City of Lights, Hong Kong’s Neon Heritage
A landmark exhibition and book launch celebrating the soul of neon in Hong Kong
Keith Macgregor, Neon collage #3
Blue Lotus Gallery presents City of Lights, an extensive archive by photographer Keith Macgregor documenting Hong Kong’s neon-drenched skyline of the 1990s and 2000s. The book, featuring hundreds of previously unseen images, and accompanying exhibition serve as both a record of the city's iconic neon signage and a tribute to a bygone era: a time when these signs shaped the city's visual identity.
“Like so many others, I took neon for granted when I was younger, viewing it as urban wallpaper rather than investigating the creativity, skill, engineering, and imagination needed to create these dynamic, superb works of art,” said Macgregor. Through hundreds of vivid, previously unseen images, he captures the restless energy of a city defined by its illuminated streets.
At its height in the 1980s, Hong Kong’s skyline shimmered with more than 100,000 neon signs. Today, fewer than 400 remain. City of Lights arrives at a pivotal moment, when the urgency to document and preserve this vanishing heritage has never been greater. A renewed fascination among Hong-Kongers is evident in the success of recent exhibitions at the Hong Kong Design Institute and Tai Kwun, presented in partnership with Tetra Neon Exchange (TNX), reflecting a collective desire to reconnect with and safeguard this defining chapter of the city’s visual history.
Beyond the photographs, the book draws on the human stories behind the glow. It features conversations with those fighting to keep the craft alive: the master benders who hand-bent the glass, the installers who braved the heights, and the conservationists and creators ensuring neon has a future in the city.
“Keith’s body of work constitutes one of the largest photographic archives of Hong Kong’s streets and neon signage,” said co-author Cardin Chan, former general manager of TNX and founder of the cultural heritage company, The Indispensible Hong Kong. “For those of us committed to preservation, it is an invaluable visual record.”
Yet the project’s significance extends beyond the signs themselves. As businesses close—such as the iconic Sammy’s Kitchen earlier this year—it becomes clear that even when a sign is saved, the city around it inevitably moves on. Families grow and storefronts evolve, making this archive all the more essential; it captures the fleeting moments and memories of a Hong Kong in constant flux.
Crucially, the narrative is one of evolution rather than just loss. While the era of massive commercial signage may be fading, neon is finding a new life. City of Lights highlights this transition, showcasing how a new generation of creators—such as the artist Jive Lau—is reimagining the medium for the modern age, ensuring the city’s neon spirit continues to shine in new, innovative forms.
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About Keith Macgregor:
British photographer Keith Macgregor has spent decades documenting Hong Kong during a period of extraordinary transformation. Born in 1946 and raised between England and Asia, he settled in Hong Kong, where he ran a successful business specialising in Asian furniture until the late 1990s.
Alongside his business, photography became a serious and sustained pursuit. Macgregor began capturing the city’s streets, harbour, skyline and, above all, its neon-lit nights. His images resonated widely; postcards produced from his photographs sold in the millions during the 1980s, circulating his vision of Hong Kong across the world and helping to define how the city was perceived both locally and internationally.
In 1998, recognising that Hong Kong’s iconic neon signage was rapidly disappearing, he embarked on an ambitious effort to document as many signs as possible. Spending weeks photographing across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories, he created an extensive archive of this vanishing streetscape. The project culminated in his seminal book Neon City: Hong Kong at Night (2002), now regarded as a vital record of a lost era.
As redevelopment, regulation and LED technology transformed the urban landscape, Macgregor’s photographs gained renewed significance. His work preserves not only the brilliance of the signs themselves, but also the craftsmanship and spirit that once illuminated the city.
Through dedication, timing and an instinct for Hong Kong’s defining visual moments, Keith Macgregor has secured his place as one of the pre-eminent chroniclers of its luminous past.
About Blue Lotus Gallery:
Blue Lotus Gallery is Hong Kong’s leading photography gallery, dedicated to championing artists whose work explores social change, cultural memory, and the evolving identity of the city. Founded in 2007, the gallery has played a pivotal role in establishing photography as a vital contemporary art form in Hong Kong and the wider region, and continues to foster dialogue between historical and contemporary practices.
Related Events:
Wed 17 June, 2-5pm: Press Preview
Thu 18 June, 5-8pm: Private Preview
Sat 20 June, 2-4pm: Talk with Cardin Chan & Keith Macgregor