Dancing with the rain (Hong Kong’s Blade Runner nights)

Off the Shoulders of Orion

The City as a Mirror

Rain in Hong Kong doesn’t arrive politely…it crashes into the city! One moment the streets are buzzing in their usual rhythm, the next they’re swallowed by streams of water. Most people retreat indoors, but I found myself doing the opposite. Rain wasn’t an inconvenience, it was a gift in motion, a chance to see the city from a different perspective.

And let’s be honest: the shots I take under the rain always end up more dramatic, more moody, more cinematic: rain is pure chaos and chaos can be photogenic.

At night, this effect is amplified. Neon signs and the headlights of the vehicles draw splashes of color into the wet asphalt and with double exposure I could overlap them with umbrellas, signage, reflections, transforming the city scenes into dreamy compositions. Sometimes someone’s umbrella suddenly jumps into the frame exactly while I’m shooting…well, that’s part of the game.

Blade Runner nights

One of my favorite discoveries happened under a pedestrian bridge in Mong Kok, one of those concrete monsters that the government built to make people climb ramps of stairs, blame the saints and cross from one side to the other of a big street instead of simply let them walk from street level (safety, yeah, I know…). However, from up there, Nathan Road stretched out in both directions like a never-ending stage. From that bridge it was a symphony of double-decker buses, taxis and pedestrians and the entire scene glowed in hues of red, blue and magenta. It was pure Blade Runner: only the replicants were missing, but maybe some people down there they were, who knows…

All Those Moments Will Be Lost In Tima

That evening taught me something important: this city doesn’t just look cinematic in the rain, it becomes cinematic. The atmosphere changes drastically. The rain turns neon into liquid paint, traffic into choreography and all the streets become sets for movies. From that night on, I went back to that bridge many other times and it’s still one of my favorite places to shoot, not just because of the view, but because it reminds me how quickly Hong Kong flips from ordinary to otherworldly.

The photographs I took from that spot at night eventually were collected into a series I named after some of the film’s most haunting lines. “Like tears in rain”,  “All those moments…” , “Off the shoulders of Orion” … It felt almost inevitable, the city was offering the perfect tribute and all I had to do was press the shutter.

Like Tears in the Rain

Embracing the Downpour

Photographing in the rain isn’t comfortable. Shoes soak, alleys flood, wet umbrellas of careless people hit your head, but discomfort sharpens the eye. It forces you to notice what’s usually overlooked: the shimmer of a wet street, the way neon bleeds into puddles, the fact that every pedestrian becomes the perfect subject in a wider stage. And when you’re the only one outside while everyone else hides, the city feels strangely yours.

Hong Kong rain taught me that creativity sometimes comes from chaos. Every downpour is an invitation to experiment and let the city surprise you.

So next time the clouds break open, will you run for shelter, or will you grab your camera and step out into the storm?