The photobook serves as a visual narrative of disappearing heritage amidst the relentless march of progress. Hisham's photography offers a critical commentary on Shanghai's rich cultural heritage, portraying the fading tapestry amidst rapid urban development.

The photographs, more elegy than celebration, capture the quiet disappearance of historic neighborhoods, traditions, and communities, being swept away by the tide of modernization. Hisham’s eyes become a melancholic witness to the vanishing urbanscapes, allowing the viewer to peer into the lanes of a city grappling with the erosion of its roots.

"Vanishing Shanghai" is an exploration of heritage slipping through the fingers of time, urging us to confront the cost of progress and the fragility of cultural identity in the wake of urban transformation. In the foreword, Wm Patrick Cranley, President of Historic Shanghai, writes, "Vanishing Shanghai" is one man’s effort to memorialize a time and place, to give it meaning for himself, and to leave a legacy to future generations of that time and place.

His subject is one of the world’s greatest cities, Shanghai. "This edition is bilingual in both Chinese and English.

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