More than 160 photos spanning 54 years offer a glimpse into the rich oeuvre of one of Canada’s most influential photographers

JUNE 2, 2026 (VANCOUVER, CANADA) — The Polygon Gallery presents Greg Girard, the first major institutional survey of one of Canada’s most influential photographers, on view from July 10–Oct. 25, 2026. The exhibition presents more than 160 photographs shot between 1972 and 2026, including never-before-seen outtakes from his iconic photobooks and new images from the Lower Mainland, tracing Girard’s evolution from a budding photographer to an internationally renowned artist. The exhibition will open at the same time as the launch of his new photobook, Greg Girard: Photographs 1972–2026.

“When people think of Greg Girard, they often call to mind images of urban settings at night, long exposures, empty streets, and neon lights,” says Elliott Ramsey, who co-curated the exhibition with gallery director Reid Shier. “His reputation for photographing cities in transition is so established that what often gets left out of the conversation is how excellent he is as a portraitist. He is masterful at photographing people and portraying a city through its inhabitants. In this exhibition, visitors will be able to not only experience the honing of his vision, but also get a sense of how he moved through the world.”

Greg Girard unfolds chronologically, an intentional foil to the artist’s collection of published photobooks organized by city. The earliest photographs in the exhibition were taken in Vancouver by Girard in the 1970s as a teenager. Inspired by an assignment from his high school teacher, Girard checked himself into a hotel in the Downtown Eastside and embedded himself as a photographer. These black-and-white documentary images, paired with shots taken from across Vancouver and even from the historic Mission Raceway Park, offer a nostalgic look back at an earlier time.

After graduating, Girard traveled down the West Coast and beyond, from Thailand to Japan, where he began to develop his signature style of poetic and vivid urban photography. His focus on night time settings continued as he returned to Vancouver, where he worked as a taxi driver in order to save for future travels. When he moved back to Asia in the 1980s, it was as a freelance journalist, with stints as a sound recordist for the BBC, head photographer for Asiaweek, and contributor to publications like Time Magazine where he was oftentimes at the front line of civil unrest and conflict. His published ephemera is included in the exhibition, in addition to photographs from assignments that were never printed.

While based in Hong Kong, Girard captured the incredible structure of Kowloon Walled City, a dense assemblage of concrete that housed more than 35,000 people and was among the most densely populated places on Earth at the time. His photographs were published in the influential book City of Darkness: Life in Kowloon Walled City (Watermark, 1993), with co-author and photographer Ian Lambot, and presents a rare archive of the now-demolished enclave. He then lived in Shanghai from 1998 to 2011, eventually publishing the monograph Phantom Shanghai (Magenta, Toronto, 2007). The book, featuring a foreword by influential science fiction novelist William Gibson, looked at the rapid and at times violent changes in Shanghai as it raced to modernize itself into a super metropolis at the beginning of the 21st century — it was cited as one of the top 10 photographic books ever produced (The Independent).

Girard returned to Vancouver in 2011 and once again revisited the subject of the Lower Mainland. The exhibition includes these more recent shots of North Vancouver and Surrey, where he is currently based. He is now mentoring the next generation of photographers, many of whom discover his work through his prolific Instagram account that has amassed over 240,000 followers.

“Working on this project has been an eye-opening experience,” says Girard. “Knowing that you’ve had a 50-plus year career is one thing. Trying to make sense of it, and in particular dealing with such an immense physical archive of film, is another. Revisiting all the places I’ve traveled, lived, and explored through the exhibition and the publication has been exciting and a bit overwhelming, in a good way.”

Born in 1955, Greg Girard is a Canadian photographer whose work has examined the social and physical transformations of some of Asia’s largest cities. He is the author of several photographic books: City of Darkness: Life in Kowloon Walled City (Watermark, 1993); Phantom Shanghai (Magenta, Toronto, 2007); Hanoi Calling (Magenta, Toronto, 2010); In the Near Distance (Kominek, Berlin, 2010); Under Vancouver 1972-1982 (Magenta, Toronto, 2017); HK:PM – Hong Kong Night Life 1974-1989 (AsiaOne, Hong Kong, 2017); Hotel Okinawa (The Velvet Cell, Osaka, 2017). His work is in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, Vancouver Art Gallery, M+ Museum Hong Kong, and other public and private collections.

Curated by Reid Shier and Elliott Ramsey

Generously supported by
The Andrew Gruft Fund for Photography Exhibitions
Demetrios Babalos
Claudia Beck
Pauline and Bernie Hadley-Beauregard
Jane Irwin and Ross Hill
The Lind Family
Maureen and Larry Lunn
Karen Nishi and Michael Bruce
Diana and Mark Sawers
George Seslija and Dr. Marla Kiess
Timothy and Jane Taylor
Bruno Wall
John and Jennifer Webb
Wild Island Foundation
Bruce Munro Wright, OBC

About the Publication
Greg Girard: Photographs 1972–2026
Foreword by Reid Shier
Introduction by Elliott Ramsey
Texts by Roy Arden, Hà Đào, and Silke Schmickl
Hardcover with jacket
9” × 11.5”
356 pages with 200+ photographs
Published by The Magenta Foundation in partnership with The Polygon Gallery
ISBN 978-1-926856-20-9
CAD$100 / USD$70 / GBP£65
Distributed in North America by University of Toronto Press utorontopress.com
Distributed outside North America by Thames & Hudson thamesandhudson.com
Pre-order here

About The Polygon Gallery
Grounded in photography, The Polygon Gallery creates space to challenge how we see the world. The Gallery moved into its Governor General’s Medal-winning building in 2017 after operating as Presentation House Gallery for 40 years. The organization has presented more than 300 exhibitions and earned a reputation as one of the country’s most adventurous public art institutions. Admission is by donation, courtesy of BMO Financial Group.

Gallery hours
Wednesday, 10am–5pm; Thursday, 10am–9pm; Friday–Sunday, 10am–5pm

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Press kit and photos
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Press contact
Ines Min
604 440 0791
ines@inesmin.com

Banner Image: Greg Girard, Qingdao Airport, 1995.