Photos by Nicolas Petit / Words by Gabriella Zanzanaini
There are old men with birdcages and women in pleather trousers with poodles; children asleep over their homework on a temporary table set up streetside as a night tram trundles by, the neighbourhoods still alive with the breath of the night.
There is chaos to Hong Kong’s order and harmony in the clutter that fills its pavements, the steaming baskets of food, the heavy rolls of animal print fabric rushing by on a trolley, the pile of green vegetables on sale for ten dollars a kilo. The trolleys race around throughout the day, pushed by strong young men, fragile old women, sat on by children. A city that is constantly in movement, from its secluded South China Sea bays, to its dense cigarette chimney buildings. Its people negotiating their way through thick traffic and empty alleyways, through busy restaurants and quiet home cooking, through horse races and Louis Vuitton shops. There is time to lie down and look into the eyes of a lover, to lie down by the pool and soak in the sun, to flip around on a skateboard, to smoke an old bamboo pipe. When it is quiet, the light in the temple shines through for the meditative soul, or the sun lights up a makeshift bench just in time for the music listener dozing off under his hat.
A game of Chinese chess or Mark Six lottery, this city’s people are ready to gamble, to gamble away the chance that nowhere is better than here.
There is a name for those who have chosen this place as home. The Hong Kongers.
My name is Nicolas Petit and I am a freelance photographer currently based in Hong Kong. The above text was written by Gabriella Zanzanaini.
The HongKongers Project aims to go beyond Hong Kong’s skyline and tell a contemporary tale of the city through its people. All photos here were shot between October 2015 and March 2016.
Find Nicolas on :
Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteÂ
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Beautiful storytelling Nicolas. Thanks for sharing.
Love to see all pitcher on Hongkong Kong, miss to be there
I’ve only just read this – what a treat I missed. Loved the words and pictures.
Beautiful storytelling, thank you for sharing !