Thursday 14 July 2011

The Giants of Badminton

Two chalk giants had a game of badminton on Primrose Hill on 13 July. Their giant shuttlecock then set off around London to promote the YONEX BWF World Badminton Championships, taking place at Wembley Arena from 8-14 August.

The 50 foot badminton players were created by specialist environmental agency Curb, using natural chalk. Drawing began at 6am and took four hours to complete.

After leaving Primrose Hill, I followed the giant shuttlecock, manoeuvred by humans, weighing over 30kgs and measuring almost 10 feet tall, over to Regent Street in London's West End.

As it travelled from Oxford Circus tube station down towards Piccadilly Circus, I took up a position on the roof of the office block opposite the Omega store to shoot video footage and capture some great shots of one of London's most iconic streets.

This vantage point is sure to feature as a prime broadcast location during London 2012.

The YONEX BWF World Badminton Championships, hosted in Wembley Arena from the 8-14th August, provides an opportunity to see the world’s top Badminton players in the same venue as the 2012 Games a year early.

All my video footage and images from the day can be seen on my dedicated Facebook group for the World Championships. The two viral videos are also embedded below.