Romain J Lagreze

Romain J Lagreze (1987, France) full name Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze, is a French photographer, who specialised in photographs of Hongkong, the city where he lives and works from 2010 onwards. Photographing is ‘for me a way to cast fleeting moments in still images. Moments and places don’t last, they disappear in time. One particular day I was shooting the city at sunset, bright light washed out most of the colours, you could feel the heat through the images. I decided to stay a little longer to watch the sun going down and the city lighting up. I witnessed how just for few minutes the city was enveloped in a deep blue haze. The blueness projected itself ferociously onto the buildings that looked colourless just a little while before. I was deeply impressed. The only way to immortalise this ephemeral moment was with my camera (Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze).’ The surreal character of his blue-laced imagery is enhanced by the composition: structures and nature are framed as they were cut up and put together. Hong Kong’s photogenic character attracts many photographers. Romain JL indeed has secured his position as one of Hong Kong’s most exciting young photographers. He had numerous exhibitions, among others at Vertical Horizon, Artistry Gallery, Singapore, 2013; Art The Hague, 2016; HK Contemporary Photography 2016, Lumenvisum, Hong Kong, 2016; Rotterdam Contemporary, 2017. Books of his photographs were published by Asia One Publishing: The Blue Moment (2016), Wild Connrete (2014), and Vertical Horizon (2014).