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Tokyo Nights: Liam Wong's neon-lit photographs of a rain-soaked Tokyo at night

It was a popular series on Creative Boom back in 2016. Now Liam Wong is back with a fresh body of work, continuing to capture the neon beauty of Tokyo at night.

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All images courtesy of the artist. Via Creative Boom submission.

All images courtesy of the artist. Via Creative Boom submission.

His Blade Runner-esque nocturnal images of the world's largest city first caught our attention on Instagram when he had 22,000 followers; an impressive figure for a self-taught photographer who didn't expect to attract a million visitors to his website. Since then, Liam's work has gone viral and today he boasts over 110,000 fans.

"One night it rained and the city came to life," he says, explaining how the series began. "I got lost in the beauty of Tokyo at night. I was fascinated by how the city lit up and I just kept taking picture after picture. It was like being inside Gaspar Noé’s film Enter The Void, or living in the cyberpunk world that Syd Mead had created in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner."

Liam is Ubisoft’s youngest director – the company behind the video games Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six, an achievement which had him featured in Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30. Originally from Scotland, Liam began photography using his phone, capturing moments as he travelled. He purchased his first DSLR at the end of 2015, after being encouraged by friends to take his photography further.

See more of his work at www.liamwong.com.

Neon pink Chinese characters glow above the entrance to a darkened Tokyo storefront at night, with a figure posing in the doorway below
Neon-lit narrow alley in Tokyo at night with glowing Japanese signs, illuminated storefronts in yellow and red, and silhouetted figures walking through the street
Two people holding white umbrellas walk through a neon-lit Tokyo street at night, surrounded by glowing purple and pink signs for restaurants and shops
Neon pink and white lanterns and signs illuminate a narrow Tokyo alleyway at night, with Japanese characters visible on storefronts
Neon-lit Tokyo alleyway at night glowing in vibrant shades of purple and blue, with illuminated shop signs and silhouetted figures walking through the atmospheric street
A rain-soaked Tokyo alleyway at night illuminated by neon signs in blue, red and yellow, with a figure holding an umbrella walking down the wet street
Pedestrians with umbrellas cross a wet street at a zebra crossing, illuminated by neon purple and magenta lights reflecting off the rain-soaked pavement
Neon signs in pink and blue illuminate a Tokyo street at night, with a silhouetted figure in the foreground and shop fronts glowing in the darkness
Neon-lit Tokyo street at night with magenta and purple lighting, a figure on a scooter, shuttered storefront and wet pavement reflecting the vivid colours
A narrow Tokyo alleyway lit by red paper lanterns and neon signs with Japanese characters, bathed in purple atmospheric light at night
Neon-lit narrow alley in Tokyo at night with pedestrians walking past illuminated shop signs and a bright streetlight overhead casting blue and pink hues
Neon-lit Tokyo alleyway at night with purple and blue lights reflecting off wet pavement and surrounding buildings
A neon-lit Tokyo train carriage glows with cyan and magenta lighting, silhouetting passengers inside against the purple-hued station platform
Neon-lit Tokyo street at night with glowing blue and pink signs illuminating multi-storey buildings and storefronts in deep purple tones
Neon-lit Tokyo apartment buildings illuminated in shades of purple and red at night, with air conditioning units visible on the facades
A neon-lit dark red vintage car photographed at night with glowing blue and pink light reflections on the wet ground below
Neon signs glowing red and blue above a rain-soaked street in Tokyo at night, with a silhouetted figure visible against the luminous displays
A neon-lit Tokyo street at night with teal and red signage illuminating buildings, a zebra crossing, and silhouetted pedestrians beneath glowing shop signs
Red lanterns strung across overhead power lines against a blue night sky in Tokyo, photographed from below by Liam Wong
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