Streetline Hong Kong

This series of panoramic photographs offers a unique new perspective on Hong Kong’s much-loved architecture. An international collaboration between photographer Stefan Irvine and post-production expert Jörg Dietrich, the images are a celebration of the city’s rich architectural heritage. The first images from the series focus on Hong Kong’s “tong lau”, or Chinese “shophouse” buildings, a type of tenement architecture previously used throughout Southern China for mixed residential and commercial purposes. Later work explores other styles of building, including older structures from clan villages around the New Territories. With much of Hong Kong’s urban heritage under constant threat from redevelopment, these photographs will act as historical documents for the communities they depict. Photographer Stefan Irvine meticulously researches and plans these linear panoramas, often making several trips back to the same location to allow for traffic and parked cars to clear the scene. He carefully shoots along entire city blocks, capturing the entire facade of the buildings, at precise intervals and distances. These photographs from multiple perspectives are digitally merged by Jörg Dietrich into one expansive image, creating unique visualisations of everyday architecture. They allow the viewer to simultaneously examine the life of a whole city street, with more detail and greater impact than most traditional forms of photography.