Alastair Philip Wiper documents the inside of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, USA, in the photography project, The Secret City. In the series, the photographer captures the machinery and spaces inside the infrastructure, which was established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project. The laboratory’s first purpose was to refine uranium and plutonium for the production of atomic bombs, and it became a town that was built quickly to house workers, with the population reaching 75,000 during World War II. The photographer’s name for the project is not random. It is because the community was called The Secret City, referring to its existence being hidden. Most residents did not know the purpose of their work until the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan in 1945.

After the war, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory changed its mission and became a national center for nuclear research, materials science, biology, energy studies, and computer technology. Today, it is one of the largest science and energy laboratories under the U.S. Department of Energy system. Through the photographs of Alastair Philip Wiper, viewers are afforded the inner workings of the laboratory, from the space housing the first continuously operating nuclear reactor in the world to the major facility of the most powerful reactor-based neutron source in the US. In the images, the photographer managed to document the spaces and what resides in them, including the old machinery and control stations as well as the upgraded tools used for the nuclear research.

all images courtesy of Alastair Philip Wiper

alastair philip wiper captures stations in research facility

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory site includes laboratories, hot cells, reactors, accelerators, computing centers, and utility lines. The design of the laboratory reflects its functions: large buildings for reactors, long corridors for accelerators, and shielded cells for radiochemical work. Utility drain lines manage water and waste produced during experiments. Control rooms operate reactors and accelerators. The facility combines steel, concrete, shielding materials, electronic systems, and high-power computing hardware. In Alastair Philip Wiper’s series, the photographer goes through these areas, even capturing the site’s first major project, the X-10 Graphite Reactor. It began operation in 1943 and ran until 1963 and was the first continuously operating nuclear reactor in the world. 

Its purpose was to prove that plutonium could be produced for nuclear weapons, and after the war, the reactor was used to generate the first nuclear electricity. It also produced radioisotopes for medicine, agriculture, and industry, and these isotopes were used for cancer treatments, crop studies, and industrial testing. Another major facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory that the photographer captured is the High Flux Isotope Reactor. It remains the most powerful reactor-based neutron source in the US, producing medical isotopes, including plutonium-238, which is used in NASA space missions. Inside the reactor pools, spent nuclear fuel is stored. The blue glow that appears in the water is known as Cherenkov radiation, which shows the presence of recently irradiated fuel.

control room of the oldest nuclear reactor in the world, the X-10 Graphite Reactor

A US-based laboratory that also studies biological materials

One important instrument at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory that Alastair Philip Wiper photographed is the MaNDi neutron diffractometer. It studies biological materials by scattering neutrons off samples to map atomic structures, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, MaNDi was used to investigate the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 protease. The data supported drug development research for the vaccines later on. 

The laboratory also houses the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center, where technicians handle radioactive isotopes inside hot cells using remote manipulators. One isotope, actinium-225, is being tested in clinical trials for leukemia and brain cancer treatment. The hot cells are enclosed rooms with thick shielding that allow remote operations without direct exposure. This, alongside other setups, makes up the series The Secret City, which aims to present the once war-oriented research facility turned into a nuclear research laboratory. 

part of the Spallation Neutron Source particle accelerator

the MaNDi neutron diffractometer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory studies biological materials

detector at the Spallation Neutron Source particle accelerator

remotely operating arms in a hot cell at the Spallation Neutron Source

part of the Spallation Neutron Source particle accelerator

view of the X-10 Graphite Reactor

technicians use remote manipulators to handle actinium-225 inside a hot cell

Thomas Zacharia, former director of ORNL in front of Frontier, the fastest supercomputer in the world

hot cell at the Radiochemical Engineering Development Cente

project info:

name: The Secret City: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA

photographer: Alastair Philip Wiper | @alastairwiper

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Brad Walls doesn’t just take photos, he reimagines how we see the world. The Australian-born, New York–based visual artist has carved a niche in the art world through his signature aerial style, turning movement and everyday spaces into clean, graphic compositions. Whether it’s ballet dancers, synchronized swimmers, or architectural spaces, Walls captures his subjects from above, transforming them into precise, quiet, visual rhythms. His latest series, PASSÉ, turns the classical form of ballet into minimalist choreography viewed from above, offering a fresh and unexpected perspective on performance. The series is presented in a New York exhibition, on view from September 12th to 14th, 2025. 

