Cyberpunk inspired, ultraviolet photography of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Seoul at midnight

“Plunged into a foreign dark, I found a new way of seeing, strange and alien. Synthetic light creeps into my eyes, the air thick with colours shifting and angles unbending. In the midst of the night, a new day begins.”

This introduces the stunning series, entitled Ultraviolet Break of Day, by London-based photographer Marcus Wendt.

It’s cyberpunk inspired photography (think Bladerunner), which he shot across car park rooftops and back-alleys and fine dining restaurants, all while heavily jet-lagged and basically sleep-walking through Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Seoul. We love the neon vibrancy of it all. You can learn more about his inspiration and process at field.io.

 

Due to a heavy dose of jet lag induced insomnia, I’ve started to explore the Kowloon area of Hong Kong as well as Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei “The World’s Greatest Electronics Market” late at night on a recent trip to China.

I realised that the unfamiliar place, time of day, the carpark rooftop I found accidentally and misusing Lightroom to create improbable isometric perspectives all help together to create a slightly alien and uncanny atmosphere that reminds me of early 1990’s cyberpunk games + films like Syndicate or Blade Runner, which led to developing the aesthetic for this series.