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Photographer captures the bright neon signs of Hong Kong before they disappear forever

Inspired by the Neon Signs project curated by M+, Hong Kong’s museum for visual culture, Melbourne-based photographer Sharon Blance travelled to the Asian city to photograph its neon landscape before it's gone forever.

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Illuminated neon signs in red, orange and blue characters advertising restaurants, pawnshops and mahjong parlours on a Hong Kong building at night

Sharon has always loved neon, and wanted to capture the last gasp of these iconic coloured glowing tubes before Hong Kong completely gives way to the ​​LED age. Lurid and dazzling heralds of restaurants, pawnshops and mahjong parlours, these gas-filled glass icons illuminate the night in electric red, green and blue. Hong Kong’s neon age reached its zenith in the 1960s-80s, but now that age is dimming. Tighter building regulations means the Buildings Department is removing hundreds of signs each year for failure to meet code.

New signs are made of LEDs – brighter and less expensive to maintain, but lacking the distinctly analog, chemical-and-gas allure that only neon can conjure with its softly glowing hydrogen reds and mercurial blues. Only a dozen or so traditional neon signmakers are left in the city; no new apprentices are being trained.

The city, once awash with glowing rainbow phosphorescence, is now watching the extinction of this noblest of gases.​ To discover more about Sharon, visit www.sharonblance.com.

Via direct submission | All images courtesy of Sharon Blance

Illuminated red and gold neon signs with bright green borders advertising a restaurant or pawnshop, mounted on a building with modern glass skyscrapers behind at dusk in Hong Kong
A neon sign glowing in orange and red with blue and green accents mounted on a pink-lit building facade at night in Hong Kong
Neon sign with green and yellow tubes and red corner accents displaying Chinese characters for a Hong Kong restaurant or mahjong parlour, photographed against the night sky
Stacked neon signs in orange, red, green and blue with Chinese characters on the facades of red buildings in Hong Kong
Glowing neon sign for Diamond Glory restaurant with orange Chinese characters and blue outline against dark Hong Kong buildings at dusk
Weathered Hong Kong building facade at night with glowing red neon Chinese characters mounted on upper levels and metal scaffolding across the structure
Neon signs in red and purple with gold Chinese characters illuminate against a dark background, depicting traditional Hong Kong signage
Red and blue neon sign with Chinese characters hanging on a dark building facade at night, illuminating the street below
Glowing red neon sign on a dark building facade in Hong Kong, reflected in wet pavement below
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