This book Inside Views is noteworthy. It is an art impression and expression at the same time. A superb series of photographs – (with light written) night-scapes – by Floriane de Lassée. What this series makes so special is that she shows us how the personal living world of people seems to be connected and disconnected at the same time with the system world of the larger city. In fact, every photo catches two separate worlds in one single shot. Quite an achievement. Not only that: it is art. It is published by Nazraeii Press.

From public governance and city management perspective it is obvious that knowledge of habitats in the city and their layering is crucial in taking the right decisions in city architecture and planning. To connect the individual and personal habitat from the bottom of the ecosystem city with the top, being the larger habitat of the city, is the true challenge for every public leader. It is about the true understanding what city resilience actually is and how it ‘works’. The lockdown related to Coronavirus shows us how relevant this knowledge is, more than ever. It is the constraint to build trust of citizens in city leadership. And is not solitude what actually has to be managed? De Lassée guides us.

In the high insomnia megalopolis, splashed by stunning lights like so many islands of solitude, a heart beats, fragile, human… 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.”

FLORIANE DE LASSÉE

During her time in New York, while studying at the International Center of Photography, New York, Floriane de Lassée began to explore the built environment and to document the cityscape at night. Post-graduation, as her career took off, de Lassée built on this early work, photographing night scenes in New York, Tokyo and Shanghai.

A selection of these photographs was brought together for the artist’s exhibition Night Views; featured at the Arles Photography Festival in 2006. Inside Views, de Lassee’s first monograph comprises 42 of the artist’s most powerful night cityscapes to date, and serves not only as a broader introduction of the work for which she is already known in Europe, but also as a bridge between her earliest work in the series, and the transformations it is currently undergoing.

Floriane de Lassée is an original force in contemporary photography. Inside Views is a stunning monograph.

Bibliography

Lassée, Florianne de (2008) Inside Views. Paso Robles: Nazraeli Press.

Wikipedia, ‘Floriane de Lassée’. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floriane_de_Lassée