Ascend | all images courtesy of Brad Walls

immersive red-hued show places visitors at the heart of ballet

In PASSÉ, the Australian photographer presents an immersive exhibition that reimagines ballet through a striking monochromatic red environment. Visitors step onto the original red carpet and into The Red Room, where life-sized photographic prints of dancers from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet School, and Ballet East surround them at eye level, placing audiences within the frame itself. Developed with choreographer Ian Schwaner, the project fuses classical ballet with graphic design precision, highlighting movement, symmetry, and stillness. Guests receive a handwritten postcard from a featured ballerina, transforming observation into a personal keepsake, while the exhibition as a whole blurs the boundary between performer and viewer, inviting audiences to inhabit the emotional world of ballet. 

Dead Juliet

Turning Performance into Pattern

But Walls first captured international attention with Pools From Above, the series that distilled pools into studies of geometry, symmetry, and color — an approach that’s now become his visual trademark.

Brad Walls’s artistic language is rooted in restraint. Every image he creates is carefully mapped and sketched before the camera is even lifted. It’s a design-first approach that brings a sense of calm and clarity to his work. ‘I’m drawn to the elegance of order,’  the Australian photographer says. ‘The quiet structure within chaos, the symmetry hiding in human form.’ Whether it’s synchronized swimmers, dancers, or architectural spaces, his subjects are transformed into visual rhythms that are precise, quiet, and full of intention.

With PASSÉ, Walls takes that precision to new heights. Over several months, he worked with more than 60 ballet dancers across New York, choreographing scenes specifically for the aerial lens. The resulting images flatten the stage into canvas, where movement becomes pattern, and the tension between control and grace is magnified. ‘It’s not just a study of dance,’ he notes. ‘It’s a choreography of form, precision, and pattern, seen from a perspective rarely experienced.’

The big one

Inviting Viewers to Step Inside the Frame

This perspective, from directly above, is key to Walls’s voice. What might appear ordinary on the ground becomes striking and unfamiliar from the sky. In Pools From Above, the minimalist images, captured from drone-mounted cameras, found harmony in diving boards, lounge chairs, and turquoise tiles — everyday details reframed into something quietly hypnotic.

Beyond the imagery, Walls is also rethinking how photography is experienced. His upcoming exhibitions move away from the white-cube gallery format, leaning into immersive, sensory-rich environments designed to engage the viewer. ‘I want to create images that people can step into,’ he says. ‘Not just something to look at, but something to feel.’ 

Unposed, kind of

Backbone

Golden ratio

Gridlocked grace

Organized chaos

Mosaic

Symphony

Dissonance

Tether

Equilibrium

Heroine

Hibiscus

Spine

Aquatunda

Breathe – Sydney, NSW AUS

Suns Out Buns Out – Vaucluse, NSW, AUS

Ball Up

Sequestered

project info: 

name: PASSÉ
artist: Brad Walls | @bradscanvas
location: 347 Broome Street, New York, NY
dates: 12-14 September 2025

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Behind the stark facades of concrete landmarks lies a world of interior spaces that are seldom seen yet deeply influential. The Brutalist Interiors book, edited by Derek Lamberton and published by Blue Crow Media, uncovers these hidden environments — civic halls, sacred structures, social housing complexes, and private dwellings — through a global survey of architecture that captures the material intensity and sculptural clarity at the heart of Brutalism.

