Greg Girard

Scenes along the Yellow River, 2006-2010. From its origins on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai Province to where it empties into East China Sea in Shandong. Published and out-takes from two Nat Geo assignments in China. I was just about to exit the magazine world when they called. Happily stayed in for a few more years on assignment in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East. Link to my books in bio. www.greggirardpictures.com 1. Buddha head at coal yard next to abandoned gas station. Shizuishan. Ningxia. 2. Shaanxi province, late winter. 3. Upper regions of the Yellow River, Qinghai province. 4. Outdoor pool tables, Shanxi province. 5. Village celebrations, Shanxi. 6. Waiter and waitresses training. Shandong. 7. Shandong Province, near mouth of Yellow River. 8. Making mats from straw, Henan. 9. Shaanxi coal fired power station. 10. River crossing, near Luoyang, Henan. #yellowriver #shizuishan #alongtheriver #coalyard #outtakes

Greyhound to San Francisco to catch a plane or a ship. From “American Stopover”. Lingering for days or weeks in California before crossing the Pacific 1974-1982. Books available via link in bio. www.greggirardpictures.com 1. Terry’s Coffee Shop, somewhere in Oregon. 1976. 2. San Francisco, 1982. 3. Hotel bathroom, San Francisco, 1974. 4. Hotel room view, San Francisco, 1982. 5. Street scene, San Francisco, 1982. 6. Los Angeles, 1976. 7. San Francisco, 1976. 8. San Francisco, shadow on car. 1976. 9. Holiday Inn, Oakland, 1982. 10. Man with Cigarette, 1974.. American Stopover cover. #stopover #photobook #1970s #1980s #kodachrome

Looking for a bar named “Sakura” in the snow (and blossoms) in Hokkaido. From “Snack Sakura”. A journey through Japan’s unique “snack” bar culture. There are over 100,000 of these “snacks” in Japan. According to the All Japan Snack Owners Association, the most common name among their members is “Sakura” (cherry blossom). And so I decided to photograph as many of these Snack Sakuras as I could find, criss-crossing Japan from 2018 to 2025. Unlike in a bar, you don’t simply walk in and sit down. If you’re a new face the etiquette is to first ask if it’s ok to come in. A formality that acknowledges that the mama or master chooses his or her customers, most of which are regulars. In big cities and small towns I opened the door, showed my (foreign) face and paused as conversation often stopped, and asked if it was ok to come in. 99% of the time it was. And the fun (and work) began. Entertainment is mostly karaoke and conversation. Drinks are simple: beer, shochu, whiskey. No fancy cocktails. From the outside there is no way of knowing what the inside is like. And there are no windows. Most places aren’t really particularly“interesting” visually. It’s rare to find a place that is unchanged for decades. Most have been updated in a stale way, like most of the life we wander through. But there is more to life than how it looks, don’t you think? Books available via link in bio. Signed on request. Shipping worldwide. www.greggirardpictures.com 1. Sapporo, Susukino, 2024. 2. Snack Sakura, Muroran, 2024. 3. Snack Sakuras, North Sapporo, 2024. 4. Snack Sakura, Furano. 2024 5. Snack Sakura (exterior), Furano, 2024. 6. Otaru, 2018. 7. Otaru blossoms, 2018. 8. Sapporo blossoms, 2018. @kominekbooks #hokkaido #photobook #sakura #sapporo #susukino

Back in print: JAL 76-88. Available now for pre-order! Shipping May/June 2026. Books available via link in bio. www.greggirardpictures.com Tokyo in the late 1970s and through the 80s. I lived in various cheap apartments in Ikebukuro, Nakano, Koenji. “Apartment” is too grand actually. They were 4.5 and 6 mat tatami rooms. Bathing meant a visit to the nearest public bath. No telephone or credit cards. An air ticket was a physical thing. It was all physical come to think of it. 1. Adult television. 2. Keiko, Yoyogi Park. 3. Judy Ong for PARCO. 4. Movie posters, Shinjuku. 5. Strangers. Shinjuku. 6. Kabukicho morning. 7. Shin-Okubo platform. 8. Keiko, Koenji. @kominekbooks #photobook #tokyo #kodachrome #showa #1970s

