Spend enough time in a city and you’ll catch its rhythm. Some urban centers pulsate to the point of sensory overload, fueled by fast walkers and conspicuous consumption; others are muted by tree-lined streets and a leisurely tempo. Some appear to be deeply systematic, while others feel like a free-for-all. Rhythms can shift depending on the time of day, or season, or neighborhood. One thing is universal: A city is constantly in motion.
For millennia, city-dwellers comprised a small percentage of humanity, with most people living on farms or in villages. But after two centuries of industrialization and rapid urbanization, more than half of the world’s population today resides in a city.
The following photos offer glimpses of life in some of the world’s most captivating metropolises, as observed by 26 photographers across six continents. We see cities at all times of day and night, from the dim predawn light to the glow of a lone streetlamp helping someone find their way home.
Left: 6:57 a.m. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Right: 5:00 a.m. Sydney, Australia
Left: Photo by Abinet Teshome; Right: Photo by Dmitry Osipenko
6:02 a.m. Bangkok, Thailand
Photo by Adam Birkan
7:41 a.m. Baotou, China
Photo by Antony Sojka
8:11 a.m. Johannesburg, South Africa
Photo by Gulshan Khan
Left: 8:45 a.m. Barcelona, Spain; Right: 9:55 a.m. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Left: Photo by João Canziani; Right: Photo by Marco Argüello
11:30 a.m. Jerusalem, Israel
Photo by Ethan Welty
2:43 p.m. Lima, Peru
Photo by Luisa Dörr
3:30 p.m. London, England
Photo by Josh Edgoose
Left: 3:30 p.m. Venice, Italy; Right: 4:00 p.m. San Francisco, United States
Left: Photo by Mandy Sham; Right: Photo by Kelsey McClellan
3:49 p.m. New York City, United States
Photo by Brian Finke
4:30 p.m. Mexico City, Mexico
Photo by Joe Perri
4:45 p.m. Moscow, Russia
Photo by Sasha Arutyunova
Left: 5:00 p.m. London, England; Right: 5:00 p.m. Baku, Azerbaijan
Left: Photo by Sophie Green; Right: Photo by Mandy Sham
7:49 p.m. Tel Aviv, Israel
Photo by Dina Litovsky
Left: 7:15 p.m. Toronto, Canada; Right: 8:30–11:30 p.m. Chicago, United States
Left: Photo by Brendan George Ko; Right: Photo by Clarissa Bonet, courtesy of Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
8:19 p.m. Stockholm, Sweden
Photo by Felix Brüggemann
Left: 8:45 p.m. Los Angeles, United States; Right: 12:01 a.m. Cali, Colombia
Left: Photo by Jake Michaels; Right: Photo by Rose Marie Cromwell
9:30 p.m. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Photo by Tasneem Alsultan
12:35 a.m. Havana, Cuba
Photo by Lisette Poole
