Some people believe that cities are all about bricks and mortar. While other people believe that they are first and foremost about people. Though I wholeheartedly believe that our built environment has a profound affect on our lives, I am in the latter camp. 

Real estate to me is an outcome. It is the result of people needing space. A new condominium is built because people need a place to live. A new office building is built because some people grew a company or organization and it needs to house its workforce. 

So at the end of the day, what is a city without people?

Perhaps the best way to demonstrate this point is to show you what cities look like without them. This morning I stumbled upon an interesting series of city photographs where almost all of the people have been removed. They are by Paris-based artists Lucie & Simon and the project is called Silent world.

The top image is Times Square and the bottom image is Queensbridge in New York.

This project was awarded by the Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet Foundation prize, and received a grant from the CICRP center Marseille, European Year of Culture 2013.

The artists have been working together since 2005. According to their website, the artists focus on blurring the line between reality and fantasy in their work.

The video of their photographs below is truly disturbing and reminds this editor of the film The Quiet Earth.

Silent world from Lucie & Simon on Vimeo.