shashasha

“Concrete Stories” is the fourth of a series of photobooks by Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze on the extreme urbanization of Hong Kong and the relationship of concrete structures and the people who inhabit them. Unlike thematically similar works (e.g., Michael Wolf’s brilliant Hong Kong photographs), Jacquet-Lagrèze utilizes the buildings, rooftops, skyscrapers and courtyards as stages to tell brief human moments. Within a mosaic of window frames, balconies, air conditioners and building sections we find couples holding hands, solitary men practicing golf swings, women hanging clothes to dry or people watering their plants.

“In a city as crowded as Hong Kong, the rooftop represents a peculiar space: part of the city yet removed from it. It’s a place away from jostling shoulders and nattering colleagues, a place of solitude and tranquility. It’s a release valve found in every single building. Walk up the stairs, push open the fire door and feel the pressures of urban life drift away with the dll roar of the metropolis.”
― from Christopher Dewolf’s foreword