Piecing together rendered realities

Hyper Versailles is among French artist Jean-Francois Rauzier's hyperphoto works. [Photo provided to China Daily]

He jokes that his photos may enable people to see dishes on every family's dining table through every window of an apartment building.

"When I take quick shots, people are curious about what I do. I often tell them I work for Google Street," he says, laughing.

But while he creates images of ordinary buildings, Rauzier doesn't incorporate ordinary people into his works. He instead opts for celebrities.

His library series, for instance, depicts famous writers as readers in a library.

Architecture is a major theme in Rauzier's works.

He creates works portraying buildings like Gaudi's buildings in Spain, the Louvre and the Chateau de Versailles. A friend once complained that Rauzier cheated him because the real Versailles isn't as magnificent as what he saw in the photographer's works.

Rauzier says Beijing's Forbidden City is a great challenge for him. He says he isn't ready to create works based on it because the ancient palace is too intricate to render into a single image. But it gave him the inspiration he needed to create works based on Versailles and Angkor Wat, he says.

"Architecture in China is surreal. It's not easy for me to think out a good way to present it that's realistic and romantic," he says.

Rauzier plans to put his lens on Yunnan's Hani rice terraces, a UNESCO World Heritage site. He considers the fields to be a form of architecture built by famers over hundreds of years.