Developed over more than a decade across South, Southeast and East Asia, Tropical Contact Zone explores the encounters between tropical landscapes and accelerated urbanisation. Each photograph depicts a single real site, yet the sequence brings distant places and different years into proximity, constructing the perception of a continuous territory.

The work focuses on transitional and unresolved landscapes, where vegetation, construction, ruins and emerging architecture coexist. The individual photographs remain documentary; through their sequence, they form a speculative geography in which the real landscape can begin to appear fictional.

Photographed across South, Southeast and East Asia between 2015–2026.

© Manuel Álvarez Diestro (MAD)