Hotel rooms and hotel scenes. 1976-2025. From various books and unpublished. Link to books in bio. www.greggirardpictures.com 1. Sylvia Hotel, 1981 2. Lotus Hotel, 1982 3. YMCA Hong Kong, 1983. 4. Hotel room, Yokohama, 2025. 5. Japanese travellers. Motel room, New Jersey, 1978. 6. Las Vegas, 1976. From “American Stopover”. #hotelroom #photobook #solotravel #1970s #1980s

Waterfront scenes, from “Under Vancouver 1972-1982”. Back in print! Scenes of the working waterfront when you could wander the docks at all hours of the day or night. Right up the gangway of ships to photograph foreign sailors, if you felt so inclined. Everything changed after 9-11. Fences, security gates, cctv cameras, warning signs. The city cut off from its economic origins and the end of midnight walks through the container terminals, commercial fishing docks and grain elevators along the harbour. www.greggirardpictures.com 1. Former Alberta Wheat Pool Terminal (currently Viterra). 1981. 2. CPR Ferry to Nanaimo, foot of Granville Street. 1977. 3. Waterfront near sugar refinery. 1981. 4. Container terminal, 1982. 5. L. Hotaka Maru. 1981. R. Sailors Home. 1973. 6. Waterfront near grain terminal. 1980. 7. Waterfront near Princeton Hotel. 1981. 8. Greek sailor, 1973. Chinese sailor. 1982. 9. Chinese sailors walking around town, 1982. #waterfront #onthewaterfront #photobook #1970s #1980s

Greg Girard’s ‘HK:PM’ returns to the M+ Facade and will be on view until 22 Feb 2026! Step back in time with photographer Greg Girard’s work, ‘HK:PM’. Commissioned by M+, the work brings viewers on a visual journey through the city’s past between the 1970s and 1990s into the present. Girard’s work animates analogue photographs from his personal collection: bustling street scenes in Central, everyday life inside the Kowloon Walled City, airplanes soaring between dense skyscrapers around Kai Tak Airport, neon-lit streets, lively nightclubs, and moments with the city’s most beloved film stars. Presented in a cinematic format, these incidental situations become lasting images, with their sequence unfolding like a film. Girard shows us how intimate moments and personal memories together shape a collective history, connecting the past with the present. 🔗 Tap the link in our bio for a live feed of the M+ Facade. 格雷格．吉拉德的《HK:PM》重返M+幕牆，展出至2026年2月22日。 走入香港的昔日時光，透過格雷格．吉拉德的《HK:PM》踏上一段精彩的視覺之旅，探索香港在1970至1990年代間充滿活力的城市生活帶到今天。 作品中的菲林照片來自吉拉德私人收藏，展示了熙來攘往的中環街景、九龍城寨的日常生活、飛機於啟德機場周遭的高樓間升降起落的影像、霓虹絢爛的街景、活力四射的夜總會，以及深受愛戴的香港電影明星在片場魅力流露的瞬間。 這些照片以新的形式呈現，令偶遇的場景轉化為永恆的影像，又串連起來變成了電影。吉拉德向我們展示私人親密的瞬間和個人回憶如何塑造集體歷史，將過往與當下緊密相連。 🔗 點擊帳號簡介連結，觀看M+幕牆的現場直播。 🎥 Greg Girard. ‘HK:PM’, 2025. Commissioned by M+, Hong Kong, 2025. Courtesy of Greg Girard. 格雷格．吉拉德，《HK:PM》，2025年，由M+委約創作，2025年，圖片由格雷格．吉拉德提供 #MPlusMuseum #MPlusFacade #MPlus幕牆 #GregGirard #格雷格吉拉德