Moving beyond the exterior, the book presents a richly documented narrative of Brutalist interiors, spanning Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The volume combines new photography with original essays to reveal how these spaces continue to embody both aesthetic precision and ideological ambition. Civic projects in Ghana, meditative concrete forms in Japan, and Montreal’s iconic Habitat 67 are among the featured examples, each documented with rigour and care.

Barbican | image by Max Colson – all images courtesy of Blue Crow Media

Essays and Photography in Dialogue

Contributions from architectural writers and historians — including Blake Gopnik, Naomi Pollock, Deane Madsen, Gili Merin, Felix Torkar, and others — examine the ethical, social, and political conditions that shaped Brutalist design. Their essays offer a nuanced perspective on how interiors reflect the cultural ambitions of their time, while photographs by Iwan Baan, Roberto Conte, Stefano Perego, Leonardo Finotti, and Simon Phipps capture their austere beauty and formal dynamism.

Published by independent publisher Blue Crow Media, the book combines over 100 photographs with seven essays and a foreword, Brutalist Interiors functions as both a visual archive and a critical reflection, offering readers a rare opportunity to engage with the interiors that define some of the most significant Brutalist works.

Faculty of Philosophy Novi Sad | image by Relja

Shui Cultural Center | image by west-line studio

Johannes XXIII Church

Cafeteria Saarland Mensa Canteen

Housden House

Pedro Reyes House | image by Reyes Fernandez

Jaú Bus Station | image by Nelson Kon

Temple of Monte Grisa

Basilica Cathedral of Our Lady of Altagracia

Sheats Goldstein | image by Jason Woods

Hauts-de-Seine Prefecture | image by Laurent Kronental

project info: 

name: Brutalist Interiors
editor: Derek Lamberton 
publisher: Blue Crow Media | @bluecrowmaps

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After capturing Soviet bus stops and metro stations (find designboom’s previous coverage here), Christopher Herwig now shifts his attention to the roads of South Asia. His forthcoming book Trucks and Tuks, published by FUEL, documents the vibrant artwork found on ordinary vehicles. Over four years and 10,000 kilometers, Herwig recorded a colorful tradition in which trucks and tuk tuks carry the dreams, identities, and aspirations of their drivers.

all images by Christopher Herwig | Lahore, Pakistan

Trucks and Tuks captures a fading tradition of roadside artistry

The decorated vehicles of the Indian subcontinent are saturated with imagery of white stallions galloping beneath waterfalls, Bollywood stars bursting into song, sunset lovers silhouetted against the sea, or divine figures sharing space with cartoon villains. Every surface is covered, from bumpers to windshields, revealing an improvisational artistry that is at once deeply personal and immediately public. A driver’s faith, political ideals, or sense of humor find expression in bright paint, bold typography, and an ever-changing mix of motifs.

Regional differences emerge across the lens of Canadian photographer Christopher Herwig. In Pakistan, for example, trucks are often crowned with a distinctive curved wooden peak, likened to a princess’ tiara, while in Sri Lanka, tuk tuks carry images ranging from sacred deities to Batman’s Joker. Typography across vehicles might command fellow drivers to ‘blow horn’ or carry social messages like promoting girls’ education. This breadth of subject matter points to the role of the vehicles as both cultural signboards and intimate diaries, reflecting the personality of those who drive them.

Yet the Trucks and Tuks book arrives at a moment of fragility. Government directives and the spread of cheap, mass-produced decorations are threatening the continuity of this vernacular art form. Herwig’s photographs, framed by an introduction from writer Riya Raagini and an afterword by the photographer himself, form an urgent record of a tradition that is fading from the roads of South Asia. 

