How photographer Greg Girard captured the hidden sides of Hong Kong and Tokyo 

Greg Girard’s photos have helped to outline how the world sees Hong Kong and Tokyo. From the labyrinthine alleys of Kowloon Walled City to the electrical sprawl of Shinjuku at night time, the Canadian photographer has formed the collective creativeness of a few of Asia’s most mythologised city centres. He’ll inform you that he was merely in the best place on the proper time – however a profession like his is never unintended. 

Ahead of the 2026 version of Art Basel Hong Kong, Monocle sat down with Girard on the opening of his newest exhibition, HKG-TYO 1974-2023, at WKM Gallery in Wong Chuk Hang. He discusses his particular relationship with the 2 cities and the way seeing the world as an outsider turned his biggest reward.

Why did you select to pair Hong Kong and Tokyo for this exhibition?
I’ve all the time wished to. I spent the late Seventies in Tokyo, earlier than Blade Runner checked out Asian cities as some form of near-future dystopia. I moved to Hong Kong in 1982, throughout what folks now look again on as a golden age. Both cities have been perceived as greater than themselves, like myths. But this present seems to be at life in each locations on a private, abnormal avenue stage. No greater narrative is required.

Your work typically challenges pre-existing narratives. Where does that perspective come from?
Being an outsider allowed me to interrupt the patterns of given locations and get into much less glamorous ones. Kowloon Walled City, for instance, felt like a fable to many native Hong Kongers. It was considered for crime, gangs and chaos, and it had solely been [photographed] in black and white, perpetuating this notion of hazard, poverty and otherness. But not rising up surrounded by these preconceptions, I allowed myself to get misplaced in it and uncover its life and colors. That motivated me to set the file straight [for the people who lived there] but additionally to not draw back from how fully insane it was.

More not too long ago this mentality took me to Sakura [a common name for snack bars] which might be discovered throughout Japan. They’re not modern they usually’re not even on Google Maps as a result of they’re not thinking about attracting new clientele. The venture [Snack Sakura], now a broadcast ebook, took me to locations the place there was no purpose to go. I needed to work my means in however possibly being a foreigner with a digicam helped. That’s the reward of not belonging.

How have exterior pressures from magazines to social media formed your work?
When I began [my career], magazines had been one of many solely accessible entry factors for somebody like me. But after 20 years of working for them, I hit a restrict. I purchased a unique digicam and instructed myself: after I’m utilizing this, I’m solely doing it for me. I do my greatest work after I do it for myself. Not getting consideration turned out to be a very good factor for growing my craft. But it’s true that nowadays, that’s a luxurious. With social media, everyone is a public character – one thing that used to require ability.

More than ever, taking pictures for your self somewhat than a platform is a really aware alternative, and one I welcome photographers to make extra typically. We all have a unique means of understanding craft and our function. We all have one thing to carry, whatever the platforms present as we speak.

For instance there are footage on this exhibition, comparable to ‘Cathay Pacific 747 with Lion Rock and Kowloon Walled City’, that didn’t make it into the magazines [when] I shot them in 1989. But right here they’re.

What retains you grounded in your craft in spite of everything these years?
Photography is a means of not being overwhelmed. It’s an opportunity to get out of myself – to not be locked in my head. It’s my means of present on the planet. And it’s one thing that’s fully open and infinite. There’s nothing you possibly can’t {photograph}. There’s no such factor as unhealthy climate. There’s no such factor as one thing not being enticing sufficient. There’s no such factor as one thing not being worthy. It’s infinite.