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Magnificent Drone Photos Capture ‘Walled City’ in Hong Kong

Photographer Andy Yeung continues his look at Hong Kong having a brand new group of breathtaking aerial photographs. Flying his drone high over the Kowloon Walled City, we are given a glimpse at the densely packed geometry of the high-flying apartment blocks of Hong Kong by Yeung.

With Walled City, the photographer investigates the largely ungoverned settlement in Kowloon City. It was transformed with all the inhabitants exploding after the Second World War, into a housing enclave, once a Chinese military garrison. It subsequently became known for the high crime rates through the 1950s and 1970s, having an explosion of prostitution, gambling, and drug trafficking.

“The Kowloon Walled City was the densest area on Earth. Countless houses stacked along with each other enclosed in the middle ” Yeung shares via email, of the construction. “Many didn’t have accessibility to air or open space. This infamous city was demolished in the 1990s. However, should you look you'll notice the city is not dead.”

Really, Yeung's images reveal the concrete jungle that still exists in Kowloon City. The architecture that is claustrophobic emphasizes the contradiction between the closely packed city and personal space. With neighbors piled in addition to every other, “where the only view out the window is neighbor’s window,” the idea of privacy becomes exceptionally complex. This line of questioning is just what prompted the new show of Yeung. “I hope this show can get individuals to think about claustrophobic living in Hong Kong from an outlook that is new.”