Greg Girard's nocturnal photographs of Hong Kong's Night Life in the 1970s and '80s

The series is imbued with the noir allure and seedy pastels of Hong Kong in its prime. It takes you through the neon-lit streets and into tattoo parlours, dive bars and the hotel rooms of soldiers and sailors who frequented them. Other scenes depict the pre-dawn emptiness of the city’s streets and alleys bathed in the colours of artificial light.

"I started taking photographs at night as soon as I picked up my first camera," explains Girard. "I never really thought of them as 'night' pictures. It was just a different kind of light, whether neon, fluorescent, moonlight or the light of the city reflected off an overcast sky.

"But Hong Kong was alive at night in a way that other places weren’t. Alive indeed, when darkness falls another world comes out to play and these photographs capture just that."

Now you can see Girard's work at a new exhibition, HK:PM at the Blue Lotus Gallery in Hong Kong from 27 October until 12 November 2017. The show also marks the release of a book of the same title, published by Asia One. To find out more, visit greggirard.com.

All images: © Greg Girard