Travel Inspiration: 52 Suburbs

Some of the most memorable things I've seen on my travels have been the ordinary, the every day, the usual going-ons; people walking, people talking, people shopping and people meeting with other people. All of these things happen every day in the country I'm visiting and yet they can look so unusual to the traveller and such things have caught my eye and held my attention far longer than many landmarks.

I recently found a blog that, I believe, shares this philosophy and indeed the central premise of  52 Suburbs around the World is to step away from the "must see" sights in a city and exploring and documenting the suburbs, that is, where local people live and work.
Behind 52 Suburbs around the world is the (undeniably very talented) photographer Louise Hawson and the project was born out of her original blog 52 Suburbs, which documented a different weekly suburb in her home of Sydney, Australia. It's worth paging through this blog alone as she is a master portrait photographer and there are some truly inspiring shots of the "ordinary people" of Sydney. 
Though it's early days in her new project, which started on 1st January 2012, Louise's journey will take her to 52 suburbs of cities in this magnificently mad world of ours already the photos of Hong Kong have set the tone brilliantly. ( All photos by Louise Hawson, 52 Suburbs around the World.)