Empty spaces in deserted big cities, topos in post-apocalyptic novels and movies, are the object of Silent World: a collection of photographs from Paris-based artists Lucie and Simon.

In Silent World, popular landmarks in Paris, New York, Beijing have been emptied of the crowd. Madison Square, Manhattan, Times Square, Place de l’Opera, Place de la Concorde, Tian’anmen Square, Beijing Railway Station, and many others become post-apocalyptic places where movement and life have been erased.

And even when people are left in the images, the contrast between the small figures and the huge (and cold) architecture surrounding them just underlines their loneliness and the strangeness of their presence.

In the art critic Klaus Honnef’s worlds: “the silence of the world, like a quotation, is suddenly endowed with an oppressive eloquence. Small intrusions are the true sparks here, because their disconcerting presence disrupts the majestic calm of the streets and squares. Are the latter guilty or victims?”

To me, the people in Silent World look like the only rare survivors in an eerie world, where the rest of the humanity might have vanished suddenly, like in The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta.

And looking at the pictures, you’ll notice that the same people (a child in red, an old woman) seem to be appearing in some of the pictures. They are lost in the architectural grandeur, but still visible. The images then will become the excuse for you to imagine your story.

(All images by Lucie & Simon, reproduced with written permission)