Lahore, Pakistan

Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Ratnapura, Sri Lanka

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Jaipur, India

Attock, Pakistan

Attock, Pakistan

Jodhpur, India

Trucks and Tuks, published by FUEL, documents the vibrant artwork found on ordinary vehicles

project info: 

name: Trucks and Tuks | @trucks_and_tuks
photographer: Christopher Herwig | @herwig_photo

publisher: FUEL | @fuelpublishing

release date: September 4th, 2025

format: hardback, 160 x 200 mm, 208 pages

introduction: Riya Raagini

afterword: Christopher Herwig

distribution: Thames & Hudson / D.A.P.

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The Sasquatch 617 is a panoramic, medium-format film camera developed by industrial designer Derek Chiang in collaboration with industrial and graphic designer Ellie Kim. The project responds to the challenge of capturing wide, uninterrupted landscapes beyond the limits of standard photographic framing.

Unlike stitched digital panoramas, which reconstruct scenes from multiple images, the Sasquatch 617 produces a continuous photograph, making it suited for dynamic environments with movement, such as trees in the wind or breaking waves.

all images courtesy of Derek Chiang and Ellie Kim

Sasquatch 617 expands the limits of panoramic photography

The camera is constructed with a 304 stainless steel exterior frame combined with 3D printed polycarbonate components. With a lens attached, the system weighs approximately 1kg. Functional features include a focusing ring, a rear door panel for full access, and manual film advance knobs. Optional accessories extend usability and include a magnetically attached viewfinder, a magnetically attached shutter release cable, and a protective lens cover.

The Sasquatch 617 model is designed as a robust tool for outdoor use while maintaining precision in construction and operation. Pre-orders will be available on Kickstarter in September 2025, with shipping planned for late December.

built to capture uninterrupted landscapes

shot on Sasquatch 617 | Kodak Ektar 100

shot on Sasquatch 617 | Kodak Gold 200

shot on Sasquatch 617 | Kodak Portra 400

avoids the stitching required in digital panoramas

constructed with a 304 stainless steel frame

uses 3D printed polycarbonate components

balances robust construction with lightweight handling

all components

camera parts sketch

project info:

name: Sasquatch 617
designer: Derek Chiang, Ellie Kim

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Italian photographer Stefano Perego presents Concrete, mon amour: The Raw Imprint of Modernism, a photographic study of modernist concrete architecture spanning 98 buildings across 29 countries. Documented over ten years between 2015 and 2025, the book explores the formal and material language of concrete structures built in the mid-to-late 20th century — monolithic constructions that reflect the architectural ambition and ideological shifts of the era. Through a deliberately raw visual approach, Perego focuses on the expressive geometries, surface textures, and spatial presence of these buildings, from urban landmarks to isolated outposts.

Medical center, by architect Ágoston Miklós, 1981. Budapest, Hungary. photo: Stefano Perego, Concrete Mon Amour, Gestalten 2025.

Stefano Perego explores layered meanings behind constructions

The book organizes its subjects without privileging fame or recognition, instead offering a broad view of how concrete was used to shape civic, religious, residential, and infrastructural environments. Each structure is photographed in its current state, whether well-preserved or visibly weathered, providing visual insight into the endurance and evolution of these architectural forms over time. Beyond documenting aesthetics, Concrete, mon amour by Stefano Perego also interrogates the layered meanings behind the constructions. Some appear as enduring symbols of progressive vision, while others reveal associations with political power and cultural transformation. The book frames concrete not just as a material choice but as a medium of expression — at once brutal and intentional, utilitarian and sculptural.

The IItalian photographer ultimately highlights the complexity of modernist legacies: how the permanence of concrete continues to prompt reflection on the ideals, ambitions, and contradictions embedded within the built environment. The publication is both a visual archive and an invitation to reconsider the impact and relevance of architectural modernism today.

Johannes XXIII church, by architect Heinz Buchmann and sculptor Josef Rikus, 1968. Cologne, Germany. photo: Stefano Perego, Concrete Mon Amour, Gestalten 2025.

St. Joseph Church, by architects Marius Šaliamoras, Kęstutis Akelaitis and Gintaras Čaikauskas, 2016-2020. Vilnius, Lithuania. photo: Stefano Perego, Concrete Mon Amour, Gestalten 2025.

