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Nick Nostitz, photographer


kamui

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I just read a book by a German journalist who wrote about his relationship to a Khmer bargirl in Phnom Penh (he married her, knowing she is HIV positive and took her to Germany - it's an very interesting read). Anyway, in his book he mentioned Nick Nostitz, who photographed the couple for German magazine.

 

This reminded me of Nick's great photo book Patpong: Bangkok's Twilight Zone (2001) which depicts the hardcore side of the P4P scene in BKK.

 

Unfortunatley I have lost touch with him after meeting him in BKK a few years ago, but I just saw that he exibited his work two years in a row at the Noorderlicht Photofestival in the Netherlands.

 

BANGKOK TWILIGHT:

For five years Nick Nostitz traveled around Asia. Among the places he fetched up as a backpacker was Bangkok. The Thai capital fascinated him so much that he made it his base of operations for his work as a photojournalist in Asia. But his passion is documenting the city's nightlife. He sees it as a subculture 'with a morality and ethic that differs essentially from that in everyday life'. For BANGKOK TWILIGHT (1993-2006) he turned his camera on the seamy side of the city, full of sex, drugs and crime. Drug wars have claimed thousands of lives, and the police pay no attention to the law. Nevertheless, Thailand is still universally regarded as the 'Land of Smiles'.

 

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CLEANING THE GRAVEYARD (work in progress)

In Thailand, after fifteen years the bones of the dead who have been buried by Thai-Chinese charities because the bodies went unclaimed by family or friends are exhumed. The exhumation is a great religious celebration for the whole of the normally strongly hierarchic Thai society. From the poorest farmer to the richest businessman, all assist with the opening of the graves and cleaning the bones. Nor does the status of the dead play any role. All bones are treated with equal respect, and assembled for a new mass burial. Although the origins of the feast are Buddhist, many other religious sects join with it. They perform their own rituals, such as placing toys with the bodies of children to appease their ghosts.

 

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Some other works by Nick at the website of his photo agency.

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Guest lazyphil

i met nick a few years ago in bkk and keep in touch from time to time, very nice and interesting guy, great sense of humor and a bloody morbid bugger!

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IMHO it is not only about the quality of the images:

 

Of course you must be able to make great images, which means you'll need to develop your own visual grammar and style. IMHO the quality of Nick's photographs can be seen especially in the graveyard series.

 

But equally important is to find your own stories. Concerning LOS Nick is really strong at this. Almost all stories about LOS I have seen, even by famous photographers like Nan Goldin, repeat the same stereotypes again and again (Ladyboys, heavy traffic in BKK, exotic markets, e.g.) while Nick tells stories about of the life in BKK most Western photographers will never experience and might even never have heard of...

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IMHO it is not only about the quality of the images:

 

Of course you must be able to make great images, which means you'll need to develop your own visual grammar and style. IMHO the quality of Nick's photographs can be seen especially in the graveyard series.

 

But equally important is to find your own stories. Concerning LOS Nick is really strong at this. Almost all stories about LOS I have seen, even by famous photographers like Nan Goldin, repeat the same stereotypes again and again (Ladyboys, heavy traffic in BKK, exotic markets, e.g.) while Nick tells stories about of the life in BKK most Western photographers will never experience and might even never have heard of...

 

 

You got it right dude! the quality is only part of the game, the main part is being there at the right time and right place, not being afraid to "get dirty" to get the pictures.

 

I saw a documentary on combat photographers from WWII through the Vietnam war, and all said a similar thing (paraphrased here) "...it is like I am invisible and can go anywhere, and I am behind a protective shield, nothing can happen, I am part of the event, the photo..."

 

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the quality is only part of the game, the main part is being there at the right time and right place, not being afraid to "get dirty" to get the pictures.

 

Yup, looks like he had to brave that rickety old stairway at Midnite to get a few of those pics. Dangerous job, but someone's got to do it. Seriously, I'm a fan of his work, too.

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