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From floating down that Aperol canal to eating that fish-shaped ice cream cone, Samantha Willis looks back at all the moments you definitely photographed this summer
The ‘holding up my fish cone ice cream in front of the gates to Chinatown’ shot
Novelty ice cream fans took this little fishy’s life in their hands (quite literally) when they snapped this creation from Bake in Soho. There was a high chance it would be knocked to the floor by a tourist trying to take a shot of the lanterns, but it was worth it for the ’gram.
The ‘I rowed down an Aperol canal’ shot
All right, so the pop-up orange-hued canal at Shoreditch Electric Light Station wasn’t technically filled with Aperol, but Londoners who rowed merrily along it were so excited, it was like they’d consumed a canal’s worth of the stuff. ‘Quick, get the shot before I lose an oar!’
The ‘not only does this selfie make me look cultured but it’s also the perfect lighting’ shot
Mass selfies like these haven’t been seen since there were queues round the block to snap Yayoi Kusama’s yellow pumpkins. With great angles and perfect lighting, Lee Bul’s installation at the Hayward Gallery is the optimum selfie opp. Just avoid pulling the ‘I’m really concentrating on taking a photo’ face.
The ‘look at me running, carefree, into a purple haze’ shot
Londoners have been running into the Mayfield Lavender Fields with their backs to the camera like nobody’s business. Don’t worry, there’s no judgement here, we’ve all done it. Theresa May probably has a similar snap on her private account.
The ‘look at this pickle in front of the Gherkin, it’s so cute and phallic’ shot
The owners of The Culpeper knew exactly what they were doing when they lugged the giant, green ‘piculpeper’ up to their rooftop. This pic-uliar addition to the skyline made for the ideal Instagram shot, captioned with witty innuendos, obviously. Smart move.
The ‘Harry and Megs getting hitched is the greatest love story of all time’ shot
Okay, so nobody really asked for this wall mural in St Christopher’s Place, but this depiction of a limp hand-hold did unite us in excitement for the fairytale royal wedding. We looked up on our lunch break and the mere sight of it had us tearfully imagining the happy couple, waving their way through the streets of Windsor.
The ‘it’s coming home’ shot
Some Londoners had hopes as high as their Boxpark bar tab for an England victory in this year’s World Cup. ‘Sod it’, they thought, as they chucked the barman their Monzo Card. ‘If the lads bring home the Jules Rimet, we won’t care about that night we ordered an eighteen pint round’. Ouch. Hurts now, doesn’t it?
The ‘it’s incredibly hard to capture on camera but I had a crack at it’ lightning shot
Getting a defined bolt of lightning without the blur took twenty minutes of dedication, followed by ten minutes deleting eighty-four failed attempts from your camera roll. Still, if you managed to capture a fork of the good stuff during the bank holiday thunderstorm, the results were breathtaking. Good work, London!
Summer's not over yet – check out our guide to the best things to do.