With seven million people squeezed into just 426 sq/mi, Hong Kong is one of the world’s most densely populated areas. The remarkable city state passed from British rule into Chinese hands in 1997 but remains largely autonomous.
This breathtaking set of pictures captures the skyscrapers Hong Kong from the perspective of the mass of humanity which swarms at their feet.
French graphic artist Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze captured the vertigo-inducing vistas on a visit to the city, which he credits with inspiring within him a passion for photography.
‘It’s easy to get a measure of a building from afar, but you can’t really appreciate a towering city structure until you’ve craned your neck up the length of its spine, admiring the way its reflective edges seem to scrape the sky,’ he said.
‘Hong Kong is not a 2-D place that follows the flatness of a map but instead a volumetric place, where elevators leading us to restaurants, shops, home or our working place should deserve their own street names,’ he said.
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‘Vertical Horizon is a reminder on how we are nothing more than a bee in the big beehive, chipping in our bit into the greater realm of society.’
Mr Jacquet-Lagrèze is a French graphic artist with a Masters in multimedia and art from East Paris University. His interest in photography began during his period of working in Los Angeles and Tokyo, and subsequently blossomed into a passion after his arrival in Hong Kong.
He said it’s the geometry of the urban environment and the vivid lives it shelters which are the aspects of Hong Kong that inspire him most.
‘The angles in which I make the shots emphasize the large scale of the structures around us in contrast to our own little being,’ he said. ‘Being conscious of our humble condition, to me, is the first step to move to our full potential and reach for our vertical horizon.
‘The name Vertical Horizon is an obvious reminder of our competitive Hong Kong skyline where each building is trying to be the tallest, the boldest, the most beautiful, the youngest, the oldest or the most famous.’
This feature originally appeared in Daily Mail.