A woman looks on at the vast skyline ahead of her as she stands on a balcony. With a light illuminating her from the front, she appears to radiate in the darkness of the run-down building beside her
She uses small subjects to contrast their being against the vast cityscapes behind them
She found her inspiration while studying at the International Center of Photography in New York ten years ago and lived across the street from a police station's recreation room
Photos are set in London, New York, Moscow, Paris, Istanbul, Shanghai, Tokyo and more
Perched on the rooftops of tall buildings in cities across the world, a French photographer has captured the essence of what people do when they're alone, in places where they're surrounded by millions of other people.
In her photography project, Inside Views, Floriane de Lassee spots movement in the standstill of the night - she finds lone beating hearts who still have the light on when everyone else is sleeping.
'No matter whether it’s Paris or Istanbul. I do not photograph cities, but an imaginary City that inhabits each megalopolis. It is the product of the Man’s excesses, his genius, his madness. The City exceeds the overflow. She is about to devour us,' de Lassee says about her project.
In some of her photos, including this one, de Lassee gets close enough to her subjects that she can capture their facial expressions as well as the vast metropolises behind them
De Lassee has been photographing the cities of insomnia for at least ten years, and she had a book published filled with pictures of the cities that never sleep in 2008.
The French photographer found her inspiration when she studied at the International Center of Photography in New York, according to Les Photographes.
Her East Village apartment faced a police station's 'recreation room', where officers, still in uniform, would play table tennis. She found the angle at which she could watch them to be one that should be photographed.
'I'm just trying to move me, to move others, to bring them further in their dreams or in the perception of the world around them. The city that I show is both terrifying and touching. It is this balance that interests me,' she told Les Photographes.
In was appears to be an empty building in Tokyo, a person gazes out the window into the night. There isn't a person or car in sight in the illuminated city
A woman in Istanbul lies down on her small bed in her flat that sits just in front of the massive and beautiful St. Sophia Mosque
A woman in an unknown city looks out her floor-to-ceiling window into the city and trees below her high-rise apartment building
Her images show the moment vast cityscapes collide with sole protagonists, resting on balconies, doing work in offices and gazing out windows into the distance.
Some pictures show truly how small one person can be compared to the sweeping cities surrounding him or her.
De Lassee's goal, however, is not to capture a particular city. She instead tries to find the common traits and emotions that the cities' inhabitants share, according to Vanilla Magazine.
The scenes in which her metropolis photos are set are found across the world, including Las Vegas, New York, Moscow, Paris, Istanbul, Shanghai and Tokyo.
Two people have a conversation in a room high above the motorway, which is till filled with cars flowing in all directions driving through the darkness
Lights show that this building is home to many different things. The top floor appears to be filled with woman practicing their pole dancing techniques, while floors below show a boardroom and what looks like a high-top table
A woman in Shanghai stands on her lighted balcony and stares at the massive buildings across the water. Shanghai has a population of more than 14million people
All of the lights are still on in this top-floor apartment. A person sits in front of a bookshelf in the fourth window from the right, while it appears as though no one else is home
De Lassee's photos can open small windows into people's lives. Her artwork can make a viewer wonder why this man is still up while others are sleeping and why he has such a variety of objects filling his living space
A woman sits on her couch with her floor-to-ceiling windows wide open on what appears to be a warm Paris night on rue Lamarck
A person looks down from their balcony in what appears to be a private moment, but look above two floors and a neighbor close by still has his or her lights on, too
Though the front door is wide open, a person takes a rest on the bed in this undisclosed city with no fears of intruders from below reaching the flat
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