“He doesn’t try to aestheticise, … but he also doesn’t focus on the strikingly inadequate. Neither does he try to create any kind of phony effects, as it were. And that’s what makes his work so unique.” – Roman Rahmacher, GEO Epoche
Bangkok is loud. And quiet. Bangkok is dirty. And clean. Bangkok can be experienced for 30 Euros a day. And for 3.000 Euro. In cheap guesthouse. And in the posh ‘Oriental’. Bangkok is a Moloch. And still, each alley is a village unto itself. Bangkok is perhaps not exactly beautiful, but a pleasure and an experience for the senses. And that is really fascinating.
Nitsch’s photographs document urban life on the streets of Bangkok with an individual and virtually intimate look at the city: The central theme is mankind within the urban environment of the metropolis. The pictures show scenes, gestures, characters: an old hairdresser, a frame-maker, a traditional soup kitchen and a lady selling Buddha garlands at night-time. They all go to represent an attempt to preserve a little Thai identity within a continuously globalising city.
Peter Nitsch lives and works in Munich and Bangkok. From precisely these two sides his photographs draw their strength. He masterfully explores the boundaries of the documentary, in the spirit of Rabindranath Tagore “The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough”. His works are internationally awarded, including the internationally renowned “Photography Award Los Angeles”; Nitsch‘s urban photographs of Bangkok won the bronze medal.
Jochen Müssig, born in 1960, ex chief editor of several magazines, now a travel journalist (“Süddeutsche Zeitung”, “Welt”, “WAZ” etc.) and also an author of numerous book volumes, has become very familiar with Thailand during the last 27 years. Dozens of trips have lead to numerous articles and books about Siam. After landing in Bangkok, the first thing he always does is to visit a cookshop not far from Silom Road.
“Bangkok – Urban Identities” international Awards
• Selected Title German Photography Award
• Hasselblad Masters Semi-Finalist
• International Photography Award Los Angeles