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Neon Nights: Documenting the nocturnal lives of New Yorkers

An award-winning freelance creative/art director and filmmaker based in New York, Daniel Soares has worked at some big-name agencies, including Grey New York, R/GA Los Angeles and AKQA San Francisco; he's also taught at Miami Ad School.

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Via direct submission. All images by and courtesy of Daniel Soares

Via direct submission. All images by and courtesy of Daniel Soares

But in the main, it's his personal projects that continue to bring him to our attention. And we're just a little bit in love with the latest, 'Neon Nights', which focuses on what happens in the Big Apple when the sun goes down.

'Neon Nights’ is a photographic love-affair I have with New York and it’s nocturnal lights," Soares explains on his Instagram account. "By day, New York can be an overwhelming, dirty and loud city, but at night it morphs into this fairy tale of neon lights where time seems to stand still."

"People’s stories become part of the photo, and I often find myself asking “What are they going for in the store? What are they buying, what’s their life like? Why are they grabbing cigarettes at midnight?"

Neon-lit Family Garden Chinese takeaway storefront at night with figures visible through windows on a dark street
Neon storefront illuminated against dark night street, with glowing signage and lit window displays casting blue and pink light
Neon-lit Gourmet Deli & Grocery storefront at night with blue fluorescent light and red signage, a figure visible through the window against the dark street
Neon Sunshine storefront glowing with orange lettering and turquoise lighting at night, with darkened shop windows below
A solitary figure stands before illuminated storefronts glowing with blue neon light against the darkness of a New York street at night
Silhouetted figure standing in a brightly lit deli storefront at night, with neon signs and product displays visible through the windows against a dark street
Silhouetted figure standing outside a brightly lit late-night convenience store against a dark urban street
Brightly lit corner store at night with customers and staff visible through the glass storefront against the dark surrounding street
Two silhouetted figures stand before a glowing storefront window displaying warm neon-lit cityscape reflections on a dark street
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