Saint Nicholas church, by architect Walter Maria Förderer, 1962-1971. Hérémence, Switzerland. photo: Stefano Perego, Concrete Mon Amour, gestalten 2025.

Monument “Peace”, by sculptor Nugzar Manjaparashvili, 1970s. Nukriani, Georgia. photo: Stefano Perego, Concrete Mon Amour, Gestalten 2025.

former administrative building of Põdrangu State Collective Farm, by architects Maara Metsal and Maia Laul, 1976-1977. Põdrangu, Estonia. photo: Stefano Perego, Concrete Mon Amour, Gestalten 2025

Technical Library, by architect Georgiy Bichiashvili, 1985. Tbilisi, Georgia. photo: Stefano Perego, Concrete Mon Amour, Gestalten 2025.

Flame monument, by architect Alexander Barov and sculptor Stefan Stoimirov, 1975. Panicharevo, Bulgaria. photo: Stefano Perego, Concrete Mon Amour, Gestalten 2025.

Ilinden memorial, also known as Makedonium, by Jordan Grabuloski and Iskra Grabuloska, 1974. Krushevo, North Macedonia. photo: Stefano Perego, Concrete Mon Amour, gestalten 2025

Residential towers, built in the 1980s. Riga, Latvia. photo: Stefano Perego, Concrete Mon Amour, Gestalten 2025.

Church of Our Lady of Boavista, by architect Agostinho Ricca, 1975-1979. Porto, Portugal. photo: Stefano Perego, Concrete Mon Amour, Gestalten 2025.

Ilinden memorial, also known as Makedonium, by Jordan Grabuloski and Iskra Grabuloska, 1974. Krushevo, North Macedonia. photo: Stefano Perego, Concrete Mon Amour, Gestalten 2025.

Ilinden memorial, also known as Makedonium, by Jordan Grabuloski and Iskra Grabuloska, 1974. Krushevo, North Macedonia. photo: Stefano Perego, Concrete Mon Amour, Gestalten 2025.

Parking Garage, by architect Hans Asplund, 1963-1965. Stockholm, Sweden. photo: Stefano Perego, Concrete Mon Amour, Gestalten 2025.

cover of Concrete, mon amour: The Raw Imprint of Modernism

project info: 

name: Concrete, mon amour: The Raw Imprint of Modernism
photographer: Stefano Perego | @stepegphotography
publisher: Gestalten | @gestalten

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Weird Buildings, with text by Imogen Fortes and published by Hoxton Mini Press, explores some of the most unusual and imaginative architectural creations around the world. The book collects photographs of structures that challenge conventional design, showcasing buildings that are playful, provocative, and visually surprising. From homes and hotels to museums and roadside landmarks, the collection presents architecture that stretches beyond function to explore creativity, eccentricity, and experimentation.

The Big Duck | image © Randy Duchaine / Alamy

From Lebanon’s Airplane House to New York’s Big Duck

Among the featured examples — just a few of the many included in the Weird Buildings book — is Casa do Penedo in Fafe, Portugal (1974). Squished between four enormous boulders, from which it takes its name (do penedo means ‘of stone’), the house was built by a local family as a rural retreat. Designed to blend seamlessly with its surroundings, it immerses its occupants in nature while maintaining a distinctive, sculptural appearance. Though now used only by its owners for holidays, Casa do Penedo continues to attract streams of curious visitors who come for guided tours throughout the year.

