October 2024
“Happy Valley” has opened at the Singapore International Photography Festival.
Curated by Gwen Lee. Co-presented with Esplanade Singapore, with the generous support of ItalianCouncil 13th Edition, Creativita Contemporanea.
“In this long, tunnel-like walkway, solitude and gatherings, selfies and remnants, unspoken words, and reflections converge, revealing an uncanny yet familiar scene within a bustling Asian metropolis. Between 2014 and 2022, Pierfrancesco Celada’s encounters in Hong Kong evolved into poignant images that capture moments of restraint, contemplation, and unspoken murmurs, inviting viewers to uncover their deeper meanings.
People and places stand for time; time that one remembers, and time that one imagines to be. “Happy Valley” is assembled as an allegory weaving through time and narrating the state of mind in pursuit of an ordinary life in Hong Kong.”
April 2024
Fotografia Europea/ Chiostri di San Pietro, Via Emilia S.Pietro 44/c, Reggio Emilia
Friday 26th April – Sunday 28th April
May 2023
Bieler Fototage/ Bienne Festival of Photography
Biel, Switzerland
5 – 28 May 2023
July 2022
When I feel down I take a train to the Happy Valley
Les Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles
La Croisiere
4 July – 25 September 2022
December 2021
Instagrampier Digital Exhibition
The Instagrampier closed to the public in March 2021; the Digital Exhibition becomes the ultimate online celebration of this unique public space.
Visit the Digital Exhibition, re-experience the Instagrampier, and even take a selfie like the old times!
Creative Direction: Michele Salati
Instagrampier Project: Pierfrancesco Celada
Graphic Design: Nam Huynh and Mark Bohle
Web Design: David Diaz
Sound Design: Yiannis Loukos
December 2021
The Instagrampier project as a part of the exhibition “one country, two images – Photographic and Graphic works from and about Hong Kong”.
11 December 2021 – 23 January 2022
June 2021
Instagrampier exhibition, WMA Space, Hong Kong
15th June – 25th July 2021
March 2021
The Unsung, Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong
12th March – 2nd May, 2021
The Unsung invites 14 Hong Kong–based artists to closely observe their surroundings during COVID-19 and select a particular person or group who have been highly affected by the pandemic and yet have nevertheless persevered. The artists then conducted further research or personal interviews, and each created an artwork that brings to light the unique experiences or conditions of the unsung. From medical staff to flight attendants, sustainable volunteers to art administrators, human rights and social workers and food delivery riders to local farmers, The Unsung covers a wide range of subjects with a variety of mediums—including painting, drawing, photography, print, ceramics, video, and even process art. The project attempts to contemplate some recent life journeys through an artistic lens and to create resonances among people from all walks of life.
June 2020
When I feel down I take a train to the Happy Valley has won the Guernsey Photography Festival International Photography Competition 2020
“Awarding our major prize to Pierfrancesco recognizes the work of a photographer who consistently produces projects at the highest of standards. His coverage of the extraordinary events still developing in Hong Kong highlights the need for intelligent visual narratives in response to the complexity of the world we are living in”
Festival Director, Jean-Christophe Godet
April 2020
When I feel down I take a train to the Happy Valley has won the PHmuseum 2020 Photography Grant 2nd Prize
“Piefrancesco has been taking his camera to the streets of Hong Kong since 2014 to photograph the cityscape during a pivotal and dynamic time, documenting the Umbrella Revolution, Celada captures almost surreal scenes with quiet grace. The viewer is granted access to a curious view of humanity through the perspective of the eternal and silent city itself. This semi-detached, but poetic perspective is complemented in this series by the merits of the photographer’s strong visual signature and compositions. The marriage of conceptual and technical strengths make the work not just appealing, but also an important document of a crucial dynamic in the city’s history.”
Roderick van der Lee