19 February, 2018
This story begins in a hotel reception in the district of Sheung Wan, Hong Kong. I was checking in and behind the desk the sun was setting seductively over the skyscrapers. I couldn't resist jumping over the desk to capture that moment with my camera, while the receptionist gave me a bemused smile.
Hong Kong's skyline is one of the most fascinating in the world, where a dense concentration of skyscrapers is juxtaposed with the immediate presence of rainforest. As night falls, the city transforms into a still pulsing symphony of neon lights. New buildings rise next to old residential blocks served by busy streets below.
Like a living organism, the city constantly changes its face, with old structures replaced by vertiginous architecture. A lack of available land means Hong Kong has the highest concentration of tall buildings in the world condensed into a small space; this relentless development is often criticised for having a negative impact on historical identity of the city.
Sheung Wan offers an insight into Hong Kong's past, filled with dried seafood shops, herbal-medicine wholesalers and traditional stores selling bird's nests to be used in soups.
This photographic series depicts the fascinating urban aesthetics of Hong Kong, where architecture seems to repeat itself in abstract, almost hypnotic, patterns and colours collide It is a wonderful visual mix which cannot help but astonish.
