Shanghai is a city of contrasts. There’s the old Shanghai, with its low-rise neighbourhoods and busy bazaars. It’s a place where you can get lost, following streets that get narrower and narrower until you end up in someone’s house. And, on the other hand, there’s the new Shanghai, where higher skyscrapers are built each year, and where there are shiny shopping malls selling Gucci and Prada. You don’t fully appreciate the contrast between the old and the new during the day. But by night it’s a different story: the skyscrapers are lit up – even though the offces inside seem completely empty – while the old streets are busier, but covered in shadows. I spent several nights in the city, wandering around and taking photos. I felt in some ways like this new city is a wave crashing down over the old city, and that I was seeing old Shanghai in its last days.
Nicolas Jandrain is a Belgian freelance photographer and videographer. He was visiting Shanghai for the second time (nicolasjandrain.com).