The Inntel Hotel in Zaandam, Netherlands (2010) by WAM Architecten, is a 12-story structure composed of stacked interpretations of traditional wooden houses from the region, including workers’ cottages and a notary’s dwelling; the hotel’s blue house references a painting by Claude Monet during his visit to Zaandam. In Lebanon, the Airplane House in Miziara (1975) by architect Michael Suleiman, is a two-story home built in the form of an Airbus A380, complete with 30 portholes on each side, balconies on both wings, and a short nose cone. In the United States, New York’s Big Duck (1931) by architects Martin Maurer, George Reeve, William and Samuel Collins, is a duck-shaped roadside store originally commissioned to sell poultry, now recognized as a Long Island landmark and an early example of ‘duck architecture.’ Texas is home to the Steel House at Lake Ransom Canyon by Robert Bruno, an unfinished Corten steel structure resembling a rusted spaceship, which Bruno worked on for three decades before his death.

Casa do Penedo | image © Marc-Philipp Keller / Alamy

architecture that challenges norms and sparks curiosity

The book emphasizes that these buildings are united not by style but by a willingness to push architectural boundaries. Many defy conventional shapes, scales, and expectations, encouraging viewers to reconsider how humans inhabit and interact with space. Some structures were conceived to attract attention, others as personal expressions, and some as experiments in form and material. Weird Buildings situates these examples within a broader architectural context, noting the legacy of designers such as Antoni Gaudí, Frank Gehry, and Zaha Hadid, as well as contemporary practices like BIG, all of whom have explored unconventional forms and inventive approaches to building design.

Ultimately, Weird Buildings is a visual celebration of architecture that defies standardization. Whether monumental or modest, famous or obscure, the buildings included highlight the creativity, eccentricity, and imagination that drive designers to rethink the possibilities of the built environment. In a world often shaped by uniformity and efficiency, these structures stand out as reminders of the value of curiosity, playfulness, and experimentation in architecture.

Inntel Hotel | image © Pixelbiss / Alamy

The Basket Building | image © Andre Jenny / Alamy

Drina River House | image © 2024 HornyHamster

The Steel House | image © Jerry Cotten

National Fisheries Development Board | image © UniversalImagesGroup

Konieczny’s Ark | image © Olo Studio

Teapot Dome Service Station | image © Mark Kiver / Alamy

The Twist | image © Patrik Bloudek

Under | image © Lillian Tveit _ Alamy

Casa del Acantilado | image © Luminar Neo

project info: 

name: Weird Buildings
text: Imogen Fortes 
publisher: Hoxton Mini Press | @hoxtonminipress

The post from ducks to spaceships: ‘weird buildings’ explores unconventional architecture worldwide appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Ewelina Bialoszewska embeds seeds into her homemade photo book, so viewers can plant and grow the album after. Rightly named Growing Album, the project combines photography with agriculture by producing a plantable image journal made from paper that contains seeds. Users can plant the entire book in soil to grow plants, and artist Ewelina Bialoszewska even matches the seeds to the ones shown in the photographs.

It is a personal project for the Polish artist. She makes the papers from the old maps of her hometown and the newspaper clippings that her grandmother has saved over many years. During the papermaking process, Ewelina Bialoszewska adds seeds to the pulp mixture, which come from the same plants that appear in the photo book. So, when the viewers see tomatoes growing in an image’s background, the seeds around that page contain actual tomato seeds mixed within the paper fibers so that they don’t easily fall off or can’t be scraped off.

all images courtesy of Ewelina Bialoszewska

Biodegradable paper embeds the seeds into the soil

Artist Ewelina Bialoszewska uses transfer printing techniques to create images on the seed paper and photo book. This process produces images that appear faded rather than sharp, and the fading effect represents how memories become less clear over time, an intentional effect for the project. The paper biodegrades in the ground while the seeds germinate and grow into plants. The growing process takes several weeks to months, depending on the plant species and growing conditions, and as the paper breaks down, it also provides nutrients for the sprouting seeds.

The paper production for Ewelina Bialoszewska’s homemade photo book process requires careful timing to preserve seeds since they must remain dormant during papermaking and storage while retaining the ability to germinate when planted. The artist has developed techniques to protect seed integrity throughout the manufacturing process, and some of the seeds embedded, or that can be included, onto the pages are vegetables, herbs, and flowers that typically grow in Polish gardens. Each plant species requires specific growing conditions for successful germination.

