BOOK REVIEW: AFTER DARK
© Liam Wong
Written by Anvita Brahmbhatt
Copyedited by Chloë Rain
Photo Editor: Janett Perez
After Dark is the latest photography book from photographer and video game designer, Liam Wong, published by Thames & Hudson. The photos throughout this book have been captured during the night time in countries such as Japan, England, and Russia. The introduction is written by Evie Tarr, a writer and musician based in London. Releasing on December 6, 2022, After Dark is the journey of an insomniac traveling the night.
Wong captured the photos in this book during the COVID-19 pandemic. He became used to walking around the cities by himself at night, enjoying the solitude of the cities during the late hours. Additionally, quiet and empty streets became the norm during the pandemic. Fittingly, Wong considers himself a night owl at heart. Wong recalls spending all his time watching movies and being inspired by the cinematography of various films during the months he spent photographing the streets. He says, “Everything about the format of this book was designed with cinematic ratios in mind and a wider range of lenses, all with their own characteristics, which allowed me to think differently about shaping a scene.”
© Liam Wong
The book is divided into four sections: Society, Alone Together, Solitude, and Emptiness. Society captures mostly photos taken on busy streets and restaurants in Tokyo, and the cityscape of London. Wong takes inspiration from noir films, such as Michael Mann’s Collateral and Martin Scorcese’s Taxi Driver, to capture the grittiness of these metropolitans during the night. Alone Together mostly features Wong’s subjects in pairs of two or three in otherwise largely isolated backgrounds. He also draws inspiration from the 1995 Japanese animated series Ghost in the Shell in his photographs of streets in Osaka, Seoul, and Paris. Solitude features people in Tokyo, Seoul, and London carrying an umbrella or walking through the streets alone at night. In one photo, Wong is inspired by Hopper’s use of color and composition in his piece Nighthawks. Lastly, the section Emptiness features the empty streets of Vatican City, London, Seoul, Tokyo and Yuzhong.
© Liam Wong
Wong’s repetition of the dark color scheme, as well as shooting predominantly at night, gives his photos the look of a dystopian world. His cinematic lenses and evolving color palette reminds viewers of his inspiration from video games and new-age Hollywood thrillers. Most of the photos captured during the pandemic highlight the empty streets and loneliness that many of us can remember feeling. However, with After Dark, Wong’s hope for readers is to be reminded of their own travels to these cities. If readers haven’t traveled to these places, Wong hopes that his book acts as an inspiration for readers to travel there someday.
© Liam Wong
Liam Wong is a director, photographer and game designer, and was included in Forbes’ influential 30 under 30. He was born in Scotland, and moved to Canada after graduating from Abertay University. He was the artistic director at Ubisoft Montreal, the company behind Assassin's creed, for six years. His first photography series Tokyo Nights captured citylife after midnight and was inspired by Japanese anime and neo-noir films. He later published the series as a book, which received high acclaim in the UK. Wong is also a public speaker and has spoken at the BAFTA in London. He is now a freelancer in Canada, and exhibits most of his work on his social media.
