the picture. For processing, I made many selections and then applied levels and gradients to ensure that the various parts "fit" together whilst also giving a sense of light, shape and texture. Finishing off was done using the excellent History Burn I purchased for Photoshop a year or so ago.

Taken with a Sony A7 and Laowa 12mm f/2.8 and Laowa Magic Shift Convertor.


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