Ewelina Bialoszewska embeds seeds into her homemade photo book

The Growing Album touches on migration and identity issues

Each page of Ewelina Bialoszewska’s homemade photo book tells a story through the combination of image and seed. The photographs document specific locations, gardens, or plant life from Poland, while the embedded seeds enable users to recreate parts of these environments anywhere in the world. The album works in various climates though success rates depend on local weather and soil conditions. Some plants adapt better to new environments than others, so users may need to adjust watering, sunlight, and soil conditions for optimal growth.

The Growing Album touches on migration and identity issues. For the artist, many immigrants feel disconnected from their cultural roots after moving to new countries, and the album seeks to establish physical connections to their homeland through gardening. It’s a means to allow people who moved away from their birth countries to grow plants from their homeland. In this way, users can cultivate living connections to their places of origin, instead of only viewing photographs of home, familiar objects, and their loved ones.

viewers can plant and grow the album later on

rightly named Growing Album, the project combines photography with agriculture

the image journal is made from paper that contains seeds

users can plant the entire book in soil to grow plants

the artist even matches the seeds to the ones shown in the photos

Ewelina Bialoszewska adds seeds to the pulp mixture for the photo book

the artist uses transfer printing techniques to create the images

the fading effect represents how memories become less clear over time

the paper biodegrades in the ground while the seeds germinate and grow into plants

project info:

name: The Growing Album

artist: Ewelina Bialoszewska | @ewelina_bialoszewska

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Hong Kong’s skyline is lighting up nightly with a tribute to its own past. M+ Museum unveils HK:PM, a new moving image commission by Greg Girard, transforming its iconic LED facade along the bay into a visual journey through the city’s transformation from the 1970s to the 1990s. Animated from Girard’s extensive personal archive of analogue photographs, the series weaves together street scenes from Central, neon-lit avenues, moments of daily life, and images from the now-demolished Kowloon Walled City — capturing the at once intimate and electric character of Hong Kong.

Presented as a continuous loop, the sequence is presented like a silent film, shifting from imagery of students and street workers, nightclubs and celebrities, to soaring planes near Kai Tak, and the hum of activity along Victoria Harbour. Together they give renewed motion and meaning to fragments of memory of the metropolis through the Canadian photographer’s cinematic lens.

HK:PM | commissioned by M+, Hong Kong, 2025. courtesy of Greg Girard. image by M+ Hong Kong

a cinematic visual journey through the metropolis in the 70s-90s

Greg Girard has long been recognized for his capacity to document cities in flux. In HK:PM, his images return to their place of origin, animated at a monumental scale on the south-facing LED facade of M+ Museum. Through the interplay of movement and stillness, these photographs evolve into a visual narrative about a city’s collective identity. ‘When I first took the bulk of these images as a young photographer in the 1970s, I never imagined them resonating with an audience, let alone shown to an entire city,’ the photographer writes.‘Creating HK:PM has been a journey of rediscovery… transforming fragments of Hong Kong’s recent past into a cinematic sequence.’

This act of returning, of images taken in Hong Kong now projected back onto its skyline, gives the work an added resonance, and the incidental becomes iconic. The work is especially poignant as Girard’s practice often sits at the intersection of personal memory and urban transformation, looking at the transformation of various metropolitan cities across Asia. From the Kowloon Walled City to Phantom Shanghai, his archives document architectural disappearance with emotional clarity.

HK:PM | commissioned by M+, Hong Kong, 2025. courtesy of Greg Girard. image by M+ Hong Kong

m+ museum reclaims urban memory through a sequence of images

Curated by Silke Schmickl, Head of Moving Image at M+, HK:PM builds on the museum’s 2024 programme Hong Kong Made Me, an earlier collaboration with Greg Girard that transformed his photographs into a live cinema event scored by rock duo Gong Gong Gong. In this new chapter, the images are given a luminous stage to speak for themselves.

