Photographer Finbarr Fallon worked on the photo series "Dead Space" for five years over several trips to Hong Kong.
Photographer Finbarr Fallon worked on the photo series "Dead Space" for five years over several trips to Hong Kong.
Finbarr Fallon
Fallon visited nearly all of the territory's cemeteries for the project, but said he found the densely packed ones on Hong Kong Island the most "extreme."
Fallon visited nearly all of the territory's cemeteries for the project, but said he found the densely packed ones on Hong Kong Island the most "extreme."
Finbarr Fallon
Cemeteries in Hong Kong are often sprawl up the sides of hills and mountains, and are running out of space.
Cemeteries in Hong Kong are often sprawl up the sides of hills and mountains, and are running out of space.
Finbarr Fallon
Fallon is originally from the UK, where cemeteries are typically flatter, greener and more spacious than those in space-starved Hong Kong, he said.
Fallon is originally from the UK, where cemeteries are typically flatter, greener and more spacious than those in space-starved Hong Kong, he said.
Finbarr Fallon
Hoping to capture the magnitude and vastness of the cemeteries, Fallon used a drone to photograph them from above.
Hoping to capture the magnitude and vastness of the cemeteries, Fallon used a drone to photograph them from above.
Finbarr Fallon
Plots in private cemeteries are too expensive for many people in Hong Kong, while cheaper temporary plots in public cemeteries need to be exhumed and reused for new bodies every six years.
Plots in private cemeteries are too expensive for many people in Hong Kong, while cheaper temporary plots in public cemeteries need to be exhumed and reused for new bodies every six years.
Finbarr Fallon
"I really wanted to show the monumentality (and) how it's almost like a landscape, beyond the scale of a building -- so juxtaposing the scale of the human against this enormous landscape," Fallon told CNN.
"I really wanted to show the monumentality (and) how it's almost like a landscape, beyond the scale of a building -- so juxtaposing the scale of the human against this enormous landscape," Fallon told CNN.
Finbarr Fallon
Fallon deliberately shot the photos on overcast days and used muted colors so the aesthetic "gels with the subject matter at hand."
Fallon deliberately shot the photos on overcast days and used muted colors so the aesthetic "gels with the subject matter at hand."
Finbarr Fallon
Fallon, who is also an architectural photographer, said he was interested by how Hong Kong's cemeteries are molded to the mountainous terrain.
Fallon, who is also an architectural photographer, said he was interested by how Hong Kong's cemeteries are molded to the mountainous terrain.
Finbarr Fallon
Fallon used a telephoto zoom lens to compress the foreground and background, helping to juxtapose the cemeteries and the surrounding skyscrapers.
Fallon used a telephoto zoom lens to compress the foreground and background, helping to juxtapose the cemeteries and the surrounding skyscrapers.
Finbarr Fallon
With the cemeteries located so close to residential buildings, Fallon said he wanted to "portray that relationship between the living and the dead."
With the cemeteries located so close to residential buildings, Fallon said he wanted to "portray that relationship between the living and the dead."
Finbarr Fallon
The cemeteries are so vast that visitors sometimes have to walk up many flights of stairs to reach their loved ones' plots.
The cemeteries are so vast that visitors sometimes have to walk up many flights of stairs to reach their loved ones' plots.
Finbarr Fallon