Having found a renewed appreciation for the streets of London Town courtesy of street view mapping utility seety (see our previous post), we exhausted our worm’s eye view and stumbled across something far more bird-like.

Jason Hawkes is an aerial photographer who decided to capture the essence of London at night, in a captivating series of images that even the most seasoned Londoner would find impressive.

Snapping aboard a helicopter, Hawkes manages to grab even the most famous landmarks in a way never seen before; with stunning vistas of pointed light, organically swooping curves and vein-like illuminated streets.

As winter sets in and darkness arrives progressively earlier, find comfort in the fact that cities are pretty beautiful at night.

The whole set can be seen at Boston Globe’s Big Picture Blog.

For more aerial photography view Jason Hawkes’ portfolio