The memories of bungalows, roofed with grey tiles and shadowed under elm trees, are fading away in Beijing, a city now crammed with geometric apartment blocks and modern shopping malls. French photographer Ambroise Tezenas' shots display a sequence of scenes: a shared kitchen in a courtyard, several frozen pieces of clothing hanging outdoor in frigid winter and dim public toilets along narrow streets. Significantly, these ordinary images have been blurred in the last few decades as the ancient city capital experiences dramatic transformation.

Yet the photos taken by Tezenas while exploring Beijing's remaining alleyways conjure up serene moments in Beijing's past: birds chirping at dawn into tightly shut windows; faint summer scents from blossoming Chinese scholar trees wafting over naughty children climbing and brightly patterned cotton curtains veiling mysterious indoor lives. Tezenas' work reflects these scenes, subtly highlighting forgotten beauty, gracefully revealing charm. Tezenas himself explained that his efforts are meant to depict an "eternal Beijing".

Ambroise Tezenas The French photographer has paid five visits to Beijing since 2001, when he learned that the ancient capital was elected to be the host city of the Olympic Games in 2008. "Many changes are going to take place in Beijing and I wanted to record that," he told Beijing Today last December. Certainly, Tezenas chose an unusual angle to document the changes before the upcoming Olympiad – all of his photos on exhibit at the Paris-Beijing Photo Gallery in Dashanzi 798 have uncovered ancient alleyways, gently carpeting the city's serene nights inside an urban milieu.