Ryo

Kowloon Walled City scenes, 1987-1990. From “City of Darkness Revisited”. The most thorough record in photographs and interviews of this true Hong Kong original. Back in print! Signed on request. Shipping worldwide. 356 pages. Hard cover with slipcase. Available via link in bio. greggirardpictures.com 1. Walled City facade along Tung Tau Tsuen Road. 2. Noodle making crew. 3. Public water standpipe. 4. Walled City dentist with pre-war Japanese manufactured dental equipment.

Some film recently turned up which I haven’t seen in, oh, 30 years or so. In 1990 I bought a Mamiya 6 camera and shot a few rolls on the rooftop of the Kowloon Walled City. By this point I’d already been photographing there for more than 3 years, using a 35mm camera. Kind of wish I’d used the medium format camera more. But within a year, by 1991, the Walled City was starting to empty out as the relocation process gathered steam. The place started looking increasingly derelict and lifeless, and I photographed less and less as the life drained out of it. By 1992 the demolition began and soon it was gone. But the book I made with my colleague Ian Lambot, “City of Darkness Revisited”, 360 pages of photographs, maps, essays and interviews preserves what life was like in that extraordinary place. Back in print and available via link in bio. greggirardpictures.com 1-3: Kowloon Walled City rooftop scenes, with Lion Rock in background. 4. Cathay Pacific 747-300 passing the Walled City and the densely packed neighborhood near the end of the runway at Kai Tak Airport. 1989 (on 35mm slide film).

Kowloon Walled City, rooftop scenes. Day and night. 1987-1990. From “City of Darkness Revisited”. Back in print! New inventory will soon be in hand! Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered! We will be shipping in the weeks ahead, please stand by for updates! Accepting new orders, shipping in July. The story of Hong Kong’s most infamous and misunderstood community: 35,000 people living in 300 interconnected high rise buildings, constructed without architects, engineers or urban planners. The Walled City as introduced via our book became the source code for a generation of production designers, film makers and game designers imagining a dystopian/romantic, near future, Asia-mainlined urban setting. Books available via link in bio. greggirardpictures.com 1. TV antennae and approaching plane. 2. Pigeon fancier on rooftop. 3. Evening with view of Kai Tak’s runway. 4. Daytime scene from ground level.