Living among millions of other people and bumping shoulders on overflowing sidewalks doesn’t always equate to a sense of community. Ironically, the most thriving metropolis can create the strongest feelings of isolation. French photographer and graphic artist Floriane de Lassee offers an understanding perspective by capturing the loneliness and solitude of life in a big city. Her photo series Inside Views is a powerful ode to the individual that debunks the myth of a glamorous, urban existence. She combines magnificent landscapes of glowing lights and towering skyscrapers with intimate, close-up views of people at home.
The images give us a unique view into people’s windows and apartments, which helps us dissect the surging masses to appreciate individual struggles. The allure of glittering skylines in the distance is juxtaposed with gentrified structures in the foreground. Many of the images resemble architectural renderings, where human figures appear transparent against the solid background of powerful buildings.
On her website, the photographer explains that she isn’t trying to capture one particular city. Rather, she characterizes all cities as sharing common traits and emotions and seeks to explore those. “In the high insomnia megalopolis, splashed by stunning lights like so many islands of solitude, a heart beats, fragile, human,” she says. “It is the product of the Man’s excesses, his genius, his madness. The City exceeds the overflow. She is about to devour us.”
