OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie

For over 25 years, the OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie has offered a relaxed atmosphere to enjoy memorable food and drink experiences, using only the best of British seasonal produce and serving the finest wines.
Situated on the 8th floor of the iconic OXO Tower on London’s South Bank, the restaurant boasts stunning views of St Paul’s and the river Thames. From birthdays and graduations to a romantic meal out, it’s the perfect setting for any special occasion with the views to match.

Double Commission

I first shot promotional images for the OXO Tower Restaurant last summer and then again a few weeks ago. Both shoots were really enjoyable and generated some great content. The restaurant is a fantastic environment to photograph in. Due to its top-floor location and floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the natural light up there is great with nothing to block the view.
It’s a real gift to be asked to take photographs there and the staff are great to work with too. Typically, a shoot like this would take about 3 to 4 hours starting at around 6pm in the evening. I took a range of different photographic shots including still-life food and drink, documentary lifestyle, the interior space of the restaurant, and the outside terrace area.

Food & Drink Photography

The food and drink photography shots were the most formal and composed, similar to taking a still-life photograph. It was an honour to take images of some stunning plates of food that had been specially created and prepared for the shoot by Executive Head Chef Jeremy Bloor.
I combined the approaches of photographing the dishes on a table set up for dinner and incorporating waiting staff holding plates of food. As well as delicious food, the restaurant is well known for its mouth-watering cocktails and I shot several composed images of these throughout the shoot.

Documentary Lifestyle Photography

I always enjoy using a ‘fly-on-the-wall’, documentary photographic style here, as it gives a real flavour of the buzzy but relaxed atmosphere in the restaurant. For example, I photographed lifestyle shots of staff behind the bar making cocktails, kitchen staff preparing dishes and the waiting staff serving food and wine.

It’s always interesting shooting in a live, natural environment where there are customers and staff present. The atmosphere at the OXO Tower is great and really lively. Both of the shoots were dependent on the weather (especially the images taken on the outside terrace) but thankfully, I got lucky on both occasions and had natural sunlight and fantastic sunsets to work with.
I’m pleased to report these promotional images have been used throughout the OXO Tower Restaurant website, on their social media, and some of the images have also been featured on the Time Out website.

Why not try the best of British menu yourself at the OXO Tower Restaurant and sample one of their famous cocktails? See more images from the promotional shoots.