In Peter Nitsch‘s ongoing urban study, Wait for Service, the shopping malls of Bangkok set the stage on which the salesperson act. The buzzing malls and their customers seem to flow in a rhythm that sets the pace, but looking at the salesperson the mall comes to a standstill for a brief moment, they wait for service the customer.

Nitsch takes those moments of great authenticity when the salesperson feel unobserved, waiting, lost in thought or deep in conversation, staring at nothing and the mall holds its breath for a moment.

Peter Nitsch catches glimpses of human individuality in a seemingless glamorous and commercial world that is build upon manpower, manpower and manpower.
 

“Far from the traffic jams and the go-go bars, Nitsch takes us into the front rooms of the eight million ordinary Thais who are the real Bangkok: busy, chaotic-looking, organised by an impenetrable idiosyncrasyand unashamedly human.” – John Burdett, Author

“Beautiful.” – Stefan Sagmeister

The city as a living space, and that with its related concept of urbanism as a social phenomenon that according to Louis Wirth describes the rationalised lifestyle of urban people in comparison to the provinciality of rural inhabitants, is among the great themes of contemporary photography. Barely uttered, the “magic word” creates in our minds large pictures in which develop the technological aesthetic of urban-building excesses in globalised mega-cities. What we often forget in this respect is a second dimension of urbanism, which embraces the coexistence of various types of people, each with their own identity, in a limited living space. With his SHOPHOUSES – 4 x 8 m Bangkok series of works, Nitsch focuses precisely on this dimension.

SHOPHOUSES – 4 x 8 M BANGKOK, AWARDS
International Photography Award Los Angeles winner of “Honorable Mention”.

TIME-LAPSE ‘HAIR SALON’ PREVIEW
http://vimeo.com/28457382

AVAILABLE ON THE APP STORE
‘SHOPHOUSES – 4  8 m Bangkok‘ is available for download on the app store here (3.99 €).
 

“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, mega-city, economic metropolis and city of 400 temples, can be both fascinating and sometimes nauseating at the same time: loud, dirty and chaotic, then again, there is also a peaceful and reserved side. The illustrated book at hand displays the »Venice of the East« in its contradictory beauty, without over-romanticising the city. Authentic, surprising and bursting with emotion.

Peter Nitsch’s photographs document 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.

BANGKOK – URBAN IDENTITIES, AWARDS
Selected Title German Photography Award, Hasselblad Masters Semi-Finalist, 3rd place International Photography Awards Los Angeles.

AVAILABLE ON THE APP STORE
‘BANGKOK – Urban Identities‘ is available for download on the app store here (1.59 €).
 

If it ain’t tuned, don’t even drive it. If it is not, improvise! The Thai art of improvised tuning demonstrates the Thais’ great level of tolerance, stoicism and, yes, importance of freedom, rising above the dogmatic and narrow-minded bureaucracies in the West. It often looks funny and peculiar, and sometimes mind-boggling, but it works. You may have called those compromises in aesthetics, but not functionality a botch job. Nitsch documents the unshakable cheer of the Thai people as true masters of tuning.

Thais can practice the art of improvisation without having to take the dogmatic and narrow-minded bureaucracy of public authorities into consideration and without having to deal with a sometimes absurd jungle of paragraphs. And: If the respective improvisation doesn’t quite work out as planned, the Thais are also able to laugh at themselves. Good ideas are as good as hard cash.