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Bangkok Glow: Futuristic photography series by Xavier Portela looks electrically charged

You'd be forgiven for thinking this super bright series of photography by the talented Xavier Portela is circuiting electricity, thanks to its utilisation of dazzling neon lights. However, it's actually the handiwork of a Canon 5D Mark III and Portela's sheer skill.

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All images courtesy of Xavier Portela

All images courtesy of Xavier Portela

A follow-up series to his original Glow collection, which featured Tokyo and Hong Kong, Bangkok Glow captures the nighttime activity of the bustling city.

Portela explains his main source of inspiration for the project: "The initial idea came from a frustration after capturing night scenes of Tokyo a few years ago. The photographs were ok but I couldn’t get that 'electricity' feeling that you get when you are on location.

"So I left those pictures there for years…until one day after watching some manga/anime (I like the Japanese entertainment culture) I remembered those shots and I thought 'what if I try to mess with the colours and atmosphere of those compositions? Could it help to reproduce the feeling you get when you arrive in those places?'

"I wanted those pictures to look as if they came straight out of a manga. That’s how I landed on the idea of processing all the colours in order to make it more vibrant and powerful."

Check out the Tokyo Glow series here. And follow Xavier on Instagram.

All images courtesy of Xavier Portela

Neon-lit Bangkok street at night with glowing blue and pink lights streaking across an elevated structure, surrounded by illuminated high-rise buildings
Night street in Bangkok bathed in vibrant pink and blue neon light streaks radiating from overhead power lines, with cars and buildings below
A street food vendor tends to their stall beneath neon blue and yellow lighting as magenta and cyan car lights blur past on a rain-slicked Bangkok street at night
Bangkok skyline at night illuminated with vibrant neon pink, blue and purple lights, with a tall golden-topped building dominating the centre
Bangkok cityscape at night illuminated with vibrant neon pink, cyan and blue lights, shot from above by Xavier Portela
Aerial night view of a neon-lit Bangkok street with pink and blue illumination, vehicles and buildings casting vibrant reflections below
Neon-lit Bangkok street at night with magenta and cyan light trails from traffic beneath an elevated highway, buildings glowing pink and blue
Neon-lit Bangkok street at night with vibrant cyan and magenta signs, illuminated buildings, and parked vehicles bathed in electric blue and pink light
Neon-lit Bangkok skyline at night with light trails from traffic on an elevated highway, surrounded by illuminated high-rise buildings in shades of blue and pink
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