Piecing together rendered realities

Jean-Francois Rauzier, French 'hyper photographer'. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Initially, Rauzier's works all focused on landscapes. Before that, he was a commercial photographer, taking still-life shots of subjects like food.

His father and grandfather influenced his career. Rauzier's job combines photography and technology, he says.

His grandfather was a painter who portrayed the poor based on photos he took of them. Rauzier took his first picture at 13.

His father was a scientist. So Rauzier studied engineering in college.

When shooting a building, he divides into about 50 high-resolution photos of different parts.

Then he spends months creating mosaics based on these images on the computer.

The 63-year-old is now working on his gigantic panoramic hyperphoto of Paris, where he has lived for decades. The piece will take at least 20 years to finish, he says, because he's photographing and reconfiguring about 40 kilometers of urban space.

"It's like a marathon," he says.

"I will try my best to finish it while I'm still living."