pierfrancesco celada

2021 PHOTO FOLIO REVIEW WINNER

PIERFRANCESCO CELADA

WHEN I FEEL DOWN, I TAKE A TRAIN TO THE HAPPY VALLEY

4 JULY - 25 SEPTEMBER 2022

10.00 AM - 07.30 PM

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One of the most density populated city in the world, Hong Kong is a place of strong contrasts; a claustrophobic urban environment surrounded by water and uncontained nature, where the cost of housing is high and socio-economical inequalities are ever growing. Occasionally, while walking in the city, you could spot a tram go past; its destination sign reading “Happy Valley”, its terminal stop. In those moments, when you feel the weight of the city on your shoulders, I like to imagine that it does offer a sense of hope. I moved to Hong Kong in 2014. The two major events of its recent history, the Umbrella revolution (2014) and Hong Kong protests (2019), while gaining global media attention, have contributed to further divide public opinion deepening Hong Kong enduring identity crisis. During these seven years, with the aid of visual metaphors, I have analysed my own relationship with the city, with the intent of drawing a portraiture of Hong Kong and its complex and multilayered realities.

Born 1979 in Varese, Italy.
Lives and works in Hong Kong, China.

After a PhD in Biomechanics (2010), Pierfrancesco Celada has been focusing on a series of personal long-term photographic projects documenting life in modern cities. His work has been published and exhibited internationally (notably in Fotografia Europea, at the Nobel Peace Center, Wyng Foundation, and Deichtorhallen). He has been recognized by the Guernsey Photography Festival International Competition (2020), Happiness ONTHEMOVE Award (2017), EPEA’03 (2015), the Photolux Leica Award (2014), and the Ideastap and Magnum Photos Photographic Award (2010). Instagrampier, his first monograph, was published by Muddyisland Books in 2021.