A London nurse has won the top prize in a photography competition with a striking image of smiling commuters at Bank Underground station. Luke Collins, 33, a cardiac nurse at St Thomas' Hospital, took the photo during a busy Monday rush hour, capturing a diverse crowd looking directly at his camera.
Collins, who has lived in London for six years, said he had long admired the curve at Bank station and wanted to capture it. He recruited three assistants and used a loudspeaker to get commuters' attention during a four-minute gap between trains. The shot has since been liked tens of thousands of times on Instagram.
“I have to give full credit to Elliott, he got up on the platform seat and said to me, are you ready? He said really loudly: ‘Ladies and gentleman’ and it just went dead silent,” Collins told the Standard. “People just want to get where they are going. But if you engage, people like that.”
The photo, taken on Collins' phone, has been praised for capturing London's diversity and welcoming spirit. Collins, who only took up photography five months ago, won a photo blog opportunity, tickets to the Sony World Photography Awards, and a £1,000 camera.
