HK:PM Hong Kong Night Life 1974-1989 Greg Girard

當人造光流如期流瀉，與日日降臨的夜色相輝映，無論頹圮或華麗，街景都散發出與白晝截然不同的奇異氛圍。加拿大攝影師 Greg Girard 不到 20 歲時，便對夜間人工照明留在彩色底片上的特殊美感產生興趣，其後陸續前往香港、東南亞、日本等地旅行或居住多年，在各個異鄉留下色彩綺麗的作品，直到 2011 年才重返家鄉。

「我還是一介年輕攝影師時就認識香港了，後來在當地住了 15 年，而《HK:PM, Hong Kong Night Life 1974-1989》便攝於那些年間。1970、80 年代待在香港時，我看見的相片鮮少呈現出我熟悉、迷戀的城市面貌，尤其是夜景或不那麼令人嚮往的部分；唯一比較接近的視覺參考資料，就是當年的香港黑幫電影。」於是，Girard 試著自己拍出那座城市在心目中的模樣，走入街道、酒吧、夜總會，甚至摸索著爬上大樓屋頂，像一尾來自遙遠海域的魚，在鋪天蓋地的霓虹光海中，留下濕潤迷人的見證。

照片大部分攝於灣仔和尖沙嘴的娛樂場所，Girard 單純希望以攝影師的身分在某個時刻捕捉香港特有的氣氛。睽違 30 年後，攝影師終於經由香港的 Asia One 出版此書《HK:PM, Hong Kong Night Life 1974-1989》，並請來香港導演許鞍華撰寫引言，讓昔年風情重新問世。

Greg Girard 於 1955 年生於加拿大溫哥華，攝影職業生涯大多在亞洲度過，憑個人特色鮮明的拍攝手法，深入細究一整個地區在社會與物理層面的轉變。多年來在加拿大、芬蘭、香港、英國等地舉行多場個人及團體展出，代表作有動身前往亞洲久居前留下的故鄉身影《Under Vancouver 1972-1982》、關於日本的《Tokyo-Yokosuka 1976-1983》、《Hotel Okinawa》、與英國建築師 Ian Lambot 合著的《City of Darkness（黑暗之城：九龍城寨的日與夜）》、在新世紀來臨前拍下上海力圖重振摩登風貌的《Phantom Shanghai》，以及囊括各大洲旅行足跡的《In the Near Distance》等攝影書。

HK:PM: Hong Kong Night Life 1974 - 1989 by Greg Girard. Fourth printing (2025.)Medium format hardback in new condition.

About HK:PM: Hong Kong Night Life 1974 - 1989

"HK:PM" is Greg Girard’s ode to nocturnal Hong Kong between 1974 and 1989, the earliest work of the photographer’s long relationship with Asia. A journey exploring the underside of a city he first visited as a teenager in 1974 and and later lived in for 15 years. The photographs in HK:PM are imbued with the noir allure and seedy pastels of Hong Kong in its prime. HK:PM shows people at work, people at play, and simply getting on with their lives, mostly with the particular atmospheric backdrop of Hong Kong at night. A world onto itself, a place where jetliners almost touch the buildings when they come in for landing, where your desires can be met at an instant, and where people from all over the world pass through. Not portraying the glamour that some may associate with the city, instead we are invited to see how this place may have been tough for some, however driven by the hope that is the “Hong Kong Dream.” Attracted to the hidden and often dark beauty in everyday life, Girard is a champion of the common man as he explores “the often overlooked features that define daily life for its residents.” “I started taking photographs at night as soon as I picked up my first camera. 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,” says Girard.