It’s no secret that Hong Kong is an intensely vertical city – a never-ceasing construction site with a true “sky’s the limit” philosophy.
But not every building is a fancy LED-clad office or mall; some are just humble public housing structures that accommodate the city’s most underprivileged citizens.
It’s easy to forget about this side of society when blinded by the bright lights of the billionaires, but according to Australian travel photographer Peter Stewart, “all you have to do is look up”.
After travelling to and from Hong Kong over a two-year period, Stewart compiled the stunning images for his “Stacked” series, which has been going viral in continuous and almost overlapping waves ever since.
From a variety of angles, the images capture a remarkably serene and beautiful side of the chaotic geometry of Hong Kong’s residential buildings.
Stewart – who tells Coconuts Hong Kong that he was introduced to the city’s photography hotspots by the Instagram community – explains:
“The vast array of buildings in the city and all the details and patterns and colours are a huge draw for photographers. A large fascination for me are the little details that can be found in these structures – all the air conditioner units, hanging laundry and bamboo scaffolding.”
Having travelled the world, and seen the best and worst of it, Stewart hopes “Stacked” will shed light on Hong Kong’s underbelly and dispel the myths about living in public housing estates.
When asked why he thinks the series continues to be wildly popular, he says:
“I think it’s got to do with the curiosity of the unknown. Few get to see what the living environments are actually like, so a lot of people make assumptions about the interior – that it’s unsafe, or run down. People draw conclusions that it must be a horrible place to live in, and this is simply not the case”.
Thanks, Peter. You truly do know how to make an underbelly beautiful!
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