Dhaka diary
The images create a photographic archive of the city at the beginning of the 21st century
Dhaka Diary is part of the City Diaries series of mine. It has been photographed from February 21st - March 1st 2019 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The idea for my Diaries came to my mind during a trip to Bangladesh in 2011, where I was invited to a photo festival.
I did a Google search for photos of the city in advance and was incredibly surprised that there were only two kinds of images: saturated photos of tourist sites or black and white pictures of poor people on the streets.
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So, basically, it is a reaction to its limited representation of the world. So after having photographed about 10 diaries, I returned to Dhaka in 2019 and decided to work on this now published Dhaka Diary.
The images are a kind of visual research by which I can make sense of the place. The cityscape works like a stage for me, where a theatre piece is being performed. That applies very specially to Dhaka, because there are always so many people out and about.
In fact, my way of working is not so far from classic street photography. The difference is that I am less interested in the individual situation, and much more in the whole picture.
Every corner within the frame has meaning for me. This way you can read the city's topography in the pictures, but also its sociology.
I always work in a consistent kind of light. This way no hierarchies or dramas emerge. And a place's structure becomes recognisable. The pictures in this kind of light acquire a documentary character, but always contain a subjective position. This approach gives the photos a historic dimension.
The images create a photographic archive of the city at the beginning of the 21st century.
Peter Bialobrzeski studied Politics and Sociology before he became a photographer for a local paper in his native Wolfsburg, Germany. He travelled extensively in Asia. In the last seventeen years he has published twenty one books. His work has been exhibited in Europe, USA, Asia, Africa and Australia. He won several awards including the prestigious World Press Photo Award 2003 and 2010. Since 2002 Peter has been a Professor for photography at the University of the Arts in Bremen/Germany.