Spanning over 65,000 square meters, M+ is among the most significant institutions for contemporary visual culture in Asia, and its LED facade — one of the largest media screens in the world — has become a key platform for engaging the public through digital commissions. Overlooking Victoria Harbour, it functions as a civic media space and artistic landmark, transforming moving image into urban spectacle.

looping along Victoria Harbour’s waterfront | HK:PM | commissioned by M+, Hong Kong, 2025. courtesy of Greg Girard. image by M+ Hong Kong

HK:PM | commissioned by M+, Hong Kong, 2025. courtesy of Greg Girard. image by M+ Hong Kong

Greg Girard presents HK:PM | image courtesy of Greg Girard

the series captures the electric character of Hong Kong | image courtesy of Greg Girard 

Hong Kong’s skyline is lighting up nightly with a tribute to its own past | image courtesy of Greg Girard 

the sequence is presented like a silent film of shifting imagery | image courtesy of Greg Girard 

featuring images of the now-demolished Kowloon Walled City | image courtesy of Greg Girard 

a vibrant metropolis in flux | image courtesy of Greg Girard

project info:

name: HK:PM

photographer: Greg Girard | @gregforaday

location: M+ Museum, Hong Kong | @mplusmuseum

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Multidisciplinary visual artist, photographer, and director Reuben Wu inscribes light onto remote natural environments through experimental photographic interventions in his latest series, Thin Places. Known for his haunting aerial compositions using drones, lasers, and long exposures, the artist has developed a unique visual language that brings photography, design, and speculative technology together. In Thin Places, Wu frames landscapes where artificial light and natural terrain seem to meet halfway. The images are captured entirely on-site, in single exposures, using drones and lasers to trace fleeting geometries into the environment.

One standout work from the series, Surface Tension, was photographed at a remote salt lake under a moonless sky. Using a custom aerial laser swept just above the water’s surface, Wu renders a floating curtain of light, revealing crystalline salt structures caught between the stars above and their reflections below. 

all images by Reuben Wu

Thin Places builds on the foundation of SIREN series

The project’s title, Thin Places, references a Celtic notion of geographical thresholds, spaces where the boundary between the physical and the spiritual dissolves. Wu interprets this concept through interventions with light, shaping fields of perception without altering the land. 

Thin Places follows the Chicago-based artist’s earlier series SIREN, a triptych made in August 2024 on the shores of Lake Michigan, which marked a turning point in his approach. There, vertical shafts of drone light play against the presence of an unexpected aurora. These early works laid the groundwork for the more atmospheric and spatially abstract compositions in Thin Places, where light becomes a sculptural medium.

Wu uses a 102MP Fujifilm GFX100RF medium format system and manually guided lighting technologies in his process, which remains entirely analog in execution, and creates each image in-camera. The work doesn’t follow the usual approach when it comes to landscape photography, as it doesn’t rely on post-production or compositing. The resulting photographs depend on timing, endurance, and precision and feel like documentation of extraterrestrial phenomena — yet they are rooted in this world, shaped by the unpredictable conditions of wind, terrain, and moonlight.

Reuben Wu inscribes light onto remote natural environments in his latest series, Thin Places

the project’s title, Thin Places, references a Celtic notion of geographical thresholds

the visual artist is known for his haunting aerial compositions

Wu frames landscapes where artificial light and natural terrain seem to meet halfway

Thin Places follows the Chicago-based artist’s earlier series SIREN

vertical shafts of drone light play against the presence of an unexpected aurora

Wu uses a 102MP Fujifilm GFX100RF medium format system

the work doesn’t rely on post-production or compositing

shaping fields of perception without altering the land

project info:

name: Thin Places, SIREN

photographer: Reuben Wu | @reuben

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