Peter Nitsch

Quotes

"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

"These SHOPHOUSES captures show the hidden side of working Bangkok few people know: a fascinating world of color, history and industry. I admire Peter Nitsch's sensitive photography that illuminates historic places that I hope will not vanish." – Sujata Massey, Author

"Peter Nitsch went curiously and very patiently on the prowl to capture Bangkok's everyday life with his camera. What he experienced and discovered aside the hectic 10 million metropolis is reflected in the faces of its citizens. Those people are masters of survival and all of them are living true to the motto 'grace under pressure'." – Anna von Münchhausen, DIE ZEIT

"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

Works of Photography

Wait for Service
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 seemingly glamorous and commercial world that is built upon manpower, manpower and manpower.

SHOPHOUSES - 4 x 8 m Bangkok
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.

Beyond the skyscrapers and neon signs, which also increasingly oust the traditional cityscape of Bangkok, the photographer-artist, who was born in Germany in 1973, grants us an intimate view of the retail businesses that are typical of Southeast Asia and the lives of their owners. For many of them the mostly two-storey shop, that on the lower level is open to the street, is workplace and living space in one. Thus Nitsch’s photographs condense entire lifestyles in cramped surrounding that are often crammed full to the last centimetre and nevertheless radiate an almost meditative peace.

This peace is surprising because, as noted by Roman Rahmacher, himself an authority on Asia and picture editor with Gruner + Jahr, it is “diametrically opposed to the Bangkok that I have previously been aware of.” And it is a fact that for European eyes it is only a bewildering confusion at first glance. But if one allows the pictures to make an impression, a fractal pattern with a high degree of similarity is to be gradually recognised in the overfilled rooms, which from the sheer number of objects suddenly makes a structured Mandelbrot set. The chaos becomes a cosmos and thus transforms into its opposite: an orderliness, to which the photographs additionally lend their characteristic power of peace.

Bangkok - Urban Identities
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. Published by Rupa Media, Text by Jochen Müssig. ISBN 978-3-9809430-7-9. 35.90 €.

Collections

Peter Nitsch's work can be found in the following collections
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
Municipal Museum, Munich
German Embassy, Bangkok
BACC - Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre
Thai Art Archives, Bangkok
AAA Archive (Asia Art Archive Collection)

Private collections
Germany, France, England, Thailand

Awards

2011
PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERS CUP, Nominee in professional categories Portrait and Still Life
IF AWARDS, WORLD TRIP GOODIES, International Communication Design Award, Design and Publishing

2009
IPA, INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS, SHOPHOUSES, 2 Honorable Mention

2008
IPA, INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS, BANGKOK, 3rd place in Book in professional category
GERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD, BANGKOK, Nominee
HASSELBLAD MASTERS, BANGKOK, Semi-Finalist

2003
EYES & EARS EUROPE, Halloweek, Universal Studios, Audio
EYES & EARS EUROPE, Award, ID´s, Universal Studios, Best Package
PROMAX & BDA EUROPE, Silver Medal, Shadow, Universal Studios, Best OnAir Ident-Design

2002
EYES & EARS EUROPE, Artificial Human, 13th Street, Audio
BDA INTERNATIONAL, Bronze Medal, April Movie Highlights, 13th Street, Inhouse image

2001
THE NEW YORK FESTIVAL, Gold World Medal, Masters of Thrill, 13th Street, Audio
BDA INTERNATIONAL, Bronze Medal, Masters of Thrill, 13th Street, Inhouse Image Promo
EYES & EARS OF EUROPE, Bronze Medal, Master, Award, Masters of Thrill, 13th Street, Audio

2000
BDA INTERNATIONAL, Bronze Medal, Halloween, ProSieben, Inhouse image Promo

Publications