1974-1977 scenes. Bangkok, NE Thailand, Sarawak… Early travels. First by freighter across the Pacific. And then later, a 4-month trip through SE Asia while living in Tokyo. Link to books in bio. www.greggirardpictures.com 1. Bangkok, near Hualumpong railway station. 1974. 2. Ginza nightclub, Takhli, Thailand, 1977. 3. F-4 Phantom Bar, Ubon, Thailand. 1977. 4. Monk with PanAm bag, Koh Samui, 1977. 5. Shopkeeper, Kapit, Sarawak, 1974. 6. Korat, evening scene. 1977. #1974 #kodachrome #1970s #solotravel bangk

From “JAL 76-88”. Back in print! Available for pre-order now, shipping in June! A stopover in Tokyo on the way to SE Asia in 1976 turned into a many year residency. Back when travel meant disappearing and what we might now call “reinvention”. And of course it still can. Books available via link in bio. www.greggirardpictures.com 1. Hotel room, Naha, Okinawa. 1982. 2. Hotel room, Fujinomiya, 1983. 3. Tokyo Bay, ferry to Okinawa, 1982. 4. Fishing Net on the beach, near Tateyama. New Years Eve, 1983. 5. Kabukicho, 1976. 6. Adult television, Tokyo, 1979. 7. Shibuya, 1976. 8. Haneda Airport perimeter. 1979. 9. Man in sharp suit. Tokyo. 1979. #photobook #showa #1970s #1980s #slidefilm

From “Snack Sakura”. Signed on request. Shipping worldwide. A journey through the “snack” bars of Japan. Including the hotel rooms, train stations and other scenes while looking for drinking places named “Sakura”. There are over 100,000 “snacks” in Japan. According to the All-Japan Snack Owners Association, the name with the most entries in their members list is “Snack Sakura”. I spent six years looking for them from Okinawa to Hokkaido. Visiting most of Japan’s 47 prefectures. If there’s one near you please let me know! Books available via link in bio. www.greggirardpictures.com 1. Snack Sakura, Sendai. 2. Hotel room view, Kawazu. 3. Sado Island, twilight. 4. Snack Sakura, Kawasaki. 5. Cabaret Acapulco Sea, Kure. 6. Pre-Dawn scene, Furano, Hokkaido. 7. Snack Sakura, Ibaraki. 8. Snack interior, Saga. #photobook #hiddenworld #mamiya7 #japanesebar #snackculture

The places aren’t really much to look at it. Even at night. Looking for bars named “Sakura”. Not bars exactly. A kind of drinking place unique to Japan, known as a “snack”. They’re everywhere. In big cities and small towns. I spent six years looking for them, from Okinawa to Hokkaido. Finding them was always kind of thrilling. No matter what they looked like. And usually they didn’t look like much. Which I sort of liked. My new book “Snack Sakura” shows what it’s like to go to places you’ve never been before, walk into a bar, and try to make pictures. Thanks to everybody who either said yes or just ignored me. Books available via link in bio. Full index next in back with the address and name of every place photographed. www.greggirardpictures.com 1. L. Snack Sakura, Yokohama. R. Snack Sakura, Fukuoka. 2019. 2. L. Snack Sakura, Ayase, Tokyo. 2024. R. Snack Sakura, Ibaraki. 3. Snack Sakura, Sendai. With receipt. 2024. 4. Snack Sakura, Osaka. 2020. 5. Snack Sakura, Nagasaki, 2024. 6. Snack Sakura, Morioka. 2023. 7. Club Sakura, Aomori. 2023. 8. Snack Sakura, Kagoshima. 9. Snack Sakura. Akita. 2019. 10. Snack Sakura (cover). 220 photographs. 272 pages. Published by Kominek, Berlin. #photobook #sakuraseason #japannightlife #unfashionable #japanesebar

Valentine scenes. Balloons, hotel rooms and hand-made hearts. 1982-2025. Link to books in bio. www.greggirardpictures.com 1. Lotus Hotel, 1982. From “Under Vancouver”. 2. Hotel room with chenille bedspread. Nice, France. 1984. 3. Hotel room, Osaka. 2025. 4. Disco hearts, Shenzhen. 2000. 5. Hotel corridor, Okinawa. 2017. #valentine #bemine #hotelroom #1980s #heartshape