Vertical Horizon.

14/06/2014. [Hong Kong]
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA.
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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.
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Below, this is how Romain Jacquet-Lagraze observes and photographs the large and constantly changing Asian capital – vertiginously from the bottom up.

The city refers to how we grow as a person. Our lives are like buildings; we start at the bottom, we reach for the sky and our foundation is crucial to our success which is why I work from low-angle shots.

This series creates awareness of one’s environment. While wading through the city, lost in our own thoughts, we tend to not pay too much intention to what’s going on above us. 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…

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. The angles in which I make the shots emphasize the large scale of the structures around us in contrast to our own little being. Being conscious of our humble condition, to me, is the first step to move to our full potential and reach for our vertical horizon.

 

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ROMAIN JACQUET-LAGRÈZE

Romain Jacquet-Lagrѐze  is a French photographer born in France in 1987. He grew up in Paris suburbs until he moved abroad in 2008. Originally was dedicated to visual art, 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. Romain Jacquet-Lagreze landed in Hong  Kong for the first time in 2009.

While living  in the Yau Tsim Mong area, he became fascinated by the heterogenous character of the city's urban spaces, with modern buildings side-by-side among traditional tong lau. Driven by an ever-stronger curiosity, he began an intensive exploration of the city, trying to capture its diverse atmosphere. Eventually, he realised that the sole common aspect of all these places was the awe one feels when gazing up at the sky between the huge buildings.

His first attempt of recording his new home took the form of the project Vertical Horizon released in 2012 as a photo book. It has been featured in major publications in UK, France, Spain, USA, China and Hong Kong. The photo book has been then reprinted as a second edition in 2014.

2014 is also the year of the release of his second photo book Wild Concrete. This series focuses on trees and plants that are growing wildly on buildings in the middle of the busiest districts of Hong Kong. Romain see these trees as unexpected sprout of life redefining the relationship between man and the nature in an urban environment.

Romain is currently working on his newer photography projects focused on Hong Kong and the several aspects of its unmatched urban development.

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